One of the biggest games of the year is Bullfrog's Theme Park. Chances are you've heard of it, but, for those not 'in the know', here's the plot. You have money. Not a lot, but enough to set you on your way to build, run and maintain a theme park.

For many of you, the thrill will be in the creation of the attractions; the building of the rides, the arrangement of the parks, paths, shops, lakes and burger bars - you name it, you can do it. But the more sober among you may prefer the financial management aspect - your park needs to make a profit otherwise bankruptcy is a very real possibility.

Creating the park is a simple process of clicking on icons and shifting the bits and pieces to particular areas and as your skills develop you learn the best positions to place the amenities - like sticking toilets near the exit to stop folk drifting off simply because they need to spend a penny. The people, your customers, are the most important factor - keep them happy and business will bowl along nicely.

This version differs from the AGA in that there are fewer rides, less shops and only young people visiting the park. In general, it's a little less flash than its posh counterpart but it remains a great game and one of the most accessible sims around.

New readers to AMIGA POWER will no doubt be baffled to find a humble single page near the back of the reviews section devoted to such a glamorous and much-awaited game as Theme Park.

Well, dear readers (and you are dear to us, we love each and everyone one of you. Sort of) it's because we raved about the A1200 version back in AP42, and very nice it was too. It got 91% and everything, and we promised to tell you about the A500 version the moment we got it in. Hence this page.

SPACE THEME
Standard Amiga owners who were dazzled by the wondrousness of the A1200 game and then sickened to the core by bilious jealousy of all A1200 owners will be glad to know that the A500 version remains as fun to play and fine to look at as its posher big brother.

Yeah, okay, corners have been cut and bits taken out, but unless you've actually played the A1200 version a lot, you're going to have a hard time finding fault with this one.

Remember the flashy rendered into to the A1200 version? Of course you don't, because we didn't use any pictures of it in the review or take up any space taking about it. With a game as complex and involved as Theme Park, why should we have wasted space talking about an intro that's very and all, but that you're only going to watch a few times before heading straight for the game? Anyway, it's not in this version, and it's no great loss. Although it was good. Especially the bits with the dog in.

PARK, MORE LIKE
The A1200 version had a lullingly hypnotic sound loop of happy crowds and fairground ambience that started to pop up in my drams after a few days, and that's not in this version either. Neither's the electric sign over the gates that scrolls the name of your park, or the white paving slabs at the sides of the path.

The coffee shops and ice-cream franchises are no longer in huge fiberglass cups or cones, and all the small stands are in generic wooden huts with little signs on the front. Only the Chicken Men survive as entertainers (with the Sinister Teddy Men reduced to lurking elsewhere) and if you scan the crowds, you'll notice that there aren't as many different faces.

Why this list of little changes? What point am I trying to make? Well, the whole game's full of compromises to the graphics, running speed or memory of the standard Amiga, but by making these changes Bullfrog haven't compromised the game itself. I'm sure it would have been much easier to take out entire sections of the game, but you can still play it at varying levels of complexity, plan your park, manage your staff levels and invest in development for rides, facilities and forthcoming attractions.

There's still the same number of countries to set your park in, still the same number of order and management screens and, although the financial matters have been simplified a little, there's still the same 'tool of the devil' sponsorship deal with a major high street bank.

I was worried that this version might chug along so slowly as to render the game unplayable, but it's fine, although it does drag its heels a little as your parks get bigger. And as it comes on just two disks, rather than the 1200 version's four, there isn't even the problem of needing to play it from a hard drive, as there's little disk swapping. None if you've got a second disk drive, of course.

All in all, it's a huge thumbs up for Bullfrog. There are fewer shops and fewer rides, but that's a small price to pay for such a great game. Seeing as the alternative was no A500 version at all, it's a fine compromise.

So run out and buy it today. No, drop this magazine right this second and run out and buy it, not because the review's convinced you (because, let's face it, if you didn't read the review in AP42, you won't have a clue what the game's about) but because I say so. And I'm unusually big and enjoy reading about attack helicopters. Oh yes.

It seemed as though Bullfrog could do no wrong with top-selling Populous, Powermonger and Syndicate behind it and Theme Park on the way with great expectations.

