Skip to main content

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic will bring PC nostalgia to Nintendo Switch

A very long white rollercoaster going from one edge of the image to another.
Atari

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic has been on mobile and Steam for many years, and it’s finally coming to Nintendo Switch this December, Atari announced Thursday. It’s available for preorder now on the eShop for $25.

Classic is actually a remastered bundle of the first two RollerCoaster Tycoon games and the three expansion packs: Toolkit, Wacky Worlds, and Time Twister, created by Chris Sawyer. The first debuted in 1999, and it set the standard for some of our favorite management sims. The series has staying power, too, although a lot of the recent entries have all been on mobile, especially for iOS. Atari released RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, which was made in conjunction with Sawyer, for iOS and Android in 2016, and on Steam in 2017. And by all accounts, despite its age, Classic is absolutely worth the time.

Recommended Videos

The Switch has other RollerCoaster Tycoon games — RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete Edition and RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe —  but this is the first time these original, highly influential games are on the Nintendo Switch. It’s good timing too because this year is the 25th anniversary of the first title’s release. It’ll be out on December 5.

“Fans of RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic have been hoping for a Switch version, and we are excited to bring it to the platform, Ethan Stearns, Atari vice president of games publishing, said in a press release. “Bringing RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic to the Switch, with its massive install base, is an opportunity to reengage lapsed players, provide active players with another great hardware platform, and reach a new generation of players who will now discover the franchise on the Switch.”

Atari, which has been publishing the series since the third entry, worked with Graphite Lab on the port, specifically taking the mouse and keyboard controls and have them work on controller.

Carli Velocci
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
The Nintendo Switch is in its filler era
A Switch Oled sits in front of a right background.

After years of speculation and wild rumors, it’s official: Nintendo’s new console is on the horizon.

In a tweet this week, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed that the company plans to announce its Switch follow-up in the next fiscal year (though that won’t be during its upcoming June Direct). It’s an exciting piece of news, but one that shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone paying attention to the Switch’s first-party game lineup this year: The Nintendo Switch is already in its filler era.

Read more
Nintendo confirms that Switch 2 and a June Direct are coming
A Nintendo Switch Red and Blue system.

Nintendo has finally confirmed two important things that people were speculating about. First off, we learned that another Nintendo Direct showcase will be taking place this June. More importantly, Nintendo finally confirmed that it is working on a Nintendo Switch successor and said we'd learn more about it within this fiscal year.

This all came from a statement by President Shuntaro Furukawa on Nintendo's corporate X (formerly Twitter) account. "We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015," the post confirms. "We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation."

Read more
3 retro classics to play on Nintendo Switch Online this weekend (May 3-5)
Kirby and his friends post in Kirby and the Amazing Mirror art.

With rumors of a new Nintendo console heating up, it's once again time to accept that the Switch's long lifespan is coming to its end. 2024 will likely be the system's last full year before a successor steals its thunder. That's apparent in Nintendo's recent first-party offerings, as the system is getting a lot of remasters and niche curveballs this year. As exclusives like Endless Ocean: Luminous underwhelm, you may have found yourself looking for reasons to fire up your Switch.

Thankfully, you have a lot of great excuses to do so if you're subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online. The service is home to plenty of classic games from the NES up to the Nintendo 64. Even if you're a game historian, there's a good chance you haven't played everything Switch Online has to offer. This weekend, I have three recommendations for anyone looking to fire up some great, old games. These aren't random picks; I've chosen three games that feel spiritually linked to some of this spring's biggest games.
Kirby and the Amazing Mirror

Read more