Thrillville

Last updated

Thrillville
Thrillville.png
European cover art
Developer(s) Frontier Developments
Publisher(s) LucasArts (North America)
Atari (Europe)
Composer(s) Alistair Lindsay
David Collins
Jesse Harlin
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox
Release
  • NA: November 21, 2006
  • PAL: December 1, 2006 (PS2)
  • AU: February 2, 2007 (PSP)
  • EU: February 9, 2007 (PSP)
Genre(s) Management simulator
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer

Thrillville is a simulation and strategy video game developed by Frontier Developments that depicts theme park management, similar to RollerCoaster Tycoon . Thrillville is available for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and, in North America, Xbox.

Contents

The original Xbox version of Thrillville was made backwards compatible on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on November 15, 2021. [1]

The PlayStation Portable version of the game was made available on PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 on December 19, 2023. [2]

Plot

The player is left a voice message by their Uncle Mortimer (Brian Greene), an eccentric inventor and theme park owner with a voice and personality similar to Doc Emmett Brown, who has reviewed the player's roller coaster designs. Enamored with the designs, he tasks the player with managing his theme park, Thrillville. After successfully managing Thrillville, a competitor, billionaire Vernon Garrison, enters the theme-park market with his brand Globo-Joy to challenge Mortimer and Thrillville. The player is then assigned to manage Thrillville Timewarp, a park with many rides and attractions that are old or broken down. Additionally, it is discovered that Globo-Joy is sabotaging the park. After restoring Timewarp and undoing Globo-Joy's sabotage, the player is sent to manage Thrillville Paradise, where Globo-Joy is using bugs to commit corporate espionage and steal Mortimer's ideas. After discovering the bugs, Mortimer designs a fake flea-themed park, which Mortimer allows Garrison to think is a real idea. Meanwhile, the player must manage Thrillville Adventures to compete with the increasing popularity of Globo-Joy parks. Finally, Garrison is tricked into stealing Mortimer's idea and creating Lice Land, whose catastrophic failure leads Garrison to file for bankruptcy. The player is then given access to Treasures of Thrillville, the fifth and final park.

Gameplay

The concept of the game is to design and build a theme park that will satisfy tourists looking for a thrill. Park guests must be kept happy by use of roller coasters and race tracks, carnival rides, and games like bumper cars and arcade games. In party play mode, players can play all the minigames available against the computer or friends. The player can build facilities that would be available in amusement parks, such as bathrooms, food stalls, drink stalls, and even hat and balloon stalls. The player may also talk and interact with their guests to become friends. If using a teen character, the player may also flirt with the opposite sex. The player can play minigames to gain money, make loans, and hire staff to clean, entertain, and fix rides. Keeping park guests happy will increase publicity and money.

The game provides missions to the players, divided into five categories: upkeep, which involves taking control of staff to keep the park in working order; build, which involves building and upgrading attractions; games, which involves playing and winning games throughout the park; business, which involves managing the park's finances, advertisement campaigns, etc.; and guests, which involves interacting with the park's guests. After completing enough missions, the player is allowed to move onto another theme park.

There are five parks in total: Thrillville, Thrillville Timewarp, Thrillville Paradise, Thrillville Adventures, and Treasures of Thrillville; each park is divided into three sections with their own unique theme.

Development

The game was announced by Frontier on June 5, 2006, where they confirmed they would self-publish the game in Europe and Asia, while LucasArts would publish in North America. [3] On June 8, Atari announced they would distribute the game in the former two territories. [lower-alpha 1] [4]

Reception

The game received "average" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [5] [6] [7]

The A.V. Club gave the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions a B, saying: "You'll be extremely busy when you get started. Luckily, the game is forgiving, so you don't have to worry about going out of business if you'd rather go off and train cheerleaders. It's your park; have fun with it." [23] However, The Times gave the PS2 and PSP versions three stars out of five, saying: "There is plenty to do in the management of the park and great rewards for success. However, all this is undermined because it is much more fun to play one of the driving, mini-golf, shooting or football games than do all the menial things." [24] The Sydney Morning Herald gave the PS2 version two stars out of five, saying that "A trip to Thrillville takes you on a long, unnecessary detour through Dullsville." [25]

Sequel

A sequel, Thrillville: Off the Rails , was released on October 16, 2007, for PSP, Wii, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS.

Frontier Developments returned to create Off the Rails for all mentioned platforms, except for the DS version, which was developed by DC Studios instead. The game features over 20 rides and over 30 minigames, as well as new types of coasters called Whoa! Coasters.

Frontier Developments continued their development of theme park management games with the release of Planet Coaster in 2016.

