Virtual Resort: Spring Break

by Eidos

Product Features

• Build and watch a virtual paradise for wild students
• 12 different islands and over 50 different structures to build
• manage staff, attractions, events, prices, guests and more
• Play your own party music and take snapshots of cool moments
• For one player

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000068VC4
• Item Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 10, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,276 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

The more fun they have the more fun you have!Product InformationIt's time to slather on the suntan lotion slip on your flip-flops and headdown to the beach for an epic spring break party!  From the feverish flingsto sloshed scuffles to savage shark attacks with Virtual Spring Break you willexperience all the pleasure and pain of running your very own vacation hot spot.As the Spring Break kingpin you are in charge of creating a tropical playgroundteeming with coeds clubs cabanas and more. Once developed kick back and watchall of your guests' hedonistic holiday fun in the sun.  Product Features Experience all the outrageous fun of a spring beak vacation without risking a nasty sunburn or killer hangover. Build the ultimate tropical paradise on 12 unique islands using over 50 different structures from bungalows nightclubs and hot tubs to souvenir shops casinos and water parks. Live vicariously through your island vacationers enjoying such entertaining events as wet t-shirt contests talent competitions DJ gigs and party cruises. Burst out laughing at your partying guests’ hilarious antics such as dancing flirting kissing drunken brawls and much more… Create the most sought-after tropical getaway by skillfully fulfilling the demands of your sun-seeking guests each with individual needs and desires.  Expertly manage a full staff including resort reps waiters lifeguards security personnel construction workers and more. Party to the cool beats of Spring Break’s soundtrack or create your own using the in-game MP3 player. Quench your voyeuristic thirst by tracking your islanders with the aid of a built-in camera with zoom lens. Take photos of your favorite vacation moments to print or email to friends. Low system requirements means your Spring Break vacation is accessible from just about any PC including your laptop!Minimum Requirements Windows 98 Me XP (admin rights required)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a REALLY fun game!, September 30, 2002

By 

Derek G (North of Cyrodiil) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Virtual Resort: Spring Break (CD-ROM)

It's *almost* as addicting as The Sims. There, I said it. Out of the sim games out there, this is my favorite and because there are so many sim games out there, that's saying a lot! The graphics are really sharp, but be careful. I'm running a 1gig system with 256MB RAM and a Geforce2 Pro and it's just enough to keep it running good. Lesser systems might struggle.

The game is more "Virtual Resort" than it is "Spring Break" (it's sold as "Beach Life" in the U.K.) The object is simple enough, build a vacation spot that everyone will want to come to. At the beginning you start out with the basics, a hotel, a few food vendors, builders, cleaning staff, mechanics, and some extras to keep the guests happy. As you progress in the game, more and more items become available. Soon, you'll have discos, casinos, outdoor activities such as snorkeling and surfing gear, fishing trips, paddle-boats, plus a variety of different bars and nightclubs for people to spend their cash on. Each building has a certain appeal to males or females and you can tweak the settings such as the type of drinks served and even the alcohol strength of the drinks, how often you want the mechanic to stop by, the prices you want to charge, etc... Your staff operates in true sim fashion - work them too long and they'll start getting mad, pay them more and they'll work even harder, get too cheap and the lifeguard might look the other way as your guests drown or get eaten by sharks.

So what makes this game better than the other sim-knockoffs out there? In short, it's challenging but not extremely difficult, it's funny, and yes, it's addicting. I'm currently stuck on the seventh level and with most games hitting a roadblock is enough to make me put it down and look for something else. With this game, though, I keep coming back to it thinking maybe if I just tweak one more thing... Keeping everyone happy is a juggling act. With your limited funds you need to build what you can to keep your customers from getting mad and leaving. But once the money starts rolling in, you can splurge on the more expensive items to really get the party going and turn your operation into a five-star resort.

