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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Awkward play -- not all TYCOONS are good!, January 2, 2002
Until a few weeks ago, I thought all "Tycoon" games were made by the company who brought us that wonderful game "Rollercoaster Tycoon" (Electronic Arts). While perusing the Sim aisle at my local computer store, I realized that in fact, many companies use the name "Tycoon" in their Sim games, and not all of them are of the same quality.How different could they all be? you ask. Well, I asked myself the same question, and figured that while some might be cheaper, it didn't necessarily mean that they would make for a poorer game. I got Fast Food Tycoon in my christmas stocking, and promptly installed it. Note: in the jewel case version of this game, there is no instruction manual. There is a "Read Me" file, but it doesn't give any hints as to gameplay. The startup menu was cool - bright colors and clever cartoony drawings. The beginning even has a 3D animation depicting the neighborhood where your Pizza parlor will be located. Pretty cool. (Oh, and "Pizza Parlor Tycoon" would have been a more accurate moniker, as there aren't any choices as far as fast food joints go). I also got to choose my own company logo & signature color. Also cool. So, I start with the tutorial, which is so annoying I have to turn it off and try to figure the game out on my own. (Why is it annoying? I have to sit and wait while information scrolls slowly across a little dialog bubble whenever I move my cursor over something. Then, the tutorial ends before I've really learned anything.) Another note: apparently the proofreading team wasn't all that great, as at this point, five minutes into the game, I've come across about five misspellings and/or typos. The play screen has picture icons lining every side of the screen, none of which is self-explanatory, and several of which overlap (for instance, the "staff" icon shows up in three different places, and each one does a slightly different thing). And that's the least complicated aspect of the interface. (If you're into complicated gaming, then maybe this game IS for you...) There are the basic Sim things to deal with before you can open your restaurant: furnishing your restaurant, hiring staff, determining your menu, ordering your supplies. And as I mentioned before, setting all these basic functions up is anything but easy to figure out. And, there are so many things to manage that it becomes difficult to oversee everything, especially since as far as I could tell, there was no way to pause or slow time. So, the tutorial tells me that the most important thing in the game is the special recipes of pizza you invent (it IS sort of fun to make pizzas -- there is a list of probably a hundred ingredients you get to put on the pizza including the usual suspects: olives, cheese, salami, etc, and some not-so-usuals: kiwifruit, maggots, lemon balm) based on the tastes of eight different demographics in the particular city you are playing in. The only problem is, this is so hit-or-miss that it's virtually impossible to come up with a pizza that anyone actually likes. There are aspects to the game that are less typical in a Sim (and add to the interest of play), namely the decision whether to build your business legitimately or through less-legal means (no tutorials ever really broach this subject, by the way). You also have some pretty interesting choices in a couple of areas: financing (loan sharks offer competitive rates with several banks), and marketing (you get to choose from several firms that specialize in different forms of advertising), which I haven't seen in any other game. The problem with these, again, is simply that they are convoluted and difficult to understand. This review has run quite long, so let me sum it up. Basically, this game has potential if you can stick it out long enough to figure out how to work all its intricacies. However, you'll have to be a very patient person to get to that point. The idea behind the game was fun, but the team who planned it out needed to streamline, and distill everything (especially the interface) down to the very essence. Unfortunately, they didn't, and we are left with a game that is as hard to digest as a kiwi pizza with extra maggots. Wait until this one hits the dollar bin.
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