Developer(s) S. Brocklehurst Release 1985 | Publisher(s) Elite Systems Mode(s) Single player | |
Platform(s) ZX Spectrum
Amstrad CPC
Commodore 64 Genre(s) Action / Platform game / Puzzle | ||
Roller Coaster is a platform-based game which contains some strategy and puzzle elements. Uniquely it holds the claim of being the first video game to ever simulate amusement rides.
Contents
Roller Coaster was released in 1985 by British video game developer Elite Systems, to overwhelmingly positive reviews. It was, for a time, one of the most popular games for the ZX Spectrum.
Plot
The game takes place in and around an amusement park after closing-time.
The player takes control of the park's owner, Colonel G. Bogey. A disgruntled employee has scattered the takings all over the fairground in the form of money bags. The goal is to collect the money.
Gameplay
In order to complete the game, the player must collect every money bag which is strewn around the city-sized amusement park; even the money bags placed on precarious perches and in the middle of rides. In order to do this, gambles and risks will have to be taken. The player can also be killed instantaneously by some dangers. This can be caused by numerous careless acts such as jumping from a great height, getting skewered by an erratic turnstile. The player has ten lives. Once the protagonist has died ten times, the player loses and the game is over.
Dragon's Lair: The Legend
In 1990, Roller Coaster was ported to the Nintendo Game Boy as Dragon's Lair: The Legend, with the game's plot and graphics amended in order to closer resemble those of the original Dragon's Lair coin-op. As less of the playing area was visible in the Game Boy port than in the Spectrum version, the display was effectively a window on each of the original version's screens, scrolling within each one and flicking to the next when the edge of the screen was reached.