RCT Discussion / If they were released now...

Spotlights. We've had loads of them over the years, but I feel a lot of the older ones are left out nowadays. What I'd like to get a general consensus about how the community feels towards certain older spotlights/high quality parks, and whether if they were released now, if they would still get a spotlight vote. Especially considering that we seem to be moving away from the 'Every full scale park released gets a spotlight' era that we went through.

 

I'm sure this won't take off like I want, but it'd be great if people could have a look at the list below and tell me what they personally would vote that park nowadays. I'll include my list in there for starters as well.

 

Dreamport - 80% // Spotlight

Six Flags Caroline - 75% // Gold

Europa Park World Showcase - 75% // Gold

Zippo's Wacky World of Wonders - 85% // Spotlight

Magic Realms Resort - 65% // Silver

Busch Gardens San Simeon - 90% // Spotlight

Rocky Mountain Mystique - 70% // Gold

Isole Calabria - 95% // Spotlight

Islands of Enchantment - 85% // Spotlight

Baiht Oashyr Vel Thalloo - 80% // Gold

Disneysea Spain - 65% // Silver

The Aegean - 60% // Silver

Rivers of Babylon - 85% // Spotlight

 

 

I'll leave it there for now, but could go further back. I've tried to pick out a mixture of styles combined with the parks that I feel changed the community or had an impact on the way we built. What I'm looking to get out of this is not only a more accurate look at how people see these old parks, but maybe a sort of median line where we can say what was considered 80% in 2005 is now considered 60%, or what was 80% in 2010 is now 70%, etc. 

 

If people only want to score a few rather than all, then please try to take a variety. Also, please don't let nostalgia goggles influence you...don't vote 100% on The Aegean because Omg Natelox.

 

Hope to see some replies and understand a bit more where the community's preferences lie right now!

Your post leaves me with a few questions. First of all, there are two ways I can score an old park.
1) Considering its place in the timeline of NE
2) Score it as if it's completely new
Both result in different scores. Watkins Woods blew my mind in 2007, it was definitely a revolutionary park. That quality has been lost over time. Meanwhile a park like Rivers of Babylon has aged well because it didn't have such a focus on technique.

I don't like that your post assumes that a park's quality decreases over time as if it's a natural process, eg "[...] what was considered 80% in 2005 is now considered 60%, or what was 80% in 2010 is now 70%, etc."

Your post leaves me with a few questions. First of all, there are two ways I can score an old park.
1) Considering its place in the timeline of NE
2) Score it as if it's completely new
Both result in different scores. Watkins Woods blew my mind in 2007, it was definitely a revolutionary park. That quality has been lost over time. Meanwhile a park like Rivers of Babylon has aged well because it didn't have such a focus on technique.

 

I definitely mean in the second way, as if the park is completely new. Apologies if I didn't make that clear enough.

I don't like that your post assumes that a park's quality decreases over time as if it's a natural process, eg "[...] what was considered 80% in 2005 is now considered 60%, or what was 80% in 2010 is now 70%, etc."

 

 

I wouldn't say I'm assuming, what I'm trying to do is see if there is a pattern that alludes to that before making that statement. View that sentence as the hypothesis that we're testing. It might be true or it might be complete bollocks, but it'll be interesting either way.

Isole is great but extremely overrated IMO.  Probably a 65-70ish to me if it was released today.  Not even the best park of that style IMO, maybe not even in the top 5 for me.

 

Okay! Using your list:

Dreamport: 85% (was: 95%)
Six Flags Carolina: 75% (was: 90%)
Zippo's: 100%
Magic Realms: 80%
BGSS: 90%
Rocky Mountain Mystique: 75%
Isole Calabria: 85%
Baiht Oashyr Vel Thalloo: 80%
DisneySea Spain: 60%
The Aegean: 80%
Rivers of Babylon: 90%

Additions to list:

DisneySea: 60%
Disney's Movie Magic: 90%
WOMB: 80%
Raindrop Riviera: 80%
Aero's Wormwood: 60%
Lost Era Resort: 60%
Meadowbrooke Falls Thrill Park: 65%
egypTopia: 75%
Atlantis: The Lost Empire: 70%
Marriott's Marine World
Spellbrook Shore: 75% (wasn't a fan of this park originally, but it has aged well I think)
Europa Park World Showcase: 75%
Legacies Themepark: Europe: 40%

You really think Zippo's would be a Spotlight if released today? I guess maybe I'm just not "getting" it. It's impressive, and for it's time it's an obvious Spotlight but I'm surprised people feel that it would hold up that well if it were released today.

