I remember being a fan of the old Theme Park game for the PC which I used to play years ago. When I discovered there was a DS version I had to get it!

If you remember the old version, this one is basically the same with a few minor differences. I love this. It's an old classic game, one that is annoyingly addictive, and is still entertaining now years after it's original release.

If you are unfamiliar with the game, here is a basic outline. You are challenged with the task of building your own theme park. You have to do everything from creating paths and hiring employees to building exciting rides and sideshows. You have to ensure that your rides stay maintained and do not break down, make sure your shops and restaurants don't run out of stock, and get your development team on the task of upgrading rides and developing more. The aim is to meet the targets set for each location. Some are easier than others.

When you first start, your first park will be built in Great Britain, which is an easy level. This is to get you into the game. To meet your targets you have to up the parks value by building rides, etc. and getting more customers. Once you have completed Great Britain you open up the option of building parks in a number of other locations each with a different type of terrain (beware, you can't build on rock) and different interest rates, economy statuses, and inflation rates.

Each time you start a new park you start with a couple of rides, food options and sideshows. Develop more and increase the bank balance and you are able to move up from a small bouncy castle to roller coasters and water rides. In general the rides are the same in each of the locations, but there are a few varieties (which I think is a new feature to the DS game) such as the London tea houses in Great Britain. You won't be going it alone though, you can pick one of 4 advisors to help you on your way (another new DS feature).

There are loads of things you are able to alter from how much salt you are putting on your fries to how long your rides last, to setting paths for your cleaners. You can barter with the unions over staffing costs and suppliers over costs of the goods you're buying from them. You have to think about things like location... It's not a pretty sight if you put a burger place next to a roller coaster. There really is a lot to this game for you to think about even though it's an old classic.

Some slightly (only slightly!) more techy stuff... The user interface on this version of the game is really easy to get used to. You use the stylus a lot in this game, as well as the buttons for navigating. The dual screen aspect means you can navigate the park on the bottom screen whilst being able to see the whole park on the top screen (as well as other useful things when you're on different screens such as bartering, etc). The graphics aren't amazing compared to other games out there, but are meant to represent the original graphics in the original game, which it does do pretty well. The sounds are generally theme park sounding noises with a little stereotypical theme park sounding tune in the background. I tend to play my DS with the sound off though, and sound isn't needed to play the game.
There is a choice of 6 different languages on the version I have, which are basically the most common European languages.

The age on the box is 3+ (as no violence, sexual references, etc according to the PEGI games ratings), but I would suggest you need to be a bit older in order to understand the game to the full and know what you are doing in regards to the various things that you need to be thinking about throughout the game.

A definite recommend if you enjoyed the original, or like similar business-ish type games. Currently on Amazon for £18.48, but I got mine cheaper, so have a shop around and enjoy. :-)