Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold

by Gathering of Developers

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002NDEU
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,006 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Meticulously detailed trains and buildings might make Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold look like a simulation aimed at model railroad aficionados, but don't be fooled. The real heart of the game is its detailed business simulation of 19th and 20th century railroad empires. At the beginning of a scenario or campaign you form a railroad company, and it then becomes your job to meet the expectations of your shareholders by supplying the goods and services demanded by the game's cities and industries.

It isn't easy. Those pretty trains chugging across the bucolic landscape have to be maintained, repaired, and replaced regularly or you run the risk of experiencing an expensive breakdown or crash. As the years tick by you must also adapt to historical demands. New industries spring up while others become less important. The passenger and mail routes that generate so much cash at the beginning of the game don't even cover your expenses once the automobile steals the show. The availability of new trains (the game models over 60), the fact that demands wax and wane over time, and the inclusion of a fully functioning stock market simulation that allows for hostile takeovers add up to a game where players always have something to do.

This Gold version of the game includes both the original Railroad Tycoon 2 and the expansion pack Railroad Tycoon 2: The Second Century along with 12 bonus scenarios and an electronic version of the strategy guide. It's enough to keep fans of business simulations and strategy games occupied for months. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Accurate yet fun business elements
• Always something to do
• Nice graphics and a terrific blues soundtrack

Cons:

• Micromanaging cargoes may be too tedious for casual gamers

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like building more than blowing up, November 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold (CD-ROM)

This is a satisfying and constructive game in which the gamer starts a company, lays track, builds stations, and decides what cars (loads) to carry. Among its STRENGTHS are the many scenarios; complexity varying from "sandbox" mode (build what you want without regard to cost or competitors) to difficult (facing AI opponents, and using an economic model involving stock market manipulations); easily available maps on the net; easy scenario and map creator;and the truly wonderful graphics, evocative of Thomas Hart Benton paintings. Among the WEAKNESSES are the absence of an undo button, useful because track-laying can be tricky; the relatively restricted choice of raw materials and industries to service; and a general sameness among scenarios, excepting the different areas of the world being covered. This is a very good game if you want to construct a (railroad) empire without devoting all your energies to fighting off military attacks, and if you find repeated actions, like changing the railroad cars, fun. This game will quickly become tedious to action junkies.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great enhancements but also big omissions from the original, December 2, 2000

By 

Marta (IL, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold (CD-ROM)

I browsed through the reviews by other players, and I am surprised that noone mentioned the original Railroad Tycoon, one of my all-time favorite games. My guess is that most people are too young here to have played it. For those who did, I think a comparison to the original would be in order.

First, I should say, I loved Railroad Tycoon 2. Railroad building is probably the most fun among the building games, I think because you not only build, but run your empire as well. RR2 is a good game on its own, and it builds on the strengths of the original and gives great enhancements.

GREAT IMPROVEMENTS over the original are obviously the graphics... since about 10 years has passed, this was a must. The addition of scenarios, is great, and provides not only loads of fun, but knowledge about the history of trains over the world as well. The addition of the stock market brings a new dimension to the game that is fun, however I found that sometimes it got in the way of railroad building fun, requiring too much attention to finances with too little control. I also liked the building of tracks with one click a lot; although an "undo" feature is greatly missing - the easy building also means it is easy to make a mistake, and often a costly one. My recommendation is to save before every major track building effort.

DISAPPOINTING OMISSIONS from the original include the often mentioned tunnel building, but my biggest disappointment was the less operational control over your trains. That really manifests itself when you already have a big railroad network, and your trains keep waiting on each other, because they are all using the same track, and you have no way to route them on an alternate track. Therefore I greatly miss the feature where you can tell a train to go through a station but not stop there, and the signals; both can be a great help in avoiding the crowding of trains. Another disappointment was the interface; although it is OK, and a lot of the immaturities of the original have been cleaned up, but it still follows the layout of the original that is largely menu-driven. The added-on financial market interface is rather tedious and unintuitive.

All in all, this is a very good game, greatly because it follows closely the original, and updates it to the new game standards. This game is great for everyone, but if you have played the original, you will wonder why PopTop omitted some great features that could have made this game so much better.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best business sims around!, December 24, 1999

By 

J. Weese (Russell, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold (CD-ROM)

If you like making money and a good challenge, this is the game for you. Laying track, building stations, and buying train engines is just the beginning of this complex game. You have to make decisions on where to lay track, which towns to service, and (in the scenerios provided) what is the best way to complete each scenerio. For scenerios, you are given at least 10 different maps to choose from, each with a different scenerio to complete and each with different computer opponents. In addition to trying to complete the requirements of each scenerio, you have to make decisions that keep your investors happy (or they will cut your salary) as well as personal financial decisions (or where to invest that salary) which gives the game a very "real-life" feel. To add to the "real-life" feel, the game can be played on-line or over a network with a group of your buddies which makes it even more fun. Overall, it is a great game which has incrediable graphics (trains, stations, towns, and landscape are drawn beautifully), a good manual, and is highly addictive. Actually, that is my only warning - if you like business simulation games like Rollercoaster Tycoon or previous versions of Railroad Tycoon - expect to spend several hours playing this game.