Planet Coaster 2's flexible creation tools are as enthralling as ever, but its fun is conflicted by a tired UI, mediocre management gameplay, and glaring content gaps that feel like room for cynicism in DLC .
I absolutely love theme parks: the sights, the smells, the screams of joy, the complete sense of transportation. But most of all, I love the breathless clash of science and art behind these overarching fantasies. I'm the kind of theme park junkie who still gets truly giddy when seeing technology and creativity collide like this, and I've been dreaming of my perfect ride ever since a run-in with Disney's Haunted Mansion as a three-year-old The existence of facilities and roller coasters became a bit of an obsession. For someone like me, the original Planet Coaster was a dream. For all its flaws, it's still a brilliantly implemented, beautifully presented set of creative tools capable of turning theme park whimsy into digital reality, and its sequel promises the same, but more.
Like its predecessor, Planet Coaster 2 commands immediate attention. A brilliant fusion of art, animation, sound and music that brings those creative whims to incredibly exciting life – a world filled with spinning metal, twinkling lights and guests screaming with delight, both high up and down You can experience it on the ground. Of course, flashy presentation aside, Planet Coaster 2 is still very much influenced by Chris Sawyer's groundbreaking RollerCoaster Tycoon, barely straying from the template established more than 25 years ago. It's a game built around complex park management; hiring staff, building rides, and providing key amenities – all in an effort to please guests and make enough profit so that the operating cycle can continue indefinitely. But once again, Planet Coaster 2's real strength lies in the depth, breadth, and flexibility of its design and customization tools.
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This is a mildly evolved sequel rather than a complete reinvention, which isn't to say its improvements aren't immediately apparent – Frontier clearly listened to feedback from Planet Coaster 1, though it feels like it's the most significant The improvements are specifically targeted at YouTube content creators whose teams have plenty of time to build their intricate design wonders. For example, its new lighting engine isn't just beautiful, it's functional; enclosed spaces are actually dark, meaning proper dark rides can finally be achieved without clunky workarounds.
Then comes optimization. Unlike its notoriously chaotic predecessor, Planet Coaster 2 is more able to accommodate players' creativity without immediately turning into a slide show. Track ride construction generally feels less cumbersome; flat rides can now be stripped down and themed entirely with decorative pieces – invaluable for those who want a more cohesive aesthetic flow in the park – And seemingly small additions, like object scaling and landscape brushes, are major game-changers. Pools and flumes were introduced elsewhere, filling the community's endless need for a water park.
Planet Coaster 2's various game modes are also now more clearly defined. There's a campaign mode, for example, which goes to some interestingly weird places, as it happily turns the basics of park-building into objective-based challenges. That said, its tendency to prioritize dad-level jokes over useful explanations—and the frequency with which any creative endeavors run into arbitrary limits—makes it a bit of a drag. There's also a Franchise mode, which allows players to work together as a tribe across the globe to rise to the top of the leaderboards by meeting weekly challenges, and there's also support for asynchronous co-op building. Finally, for those who just want to maximize their creative freedom, there's a highly customizable sandbox mode that allows players to alter the balance between park management and design as they see fit.
What Planet Coaster 2 lacks, however, is any meaningful strategic evolution or complexity. It also gives up some of its predecessor's mechanical width, with amenities such as restaurants, hotels and security now inexplicably removed. Of course, the original Planet Coaster was an extremely uneven work, its strong creative tools greatly overshadowing its anemic management core, and it's disappointing — if perhaps not impossible — to see these weaknesses carry over into the sequel. Particularly surprising words. It may include a range of new management options – from water filtration to electricity distribution – but implementation will be superficial. Even the water park, Planet Coaster 2's flagship new feature, only exists—there are more holes to dig, employees to hire, and rides to build—with little way to expand the integration.