Customers have a variety of desires such as beautiful scenery, reasonable prices, cleanliness, a variety of places to eat and drink, members of the opposite sex to party with, and necessities like a nearby bathroom and accommodations to stay in. The developers have struck a nice balance of keeping you busy solving the various problems while still leaving you enough time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. One of the best parts of the game is following the guests around and reading what they're thinking about as they can say some really off-the-wall stuff. For instance, one of the guests might say "those two were beautiful-- the girl was really pretty too!" Feed someone a good meal and they might say something like "that meal was so good I'm not going to the toilet so I don't have to part company with it!"

As the game progresses, your missions become more risque. For instance, you might need to get a certain number of guests to go for a "romp" on the beach or you might have to get a certain number drunk within a certain time limit. It's not as easy as it sounds. I'm giving the beer away, yet I still can't seem to get enough people drunk to get to the next level (you'd think that'd be the least of my worries!) Plus, making the drinks too strong will cause fights to break out all over the place, vandalism, or even nonstop vomiting (much to the chagrin of the cleaning crew.)

I also have to give a thumbs-up to the great music included in the game. The only thing that bugs me is it tends to cut off the songs before they're finished. At first I thought it was a problem with the game until I realized it switches from a daytime selection of jazz and lounge to a nighttime selection of rhythmic club music. Even if you don't like this type of music, no problem, just copy your favorite mp3's into the game and you've got your own jukebox selection.

Is the game perfect? Not quite. It's not difficult or expensive to keep your staff happy, just pay them a little more than what they start off with and you won't even have to worry about them. You also have to make a lot of lucky guesses when building in areas with limited space as you don't know how big a particular building is going to be until you have the funds to buy it outright. This makes advance planning difficult. You can add scenic items such as trees, flowers, signs, lighting, fountains, and statues, but you can't modify the terrain itself. If that building won't fit because it's sitting on one little square of beach, you're out of luck. As you complete each mission, you can go back later and build a new resort from scratch in "sandbox" mode. It's a nice feature, but I doubt it will add much replayability to the game.

These are minor gripes, though. All in all, the game is a lot of fun to play and I haven't run into any bugs or system crashes either. If you like economic sims and the subject matter appeals to you I'd highly recommend it.

Hope the review helped!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spring Break = FUN!!!!, December 2, 2003

By 

Kala (Ft Lauderdale, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virtual Resort: Spring Break (CD-ROM)

Wow, this is another GREAT sim game! I wasn't expecting much when I bought it, but since I play every sim/tycoon game out there - I gave it a shot. I have to say, I was majorly impressed! The graphics are decent, the game is fun and runs well... it's great!

The basic premise is that you are building a spring break resort for all those crazy college kids (and more) to come visit. You have a gazillion different items/attractions to choose from, staff to hire, all the normal sim stuff. The best part though, is watching the little sim people run around your resort! They are so hilarious! It's funny to build a dance club and watch them all bounce around, or build a stage and have a wet t-shirt contest (hmm, all the guys on the beach just ran over)... there's so many different actions they do - it will keep you laughing all night!

My only complaint about the game is having no control over terrain. I wanted to build one of the water attractions, but there was no possible way to build it on some of the maps because of terrain issues. :( But since that's the only issue I had with the entire game - I am still giving it 5 stars. It was a blast and kept my attention for a long time. I still load it up sometimes and play, which is something I rarely do with most games! Highly recommend!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth the price, April 20, 2003

By 

Alain Moreau "cineaste3765" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virtual Resort: Spring Break (CD-ROM)

This is a nicely designed, easy to manipulate, sim/tycoon game. The graphics are good, and it has a low learning curve. Of course, these kinds of games are not for people who like action or shooters, so just know that there are no real "disasters" or anything.

I got tired of the limited number and type of items I could place, and would have liked to have seen a sort of "shop generator" or something to really customize it. You can't even change the colors on the buildings to create a theme or atmosphere.

Overall, though, it is worth the price, and will provide you with several hours of enjoyment. It is fun to go back to after you have sort of played it out, and just see what kinds of layouts you can create.

Happy gaming!