“Game reviews are not always fun and games. I have to admit that
Loki’s new Linux port, Railroad Tycoon II: Gold Edition is one of
those games that the editor asks you to try, but you are somewhat
sceptical about….”
“Now don’t get me wrong. After seeing this game, Railroad Tycoon
II (RT2) has changed my mind on non-combat, real-time strategy
games. This is a fun and addictive game that is in every way better
than the original Railroad Tycoon. In a rare effort for a sequel,
PopTop Software has taken the best aspects of Railroad Tycoon,
added innovative new facets of the stock market, and captured the
wild west atmosphere of the robber barons. This would have been the
game that J. P. Morgan would have wanted his managers to cut their
teeth on, and it would be the game for training today’s captains of
industry if it weren’t for the lack of the SEC, and Justice
Department lawyers. Nevertheless, this is a great game not just for
budding train modellers, but also for anyone interested in running
an industry….”
“A game that has no killing, no visible dismemberment, no
explosive effects is rare indeed. All games, unless they are sport-
related tend to have some measure of death and mayhem to legitimize
a competitive scoring system. In Railroad Tycoon II, the
competitive measure is greed. After all, “Greed is good.
Greed, for lack of a better word, is the purest form of survival of
the fittest” as intoned by Gordon Gecko, the character played by
Michael Douglas in the movie Wall Street. He couldn’t have said it
better for this game. Railroad Tycoon II is a combination of a
real-time strategy game, a railroad building set, and a stock
market simulation….”