RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic has been on mobile and Steam for many years, and it’s finally coming to Nintendo Switch this December, Atari announced Thursday. It’s available for preorder now on the eShop for $25.
Classic is actually a remastered bundle of the first two RollerCoaster Tycoon games and the three expansion packs: Toolkit, Wacky Worlds, and Time Twister, created by Chris Sawyer. The first debuted in 1999, and it set the standard for some of our favorite management sims. The series has staying power, too, although a lot of the recent entries have all been on mobile, especially for iOS. Atari released RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, which was made in conjunction with Sawyer, for iOS and Android in 2016, and on Steam in 2017. And by all accounts, despite its age, Classic is absolutely worth the time.
The Switch has other RollerCoaster Tycoon games — RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete Edition and RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe — but this is the first time these original, highly influential games are on the Nintendo Switch. It’s good timing too because this year is the 25th anniversary of the first title’s release. It’ll be out on December 5.
“Fans of RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic have been hoping for a Switch version, and we are excited to bring it to the platform, Ethan Stearns, Atari vice president of games publishing, said in a press release. “Bringing RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic to the Switch, with its massive install base, is an opportunity to reengage lapsed players, provide active players with another great hardware platform, and reach a new generation of players who will now discover the franchise on the Switch.”
Atari, which has been publishing the series since the third entry, worked with Graphite Lab on the port, specifically taking the mouse and keyboard controls and have them work on controller.