Most of which were fully met when it finally made it out in September of this year. Unfortunately it could be the last Amiga game to emerge from Peter Molyneux's Berkshire development house and the big problem from fans of Theme Park was that it was AGA only.

Why, if overall Amiga software sales are decreasing, does someone bring out a game which works on less than half of the used Amigas in the country? The answer is that because Bullfrog are developing mainly for PC nowadays an AGA version was easier to convert immediately from that format.

They had always planned an all Amiga version, but weren't quite sure if and how they cold do it properly. But they have. And it's good.

LESS DISKS
Giving this game of editorial in yet another magazine may seem like overkill. I could have saved myself both time and energy simply by telling you to buy the blasted thing and stop reading about it because it's brill, but then you wouldn't be getting value for money with one sentence on the page, would you?

However if you've read our previous review of the A1200 version (Sept '94) and like the sound of it then stop reading right now, there are no changes in gameplay and minimal changes in graphic content, in fact the biggest difference is that there are less disks!

However, for those as yet uninitiated in Theme Park's ways and who haven't bothered trying out this month's exclusive Christmas cover demo here's how it goes.

You inherit a lorry load of money, how much depends on the level you select, and build a Theme Park for the hell of it. You start off in dear old England by default, because it's cheaper than anywhere else in the world (now aren't you glad the government blocked the EC Social Charter, making us more competitive) and make paths, set up shops and attractions and charge 'little people' money for partaking in the merriment.

The first difficulty level is called the Sandbox game, where you are given access to rides and staff and only have to plan things properly to keep the punters happy; which may seem difficult at first because they are a demanding bunch, but soon gets easy and turns into more fun than challenge.

Difficulty level two is known as the Sim Game, which not only provides you with less money but less initial resources too. In this game you have to deal with labour unions, research and invent new rides and improve park facilities and amenities.

The highest level of difficulty is the Business Game where you have to juggle more figures than ever, keeping shop stock levels high enough without tying too much money up in stuff that's not selling fast and buying and selling stakes in other, Rival Theme Parks.

This level is by fast the most involving, won't put it down until the early hours of the morning, part. It is complicated and major profits will be lost if your money is put in the wrong place. There is also competition from the other (computer) theme park owners.

GRAPHICS
Graphically this game is as cute as can be. There is a slight loss of detail and animation quality in the transition from AGA, but the characters were never that accurate anyway and the whole cartoon look is admirably retained.

Theme Park is easy to pick up and play and the tutorial introduction is brilliant, allowing beginners the chance to get an idea of how a park is constructed and functions without being too long or laborious.

Theme Park is more accessible but also more quirky than a game like Sim City 2000 which, I suppose, is its nearest rival (though not on your A500/A600). It appeals more to the business and fun-minded and to something in our childhood past rather than the egotistical world builder in all of us.

It is a brave and original title and although I'm afraid I wouldn't play it for ever, unlike our original A1200 reviewer Cal Jones, I can heartily recommend it to all sim fans.

The main aim of Theme Park is simple. Start out with a modest wad of cash, build, maintain and constantly seek to improve a Theme Park and squeeze every last penny of profitability out of it.

To do this efficiently and effectively, you must learn and master the mechanics and disciplines of the game, but even before you do this you must first build your park. This is deceptively simple to do. Imagine cutting and pasting brushes and creating a collage in Deluxe Paint IV. That's basically what it's like. Only simpler and faster.

After initially mucking about and placing things willy nilly, the game forces you to think in terms of design. The aim of this is to make the most efficient use of space to maximise the number of rides, shops and amenities that constitute a profitable Theme Park.

This is easier said than done. Only after many plays does visualisation of space-efficient designs begin to take place in your mind's eye. By this time, you'll have interacted with the little computer people who visit the park. There's a lot more to these small folk than meets the cartoon graphic eye. Each one has sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms programmed into their metaphorical little brains.

Apart from the initial sum of money you get at the start of the game, these people are your only source of income and need cultivation as a profitable resource. Each of them has their own traits and preferences, and acquainting yourself with their peccadilloes makes sense.

