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Fast Food Tycoon
by
Jolex Del Pilar
Friday, November 30, 2001
One of two "tycoon" sim/strategy games from Activision's Value series of gaming, this particular sim puts you in the role of a pizza man with a dream. If you build it, they will come, often sweaty and hungry.
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Title:
Fast Food Tycoon
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Platform:
PC |
Publisher:
Activision
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Developer:
Software 2000
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#
of Players: 1
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Genre:
Simulation
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Origin:
United States
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Expected
Release: Out now!
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Grapevine:
"We're jealous of the other major gaming websites, and their big bad media companies, who finance them with the money to eat regularly. Fortunately, Activision has shown mercy on us and given us the next best thing, a sim/strategy game about pizza !" |
--- Originally posted December 14, 2000
Contrary to popular belief, unlike the numerous staff members of many major gaming E-zines, we here at The Gaming Cove are not old, overweight, nor do we have an affection for heart clogging, fast food. In fact, most of us are in pretty good shape (although Christopher could be mistaken for a famished child).
Actually, the simple fact is, we would eat this food if we could, but we can't afford it. We're jealous of the other major gaming websites, and their big bad media companies, who finance them with the money to eat regularly. Fortunately, Activision has shown mercy on us and given us the next best thing, a sim/strategy game about pizza ! [Christopher: "Eating is over rated."].
Fast Food Tycoon is another game out of Activision's Value Series of gaming that we first got a glimpse of with Ski Resort Tycoon. The quality of games is actually turning out to be quite good, as Ski Resort Tycoon can attest to. For $20 a pop, you could do a lot worse, Professional Bull Rider anyone ?
Fast Food Tycoon, no relation at all to Hasbro Interactive's Roller Coaster Tycoon, is a game that puts you in the shoes of an aspiring pizza man, looking to conquer the globe with a chain of pizza restaurants. The premise is simple enough, all you have to do is pick a character, which you can design to your liking if you don't like the amount of pre-made choices. Afterwards, you pick a difficulty setting, how many competitors you want, then what cities will be used as "battlegrounds". The idea is, the more cities, the more land there is to conquer with your pizza chains. Before you begin tossing your pepperoni at unsuspecting customers in Hong Kong, or Cairo (20 cities from around the world), you should probably play the tutorial. The interface is fairly complicated and will take some time getting used to. Once you're done with the tutorial, start a real game, and get ready to go to war.
Depending on the scenario and difficulty level, you start the game off by begging for a loan from a bank that charges unreasonable interest. This money is the life-force behind your pizza dreams. Spend it well. Usually, it's good to start small, buying the smallest building possible and then providing common furnishings such as chairs, tables, wall decor, ovens, and a nice tiled floor. Next you hire staff from a random pool. These can include cooks, security guards, and waiters. You can hire them part time, or full time, depending on how much staff you need and how much money you're willing to fork over. Personally, I hire a few part time waiters, one full time security guard, and one full time cook. When that's done with, you can either use the predetermined menu that the computer uses or create your own menu by going to the pizza creation machine. Here you get a 2D image of a large pizza and you can drop any of the games 80 toppings onto the pizza. You can put big chunks of cheese or opt for smaller portions. It's all up to you. Keep in mind however that each topping cost a set amount of money, so loading a pizza with 5 pounds of sausage might not be a good idea if it ends up costing $30 a pizza. Once that's handled, you're pretty much set. However, you should probably look into some other items that might help your chain of pizzerias grow.
Advertising, as with any business, even The Gaming Cove, is an important part of success. In Fast Food Tycoon you must choose an advertising firm. Each firm has their strengths and differences, and some even firms have advertising methods that are more effective in certain countries which you'll be able to find out from the firm's description. Television is probably the most expensive of the advertising methods but probably brings in the most customers. The pizzerias themselves can run almost autonomously from your control if you like. The employees will more or less do their job, with a little help from you time to time. When a worker is getting stressed, give her shift to another person, when a manager is not performing well, fire that person and hire a more efficient one.
The economic model of Fast Food Tycoon is moderately complex. What I found to be the best sure fire way to hit the "big time" is too build slowly. Build one small restaurant, attain your "return customer" base (there's about 140 people per a city), and cater the choice of pizzas you serve to the geographic area (people in Hong Kong seem to like "ants" more so then other countries). Build larger operations within the city, with bigger restaurants and more staff, then think about going global with restaurants in Cairo, and Tokyo. If all else fails, you can hire elements of the underworld (gangsters) to help "take out" your competitors. They get a share of your profits and may break your legs if you don't pay up, but at least they'll do the same to your competitors for the right price.
The graphics of the game are sufficient for the game, bearing a slight resemblance to Sim City 3000 from Maxis. The cities are always bustling with tiny people coming and going into unrelated shops near your pizzeria, then coming in for a bite to eat once in a while. The amount of character types is surprising. I don't think I saw too many repeats during the review of this game. You have the kids, ranging from skateboarders to school kids looking for after school snacks, to mothers and fathers with children in tow, as well as VIP guest such as lawyers and doctors. It's important that you keep VIP guest happy and coming back, they usually spend the most money and bring in the most guest.
Sound wise, the game is full of little ambient sounds. The city is bustling with little tire screeches from speeding cars, and the murmur of people conversing around the city. Ambient music can run the gamut from poor quality techno to catchy jazz toons, and it's customizable too. Also, each country has a distinct theme, the Far East has a definite oriental theme to it with wind pipes and kotos playing in the background. Overall, the sound in the game is pretty good, no qualms here.
One gripe I do have, and it's a big one, is the general sloppiness of the interface. Granted it's not as bad or complex as say Deo Gratias, but it's still hectic enough to lose some points here. The menu absolutely swallows the game window as all the buttons surround the screen. Why not a few roll down menus ? If JavaScript equipped websites can do it, why not PC games ? Instead, everything is placed onto the screen all at once. Also, keeping track of staff and how many are in each restaurant is difficult at best. A statistical grid would have worked wonders here.
Fast Food Tycoon is a great little game that'll run you a few dollars in the pocket. It's complex, high quality, (especially for a bargain bin game) and genuinely fun. A few annoying items keep this game from attaining Gaming Cove Greatness, but this game is still respectable in its own right.
--- Jolex Del Pilar, VGLN Warlord
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