Truly epic park releases only come around every once in a while at New Element, and when they do, there's no feeling quite like it around the community. Parks like "Sea World Atlanta", "Tropico Horizons", "Mount Sinister", "Disney Dreams", "Atlantis: The Lost Empire", and of course "Universal's Island Xtreme" are all perfect examples of this, and now we can add one more to the list, the return of the greatest parkmaker of all time...Rivers of Babylon by sacoasterfreak aka "Snowbound Psycho". Only New Element's 4th RCT2 Spotlight, it's definitely the most exciting. Although Butterfinger's "Euroscape" debuted at #1 on my List, Rivers of Babylon has had months and months of eager anticipation leading up to the release, not to mention being the park that gets the honor of being known as "Snowbound's return park", not to mention SA's first NE release at all.

The park is classic SA, only modernized in RCT2. The themed area approach is a given, and just like some of his other legendary parks (the Legends series and Clockwork Dreams spring to mind), it uses the four-themed area formula to perfection. The first themed area is the Tibet-inspired Lhasa. A themed area based on Buddhist culture and principles, it features a terrific atmosphere, some completely exclusive ToonTowner custom theming, and flawless execution. It is here you'll find "Lotus", a B&M Flying Coaster themed to hang-gliding in the Himalayas, created in a dual-effort by SA and Joe Holland, each creating one half of the ride. The next area of the park is fittingly, Babylon, the entrance area of the park. This area of the park was completely re-modeled after SA pre-released this park long ago, so those that downloaded that version have nothing to worry about. "The 7th Wonder" coaster is a Drachen Fire clone, a SA trademark, and "Eden" is a truly beautiful rapids ride that takes up almost the entire center of the park. Next up is possibly the greatest themed area of all time (and definitely one of the largest), Lemuria, an interpretation of sorts on Atlantis. In actuality, it's the sister island of Atlantis, and although the themes are somewhat similar, there are some very obvious differences as well. My favorite ride in the park, "Eversio Lemuria", the newest in the line of classic SA Beemers (joining the two Leviathan coasters and Phoenix) is featured here, and is most probably the single best RCT2 ride created to date. This area is far from a one trick pony though, as you'll also find the beautiful "Flood" log flume, themed to the great flood of Biblical times. Not to mention, the best architecture and theming in the entire park is here. Finally, the Tulum area of the park, of Mexican inspiration, which features three coasters. First off, "Kuxan Suum" (or 'Road to the Sky' in english), a classy wooden coaster. There's also "Kukulkan-The Serpant God", a marvelous suspended coaster and even a ride for the kids, "Tecote", a Family Coaster. Well, enough of the write up for this park, hurry up and load this classic up. Like I said in the introduction, it's not very often a park of this magnitude gets released, so when it does..you really need to cherish it. Congratulations SA on your first NE Spotlight, and thanks again for bringing your aura back to the community...it definitely wasn't the same without you.