For example, young people pay most attention to the exciting rides, The more exciting rides you have, the longer they'll stay in your park. The longer they stay in the park, the more they'll spend on the rides and food. The more they spend, the more profit you make. The more profit you make, the more you'll be able to spend on building exciting rides. The more exciting you make the ries, the more young people you'll attract - ad infinitum.

Swings and roundabouts
Young people are only one of several niche types worth exploiting. But what about the oldies? They've got money to spend too. But their wants and needs are different. They're more likely to be impressed by facilities such as toilets, the amount of litter on the ground, the pleasantness of the surroundings and the quality of the amenities. So catering for older people should be a consideration too.

To aid you in your understanding of what the punters are thinking, you can opt to question them as they walk about the park - a form of instant market research. Replies are shown as thought bubbles above their heads.

There are many grumbles to be gauged. They can take the shape of the person being too hungry, too thirsty, peeved at the price of admission, hacked off at the lack of basic facilities, disappointed in the attitude of the staff and so on. There are so many of these that it takes ages to remember them all.

Keeping the almost innumerable variables balanced in your head is one of the great strengths of the game, but due to the very nature of the game's goals and mechanics, there's no perfect way to run the Theme Park and you'll constantly think of new ideas and approaches. Not one single theory can claim supremacy.

It's a mathematical model of life in a micro consumerist environment. In fact, if the mayor of Sim City met Rogue Supermarket Manager in a Theme Park, they'd probably dream up Peter Molyneux's prodigy. Theme Park lets you realise the dream.

It's a test of your intellectual capacity and ability to juggle figures in your head. Propeller-head marketing whizzkids with attitude, perceptive advertising people, retail managers with flair and anyone else who's ever balanced a budget will find rewards in the boundaries of this cyberspace theme park

Big wheel of fortune
The poorer your strategies and management skills, the quicker you fail - just like real life business ventures. But this time, bankruptcy means that you can start afresh without the worry of the bailiffs coming round to haunt you.

The way that the four core marketing concepts of product, price, place and promotion meld together to form such an entertaining whole is amazing. Marketing is as boring a subject as economics, yet Theme Park builds on these rudiments in a way that induces worryingly compulsive behaviour.

If you buy this game, set aside a pre-ordained time. Set an alarm if necessary. Do no overstep this time. If you do, prepare for a never-ending rollercoaster ride to game addiction hell. It's that intense. So hey, be careful out there.

First there was Populous, and the there was another one. Of it. Then there was Syndicate, a sort of future Populous with guns, and killing and stuff. And now there's Theme Park, a game best described as Nice Populous with a bit of Happy Syndicate thrown in for good measure. I'll say one thing for Bullfrog, they certainly like their forced-perspective, highly-populated world, master-of-all-your-survey games.

I'm sitting here trying to work out what to write after about four days of playing Theme Park and I'm having all sorts of problems. It is a very, very big game. It is a game of epic proportions. It is a game that modern urban myths and legends are based on, and possibly so large that any single human brain might well explode if all the facts and details were crammed into it, and the thing is that even after sitting in front of an Amiga for far longer than is healthy, even though I ignored advice to take ten-minute breaks and ploughed mamoth sessions building up my own entertainment empire, even though my food intake has consisted entirely of pasties, coffee and yoghurt, I still haven't built a rollercoaster, developed all of the 36 or so rides or got anywhere near taking over the world. Not being sent a manual didn't help much either, mutter moan grumble etc.

Theme Park is a multitextural game that works on a fascinating number of eclectic levels (You have to do lots of things - Ed) but on the surface layer, it's similar to Sim City. You're given a finite amount of space in which to build your park, and you've got to work out the best way to make the punters part with their money using all the underhand and sinister methods that modern creative marketing can manage.

You could, for example, concentrate everything in a small space near the entrance, but such a dense network of paths might confuse the public. At the other end of the spectrum, you could run a path right around the park area and dot rides all over the place, but there again, the public could well get bored with all the walking. Finding the right balance is the key to success.

CONTROL
On a broad level, Theme Park is similar to Syndicate in that you've got to try and conquer all areas of the world by building parks all over the place, but unlike Syndicate when you leave a country you sell your park and use the proceeds to buy another one.