Despite improvements to its architecture, Planet Coaster 2 feels like its management aspect is further marginalized, its two halves coexisting and occasionally intertwining, but never in a particularly interesting or convincing way. It's a step back from Frontier's wonderful Planet Zoo, which struck a convincing balance between park management and beautification. It's especially weak compared to Texel Raptor's Parkitect, which was created with a fraction of Frontier's resources and, despite its ostensibly retro feel, feels like a true evolution of the classic theme park simulation formula. Parkitect's savvy logistics layer for cargo delivery, meaningful distinctions between “backstage” and “frontstage,” not to mention its far-reaching weather system, all bring real strategic cohesion between its two halves. By comparison, the few elements that Planet Coaster 2 borrows from Parkitect—the weather and scenery scoring—feel distinctly underdeveloped and insular.
Planet Coaster 2 is more of a game for builders and tinkerers, “look what I did” content creators than the original, and that's perfect wonderfuleven if it does feel like a missed opportunity. Frontier's sequel is as undeniably hypnotic in its build and design as its predecessor – arguably even more so given its numerous toolkit improvements – with time disappearing into a happy mist of meticulous rock placement , or your brand new coaster in a bank sweep. The problem is, for all that's good, Planet Coaster 2 often feels oddly backwards – clunky, counterintuitive, or just plain contradictory – and is always, in its own way, irritating .
Simply navigating menus was often a tedious and frustrating exercise, and Fronter tried to design an interface that worked with both keyboard and mouse as well as controllers, but it never quite worked for anyone. Menu organization isn't intuitive, key information is often lost or obscured by poor or inconsistent presentation, advanced settings often go unexplained…it's all done in a similarly sloppy way. For example, why doesn't the studio have a filter for flat rides? Individually, these issues feel like surmountable quirks, but collectively, they're just exhausting.
It doesn't help that feedback is often poor, even contradictory, to the point where it's hard to tell what's your failure or the game's failure. At one point I was told “Staff are trying to enter the staff building which is at capacity”, followed immediately by the message “There is no staff building”. It's encouraging that Frontier has begun to address some of the more serious issues in Planet Coaster 2, with more substantial tweaks coming in December, but it's still hard to shake off the feeling of regression elsewhere.
Of course, the selection of rides is really great, with some exciting additions – tilting coaster platforms, backwards flume, oh god! While building the “park” part of a theme park is easy and enjoyable, Planet Coaster 2 seems to struggle in this area. theme. Gone are the visually distinctive archetypal themes of the original game – pirate, sci-fi, horror and western. Instead, in their place are less obvious choices: Aquatic, Mythical, Viking, Tropical Resort, and Pleasant Enterprise. The mix results in a bland sludge of vaguely vacation-themed visuals—half resort, half regular amusement park—that don't exactly have creative potential. Additionally, Planet Coaster 2's building blocks leave a lot to be desired, with pre-made decorations, animatronics, and interior scene blueprints all clearly in short supply.
After playing a few hours in the original Planet Coaster, I made a surprisingly complex Pirates of the Caribbean knockoff, complete with sword-wielding pirates, burning ships, and cannonballs splashing through the water; By contrast, the most exotic corner of my park in Planet Coaster 2 was a sad cave with a singing eel inside. Yes, it's definitely possible to improvise something more fantastical using geometric shapes and elaborate props, but not everyone is willing to delve into these tools. Of course, Planet Coaster 2's new in-game workshop means design-minded players can upload and share their creations with anyone looking for a more casual gaming experience – but it all feels a little off-putting, just It's as if Frontier shifted critical groundwork to the community. The more significant gap in Planet Coaster 2 feels even more cynical now that it comes with £18 worth of DLC on launch day.
At its best, Planet Coaster 2 inherits much of the magic of its predecessor, with polished presentation and powerful tools that showcase the game's limitless creative potential. But its unmistakable fun is marred by distractions and frustrations, missed opportunities and too many glaring holes that seem to be vital. Things may improve as Planet Coaster evolves, but right now, for all its core improvements, it often feels inferior to its predecessor in many ways.
Frontier Developments provided a copy of Planet Coaster 2 for review.