Related Research Articles

<i>RollerCoaster Tycoon</i> Video game series

RollerCoaster Tycoon is a series of construction and management simulation games about building and managing an amusement park. Each game in the series challenges players with open-ended amusement park management and development, and allowing players to construct and customize their own unique roller coasters and other thrill rides.

<i>RollerCoaster Tycoon 3</i> Amusement park construction and management simulation video game

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is a 2004 construction and management simulation video game. It is the third installment in the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, and was developed by Frontier Developments and published by Atari Interactive. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 places players in charge of managing amusement parks; rides can be built or demolished, terrain and scenery can be adjusted, and prices can be controlled to keep visitors happy.

<i>Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition</i> 2005 racing video game

Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition is a 2005 racing video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third installment in the Midnight Club series. Like previous installments in the series, the game is an arcade-style racer and focuses on wild, high-speed racing, rather than realistic physics and driving. The name is derived from a partnership between Rockstar and DUB Magazine, which features heavily in the game in the form of DUB-sponsored races and DUB-customized vehicles as prizes.

<i>SSX on Tour</i> 2005 video game

SSX on Tour is a 2005 extreme sports game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PlayStation Portable. It is the fourth title in the SSX series.

<i>FIFA 06</i> 2005 video game

FIFA 06, known as FIFA Soccer 06 in North America, is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released in the United States on 4 October 2005 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo DS. It was later released for PlayStation Portable, Game Boy Advance and mobile phones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frontier Developments</span> British video game studio (founded 1994)

Frontier Developments plc. is a British video game developer founded by David Braben in January 1994 and based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. Frontier develops management simulators Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo, and has produced several games in David Braben's Elite series, including Elite Dangerous. The company takes its name from the earliest titles in the Elite series with which it was involved, a port of Frontier: Elite II and development of Frontier: First Encounters. In 2013, the company was listed on the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange. It published third-party games under the Frontier Foundry label between 2019 and 2022.

<i>Test Drive Unlimited</i> 2006 video game

Test Drive Unlimited is a 2006 racing video game developed by Eden Games and published by Atari for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. Atari Melbourne House developed the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions. Being the eighteenth entry in the Test Drive series, Unlimited serves as a reboot of the franchise, discarding the continuity of the previous games. The game features over 125 licensed sports cars and motorcycles and the terrain is modeled after the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu that features over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of roads and highways.

<i>Pro Evolution Soccer 5</i> 2005 video game

Pro Evolution Soccer 5, known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 9 in Japan and North America, is a 2005 football sports simulation video game developed and produced by Konami as part of the Pro Evolution Soccer series.

<i>NBA Live 06</i> 2005 video game

NBA Live 06 is a 2005 installment of the NBA Live series released for Windows, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, and mobile devices. It was developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports publishing label. The game features several game modes, including Dynasty, Season, Playoffs, or Free Play. It features Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat on the cover. This was the last NBA Live game on the GameCube and it also was the first NBA Live game on the Xbox 360 as a launch title and on the PlayStation Portable.

<i>OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast</i> 2006 video game

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast, released as OutRun 2 SP in Japan, is a 2006 racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega for home systems. It is the ninth title in the Out Run series, and the final one to have a physical release. The game is an updated version of OutRun 2 and is split into two parts: a conversion of OutRun 2 SP and "Coast 2 Coast", which includes single-player races and challenges, and local network and internet multiplayer.

<i>Fight Night Round 3</i> 2006 boxing video game developed by EA Sports

Fight Night Round 3 is a boxing video game developed by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to EA Sports' previous boxing title, Fight Night Round 2, which was released in 2005. Fight Night Round 3 was released on February 21, 2006, for the Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2. The mobile phone version was released on November 30, 2006, and the PlayStation 3 version was released five days later.

<i>TOCA Race Driver 2</i> 2004 video game

TOCA Race Driver 2 is a racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for Xbox, Windows, PlayStation 2, Mobile and PlayStation Portable. It is the fifth game in the TOCA series.

<i>Major League Baseball 2K6</i> 2006 baseball video game

Major League Baseball 2K6 is a 2006 Major League Baseball licensed baseball video game developed by Kush Games and published by 2K. It was released for Xbox 360, Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. This is the first time the any 2K Sports game was released for a Nintendo system since the 2K3 Series of games and the first Major League Baseball 2K game as World Series Baseball 2K3 was canceled for the system along with the 2K4/ESPN Series of games.

<i>2006 FIFA World Cup</i> (video game) 2006 video game

2006 FIFA World Cup is the official video game for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, published by EA Sports. 2006 FIFA World Cup was released simultaneously on all major sixth-generation platforms, as well as Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS and Xbox 360 on 24 April 2006, in North America and four days later in Europe, with ports to mobile phones and the PlayStation Portable weeks later. This was the last game released for the Xbox in Asia. There are ten region-specific covers that feature a major player from each region.