Different countries have varying tax rates, real estate prices and terms for loan repayments. They've also got differing weather conditions, so whereas Europe's rainy and miserable (a fact the Euro Disney people found out the expensive way, tee-hee) and not really the right climate for outdoor entertainment, California is great. Yakutsk in Northern Siberia, with its freezing weather and minimal population, is rated as fiendishly hard for obvious reasons.

Casually observing the game it seems like the tourists wander around randomly, but not so. They talk to each other, react to all manner of different stimuli and have drastic mood swings, and it's this 'intelligence' that makes Theme Park fascinating.

If tourists go on a ride and like it, they'll tell the people they meet, who will in turn want to go on the ride. However, if they eat a stodgy, overpriced burger, have to queue to use a smelly toilet or are forced to walk for ages to buy a drink, they'll gradually get more and more miserable, put a downer on everyone else's day and eventually head for the exit.

Making (and keeping) the tourists happy is a job that uses the majority of Theme Park's strands of gameplay and once you see how they work together you start to realise what a complex game this is. You can only increase the admission when you've got more attractions (otherwise consumer groups complain) so you've got to plough money into research for new rides. Keeping the tourists well-fed produces more litter, so you've got to employ more maintenance men.

Planning rides with long queues commits tourists to the ride, but you've got to keep them entertained by employing a Rhinoman or two. You see? It all interlocks.

As well as making pots of cash you compete against up to other 40 theme parks for the annual awards. To date, I've managed to have the most aesthetically pleasing parks (which I put down to scented bushes around the toilets and tree-lined promenades) but consistently lose massive amounts of money due to my inability to swindle people and sack malingering staff.

When I discovered two Teddy Men (the cheapest and therefore most suspect members of the staff) lying in the path I assumed they were drunk or something and instantly sacked them, only to discover they'd been mugged. Oops. In another (possibly apocryphical) tale, a writer on PC Format magazine swears blind that he saw a Chicken Man sloping off into the bushes and smoking a quick ciggy. Still, these stories all go towards showing you what an intricate little world it is.

To go on and on about all the features would take up another four pages, so I'd better cram in a bit of comment at the end. Despite the obvious cute look of the game, it doesn't take you long to realise that it is all a bit hard nosed and cynical. That's not a bad thing of course, as you're supposed to be making loads of cash, but after an hour I was starting to wonder I'll ever go to a 'theme park' again.

Marking up toys over 100%, watering down the booze in the bar and packing burgers full of fat instead of meat are the only ways you're going to afford repayments on your loans and survive in the cut and thrust world of international fairgrounds.

CRUELTY
Against all my expectations, the business side of it is really fun, and once you've played the game with it and go back to the Sandbox level (where you just plan out the park) it all seems very sparse. Setting out paths, making sure tourists don't get lost and trying to channel them towards shops is fun for a while, but trying to keep your income higher than your outgoings is truly the sport of kings. Sacking staff may be distressing, but it's not as bad as watching a ride explode because the mechanics were overworked.

The bits I don't like is the staff and goods negotiation screens, which are intrusive and always seem to happen when I've gone to make some tea. Every year or so, you've got to agree on stock and wage rise, but using the system or moving a hand up and down a scale until you quite literally shake on it means that I'm always committing 20% rises. Apparently you can get it as low as four, but I've never managed it.

And that's my criticism? Well, yes, I suppose it is. I could go on about how you use the mouse and how the system of placing rides works, but why bother? The tutorial section of the finished game's on the front of this mag, so you can find out all that stuff by playing. If you've not played it then why not? If you haven't got a computer then why are you reading this? What are you, weird or something?

But anyway, if the music gets too annoying, you can ditch that, if the year's dragging by you can speed it up and if you're not getting new rides fast enough, you can pumps masses into research.

CRASH
You're given warnings as you run out of cash so the end isn't a surprise and you've ten save positions to record your triumphant rise and (in my case) breakneck decline. Bear in mind that the game takes hours and hours to play and is likely to ruin sleep patterns, marriages and exam revision schedules. IN short, it could well destroy your life.

Bear in mind also that I realise that I've only skimmed the surface of the seemingly myriad possibilities of this game. I dare say that when I've played it fully, I'll probably look back at the score and wish I'd added another percent or so. In six months or so. Maybe.

