Screamride Xbox One

Well. This isn't the kind of thing you're supposed to be thinking when you play Screamride, which sets itself apart from the developer's own Rollercoaster Tycoon series in this regard. In the RCT series, a crash was always a tragedy; Screamride's thrill-seekers hoot and holler on their way towards collisions like the Duke boys sliding across the hood of the General Lee, and the rocktronica soundtrack doesn't miss a beat, even when the riders' ragdoll bodies thump against asphalt. They must enjoy it. So do I, actually, though your enjoyment depends on your willingness to cast aside memories of Rollercoaster Tycoon and its freedoms in favor of Screamride's hyper-happy attitude and unique mix of construction and destruction.

Add racing to that mix, too, if you want a fuller picture. Screamride is split into four discrete chunks: racing, demolition, engineering, and sandbox creation, locking creation tools behind gates that can only be opened by participating in career events. That's not the worst thing in the world--Little Big Planet manages to make the idea work, after all--but if coaster creation is your primary draw, busywork is mandatory. There are other limits that also stifle creative minds bursting with ideas, but forget about them for a moment. Instead, picture a roller coaster that gives its riders a modicum of control over speed and balance--coaster cars with brakes and accelerators, and with limited boosting capabilities, that let you lean into curves so you don't go flying from the tracks as you whip around corners.

Experiencing a coaster this way is called screamriding, and it closely resembles traditional racing, apart from the obvious limitation of being glued to the track, with the exception of jumps, or in circumstances when the race purposefully ends with a coaster train launching from the track and into a high-rise. You are an active participant, earning boost by pressing a button just as you near the end of a blue stretch of track, and using an analog stick to nudge the car left or right, either to keep the car on the track, or to navigate the twists the game throws in, such as monorails that require you to lean on two wheels. Of course, most of the twists are in the coaster design themselves. No real-life coaster would risk such barf-inducing curlicues, but in the Screamride fantasy, why not throw caution to the wind? The rider-view camera angles might inspire some waves of nausea for you, but I never felt like upchucking. Then again, I seem to be immune from coaster sickness in real life, too.

Real life coasters rarely allow you to reach speeds of 150 miles per hour, unless you're a regular at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. Early on, when navigation isn't so tricky, it's easy to enjoy the thrills; as the campaign progresses, you're more concerned with spotting where blue tracks ends so you can earn a spot of boost, and with avoiding spills that could cost you time. At advanced stages, Screamride isn't about the joys of riding roller coasters: It's about gaining as many points as you can and showing off your skills on the game's online leaderboards. The game's insistence on turning everything into a competition is its defining negative feature,