 

To each his own of course.

Zippo is at least one of the most fun parks on this website.

Its a great park and one of my favorites, but its definitely of its time.  I don't think it would get spotlight today, maybe a mid-ranged Gold, or even a Silver.  I'd probably give it anywhere between 65-80.

No doubt. I expect it would still score over 90%, and I don't see anything in the park that is outdated, other than the entrance area which has never really been that interesting... I suspect you may be in the minority, Bill.

The whole park is outdated, if your going to phrase it like that.  Oddly the park has gotten more respect over time, it only got an 89% which is closer to Luna park and Baker Lake than something like Starpointe or BGA.  Certainly at the time it wasn't considered anything special, well I guess enough to warrant a 90%+ .  However IIRC it was the highest scoring park of its time, just goes to show how our perspective on a 90% has changed, people throw that number out there much more than they did I in the first 2-3 years of the panel.

 

Back to the outdated part.  To me the reason the park stands so highly in many peoples mind and not in others is the nostalgic feel of the park and its minimalist/whimsical style.  It gets stronger with age because peoples memories of that time and park style change and rose colored.

 

If it was released today there is no way in hell it would get a spotlight, its not something that instantly impresses you, its not something that instantly becomes memorable. Sure there are creative ideas and a nice atmosphere, but to me its closer to the Gold parks of today than a Liseberg or BGA.  Its technical skill isn't up to todays standard, and because of that the panel votes would probably reflect a more average Gold level park than a top tier NE spotlight.  Its a park that takes time to get, takes time to understand and respect.  But I'll admit a lot of that is its age and how its impacted park making since.

 

Parks like RoB and many of the "NE Style" parks of 2004-2006 are like this as well.  Most of their reputation is based upon how they had aged and inspired people after their release, rather than their actual quality in a vacuum compared to parks of today.

I don't like Zippo either, but that's just because of my personal taste. Some object choices are off, it has some pretty ugly foliage which reminds me of the RCT scenario Mel's World adn some colour choices are hidious. But on a technical level I agree it is quite impressive and has some nice creative ideas. I just don't think it's Spotlight material.

 

But that's just my opinion.

Your analysis couldn't be more off, G. Citing the accolade score as an argument for "it has gotten more respect over time" is simply false for the exact reason you state. Back then, with a different climate and a different panel, 89% was an extremely high score that pretty much correspondends with a 95%+ score today. Nostalgia was never a factor, read Zippo's comments... I think that even among recent masterpieces, Zippo's still stands tall with exceptionally well done coasters (layout, supports, composition), foliage better than any spotlight we've had since, more fun than almost any park, a shitload of details, quantity, variation, original building techniques...

It's okay to not be blown away by it, but the statement that it was a nostalgic release that has got more respect over time and current fans are looking through rose tinted glasses is weird revisionism.

I can respect and understand what you are trying to say.  But I have to disagree with you on the quality of the coasters, details, and overall quality.  Its a solid park but far from "spotlight quality" that we talk about so much today.

There was never a 'Every full scale park released gets a spotlight' era lol, what are you on about?

I was about to say "no way" to Magic Realms getting a 65% before looking at it again and seeing that it has definitely aged. I would still say it is still close to spotlight quality though, not every park needs to be coated in deco blocks.

Zippo's is still the best park out there.

Got to agree with Faas and Liampie about Zippo's. Such a great park. The only thing about it that isn't that appealing is that hotel-thing. But it's outweighed by all the whimsical details everywhere in the park. In particular the field behind the B&M twister with a patch where the crop has been beaten to the ground by wind and rain. It's got so much atmosphere, and also has that quirky, fun original RCT-look to it, somehow. 

 

RoB is interesting because it has aged soo much better than most parks of that era... It's possibly even more impressive these days just because of that, than it was when it came out... at least imo. aero's Wormwood I think is really impressive for its age, the "roman" area isn't very good but over all I think it holds up well still. That minetrain in particular is awesome, and the Schwarzkopf is quite good aswell! Six Flags Carolina though hasn't aged well at all, I think! The coasters are nice but it just feels so flat and empty, even for a Six Flags park...