After the floods, lightning strikes and plagues of Populous, the wars of Powermonger and the flame-thrower carnage of Syndicate, Bullfrog's latest creating might seem a bit tame. Theme Park is very much a family game - it's not unlike Sim City, except that instead of fire stations and stadiums you're building roller coasters and burger bars, and ticket prices replace taxes as a source of income.

Violence doesn't seem to enter into it at all, unless you count people being sick, thugs who break into the park and beat up your entertainers and rides that explode, hurling the unfortunate customers into orbit. Still, what it lacks in violence it more than makes up for in the entertainment department. Theme Park is good fun, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

The game is based on a relatively simple idea: using money left to you by an eccentric aunt (which varies from $50,000 to $150,000 according to the level of difficulty) you have to build the ultimate theme park. It isn't just a case of slapping down roundabouts willy nilly - you also have to provide paths to walk on, food stands, gift shops and, of course, toilets.

You'll also need to employ people to take care of it. mechanics are a necessity, if you fail to keep your attractions in good working order, they explode, rendering both the ride and the ground it's built on unusable.

Handymen are also a must, because without them your park will start to disappear beneath a sea of burger boxes, coke tins and vomit. And then you need a security guard or two to evict troublemakers from your park. Finally, the kids need to be entertained, and who better to this than a bunch of second-rate, out of work actors dressed in various animal costumes?

LEVEL HEADED
You can play the game on three different levels. The most basic, the sandbox game, is suitable for younger players and those who are new to the game and don't want to dive in at the deep end. At this level, all you have to do is make sure that the money you spend on building rides and shops is balanced by the money you make from admission prices and shop goods. New attractions become available each year, and if you can afford to buy them, you can build them straight away.

The intermediate level is known as the sim game. You have to do everything you would in the sandbox game, but you also need to research almost everything which goes in the park because it doesn't just get handed to you automatically any more. This is where it starts to get tricky. Research costs a lot of money, (you can alter the amount from slightly pricey to horrendously expensive) and whilst it's tempting to get all the flashy rides as soon as possible, you could find yourself slipping heavily into the red if you spend too much.

Research money can be pumped into different areas. You can invent new rides or improve the ones you've already got, develop new shops and sideshow, make the park a even nicer place by creating better toilets, plants and fountains, pump money into staff training or boost the buses which bring the punters to the park.

It's up to you whether you concentrate your research money into one area or spread it across several, but don't forget that the shiny new roller coaster you just built is little consolation to the person who is forced to go to the toilet in a awfully cramped, dirty and smelly wooden outhouse.

In addition to research, you'll have to negotiate pay rises and increases in the price of stock for your shops. Every so often, the negotiation screen pops up, and you have to reach a deal with the union representative before the pile of biscuits in the centre of the table runs out.

You can raise and lower your offer, but if you fail to come to a compromise within the time allowed, bad things happen. If it's a pay dispute all your staff will stage a mass walk out and if your rides go up in smoke, there's no-one there to fix them. If it's a goods negotiation, the company supplying the goods will simply stop sending them. And that's bad, because hungry punters who can't find anything to eat will take the next bus home.

IT'S THE BUSINESS
The hardest level is the business game, and this features all of the above and more besides. On this level you have to order stocks for the shops in your park (and these always run out quickly), and you will also be able to make money buying and selling shares on the stock market.

Whichever level you choose to play at, there will be rival theme parks which are always trying to take away your customers, and on business level they can buy shares in your park or you could buy shares in theirs.

Theme Park has a lot going for it - it's colourful, addictive and fun. Unlike Sim City, you don't have to stop after you completed your park; instead you put it up for auction, take the money and start up a new one somewhere else in the world.

There are 22 different locations to conquer - Britain is the only one you can afford at the start of the game - and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The American parks are pretty straightforward because the weather is good and the population is rich, but try building one in Antarctica if you want a real challenge.

I haven't enjoyed a game this much for ages - in fact, it has become something of an obsession with me. Whether you're young and eager or old and jaded, Theme Park will keep you going into the wee small hours of the morning. Buy it.