<i>Pro Evolution Soccer 6</i> 2006 video game

Pro Evolution Soccer 6, known as Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 in the United States, is a video game developed and published by Konami. Released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows platforms and following on the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable afterward, Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is the 6th edition of the Pro Evolution Soccer series for the PlayStation 2, 2nd for the PlayStation Portable and 4th for Microsoft Windows. It is the first game to debut on the Nintendo DS and the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 version features improved graphics, but retains gameplay similar to the other console versions. The edit mode has been stripped down for the Xbox 360 release, due to time restrictions. The graphics engine on the PC does not utilise the next-gen 360 engine but is once more a direct conversion of the PlayStation 2 engine.

<i>Splashdown</i> (video game) 2001 video game

Splashdown is a water racing video game developed by Rainbow Studios and published by Infogrames originally for the PlayStation 2 and was later ported to the Xbox. It was released under the Atari brand name.

<i>The Fast and the Furious</i> (2006 video game) 2006 video game

The Fast and the Furious is a 2006 racing game developed by Eutechnyx and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The game is based on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

<i>Thrillville: Off the Rails</i> 2007 video game

Thrillville: Off the Rails is a theme park simulation video game developed by Frontier Developments and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 2006 game Thrillville. The game was released worldwide in October 2007. DC Studios developed the Nintendo DS version, which is a completely different game.

<i>Planet Coaster</i> 2016 video game published by Frontier Developments

Planet Coaster is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Frontier Developments for Windows. It was released worldwide on 17 November 2016. Frontier had previously worked in the amusement park construction and management genre with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Thrillville, Thrillville: Off the Rails, and Zoo Tycoon. A version for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, known as Planet Coaster: Console Edition, was released worldwide on 10 November 2020. The PlayStation 5 version was released in North America and Australia on 12 November 2020 and in Europe on 19 November 2020. A macOS version, developed by Aspyr, was later released on 17 November 2020 on both Steam and Mac App Store.

References

  1. ↑ Warren, Tom (November 15, 2021). "Microsoft's Xbox backward compatibility program returns with 76 new games". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  2. ↑ "PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for December: Grand Theft Auto V, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Metal: Hellsinger and more". December 13, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Frontier and LucasArts take you to 'Thrillville', a new kind of theme-ark experience for Christmas 2006". June 5, 2006. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Atari to bring Thrillville to Europe". Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Thrillville for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic . Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Thrillville for PSP Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Thrillville for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  8. ↑ Edge staff (January 2007). "Thrillville (PS2)". Edge . No. 171. p. 85.
  9. 1 2 EGM staff (January 2007). "Thrillville (PS2, Xbox)". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 211. p. 106.
  10. ↑ Parkin, Simon (December 12, 2006). "Thrillville (PlayStation 2)". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Helgeson, Matt (December 2006). "Thrillville (PS2, Xbox)". Game Informer . No. 164. p. 130. Archived from the original on March 9, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  12. 1 2 World of Forms (November 22, 2006). "Review: Thrillville (PS2, Xbox)". GamePro . Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  13. 1 2 Parker, Tom (November 28, 2006). "Thrillville Review (PS2, Xbox)". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  14. ↑ GameSpot staff (November 21, 2006). "Thrillville Review (PS2)". GameSpot . Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  15. 1 2 GameSpot staff (November 21, 2006). "Thrillville Review (PSP, Xbox)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  16. 1 2 3 Theobald, Phil (November 21, 2006). "GameSpy: Thrillville". GameSpy. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  17. ↑ Zacarias, Eduardo (November 28, 2006). "Thrillville - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 5, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  18. ↑ Aceinet (November 19, 2006). "Thrillville - PSP - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  19. ↑ Knutson, Michael (November 27, 2006). "Thrillville - XB - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  20. 1 2 3 Lewis, Ed (November 21, 2006). "Thrillville Review". IGN . Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  21. 1 2 "Thrillville". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine . January 2007. p. 78.
  22. ↑ "Thrillville". Official Xbox Magazine . January 2007. p. 75.
  23. 1 2 3 Dahlen, Chris (January 3, 2007). "Thrillville (PS2, Xbox)". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on January 7, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  24. 1 2 3 McNamara, John (December 9, 2006). "Thrillville (PS2, PSP)". The Times . Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2017.(subscription required)
  25. ↑ Fish, Eliot (December 18, 2006). "Thrillville (PS2)". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  1. ↑ Although announcements say that Atari would only distribute, Atari are listed as the publisher on the packaging for both versions.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.