News / The List

Now we're getting to the real meat of the list. And the part of the list that really justifies the revival of The List; lots of post-Iris stuff!

 

The response to The Island confuses me. If you accept this list as some sort of canon of NE parkmaking history, the Korean wave definitely deserves 1 out of 75 spots. And what better than the objectively insane park that shook the site? When talking about purely the quality of the park, I can see it having some issues. And also some virtues. The quarterblock landscaping is insanely good, as shown in the gallery screen. Beautiful peaks. The ride design also has some moments of brilliance, like that bit were there are two trains on one track bumping into each other by design. Mindblowing.

 

Busch Gardens Sydney does not stand the test of time well I think... But like The Island, it has some timeless qualities and it's hard to deny its creativity and influence. Frostbite is still one of the first things to come to mind when I think of great inverts.

 

Glad Castle Howard made it. RRP really set something in motion with it.

My issue with The Island is the fact that it's on the list for rarity of the park maker. Had it not been made by a Korean, it probably wouldn't be on here. Quality-wise, this one ends after the landblock work on the mountain. FreeRiders other park is way more immersive, and consists of more than a single architecture paradigm (barring the huge tower).

Compare that to Mont Saint Michael, listed right below it. If we're trying to hit points to forward the RCT canon narrative - Emergo was the best female parkmaker ever, and was considered one of the best when she was around. The park was at the very top produced that H2H season.

I'm just not seeing how The Island falls into the place it's in from either perspective.

Liseberg is so underrated it's almost absurd. I acknowledge that there's nothing necessarily groundbreaking about it but ranking it below something of a much smaller scale with a very similar style like Raptor (which I love, but there's nothing groundbreaking about that either) is crazy to me.

Liseberg is so underrated it's almost absurd. I acknowledge that there's nothing necessarily groundbreaking about it but ranking it below something of a much smaller scale with a very similar style like Raptor (which I love, but there's nothing groundbreaking about that either) is crazy to me.

 

Well Raptor is the 3rd highest scoring design of all time.  While Liseberg is probably not even in the top half of highest scoring Spotlights.

 

Obviously score isn't everything but Raptor is one of the best designs ever, maybe even the best.  Lisaberg is a good park but I don't think you can say its one of the best spotlights ever, or even a top 3 spotlight in 2016...

My issue with The Island is the fact that it's on the list for rarity of the park maker. Had it not been made by a Korean, it probably wouldn't be on here. Quality-wise, this one ends after the landblock work on the mountain. FreeRiders other park is way more immersive, and consists of more than a single architecture paradigm (barring the huge tower).
Compare that to Mont Saint Michael, listed right below it. If we're trying to hit points to forward the RCT canon narrative - Emergo was the best female parkmaker ever, and was considered one of the best when she was around. The park was at the very top produced that H2H season.
I'm just not seeing how The Island falls into the place it's in from either perspective.

If you play the "if X were Y" game, half the list wouldn't have been there. Yes, it being Korean is the reason why it's there. But to say that's it is very reductive. The Korean wave was quite prominent during those years and The Island is its icon, regardless of which better parks came after. The Island is what started it and what sent a shock wave through the site. Alright, that's overly sensational. But I definitely think it's a defining piece of work. Because of what it stands for and what it started. The same reason dozens of other creations are on the list.

or even a top 3 spotlight in 2016...

 

 

I'd say it'S the best RCT2.

If you play the "if X were Y" game, half the list wouldn't have been there. Yes, it being Korean is the reason why it's there. But to say that's it is very reductive. The Korean wave was quite prominent during those years and The Island is its icon, regardless of which better parks came after. The Island is what started it and what sent a shock wave through the site. Alright, that's overly sensational. But I definitely think it's a defining piece of work. Because of what it stands for and what it started. The same reason dozens of other creations are on the list.

This. I have found memories of The Island because of a number of reasons:
-It was like nothing we had seen before, regardless of quality.
-It got "OMG THIS IZ TEH BESTEST PARKZ OF ALL TIMEZ INSTANT SPOTLIGHT ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE IS CRAY CRAY!!1!" from some people.
-Other, typically more eastablished members quickly scoffed with disdain and disapproval of these weird "foreigners" who had the audacity to roll in unannounced and release something so shocking and original that broke all of their presupposed "rules". Even more offensive was that all these other people liked it so much. These Koreans didn't start out making crappy "Adwenturpark" or cedar fair or six flags attempts before becoming good and respected. They made whatever they wanted and were loved. And they didn't know enough of any of the languages primarily spoken here to even understand the criticisms of the "established" here, much less respond. lol.
-It was insprising above all else. I don't know about every one else, but I for one can only get so enthusiastic about cedar fair, six flags, Europa, Nordic towns, Dutch towns, German towns, Mexican towns, Mediterranean towns, and the same Chinese towns. Finally it was something unique and different. And it didn't have the same "plausible" park layout that could be found in real life. It was truly made to be a idealized version of a place people would go up have fun and experience extreme thrills. Being an island cemented this idea of an escape from reality for me. Truly inspiring.

in summary it broke the monotony that I start to feel when at NE. Is it the best constructed? No. But no matter how well you build a suburban standard home, it's still a suburban standard home. The Island was an attempt to build the coolest custom mansion in a treefort that spans mountains and valleys. Raw and adventurous.

Also a lot of this is written to be slightly exaggerated to illustrate my points. I'm not trying to tear down the tried and true. I'm pointing out my opinion that after a while it feels like everyone is trying to make the same thing.

I love this topic by the way. Leads to good discussion.

Cool to see this back again, some really interesting entries, especially as I haven't been around for a few years now.

 

Disney Air should be miles higher in my opinion, but maybe it just influenced me tons.

When are we getting the last few parts of the list? It has been a while now.

Yeah, idk. I'd suggest next time just preparing everything and then announcing, etc. I know that that doesn't offer rewards as fast as this way, but you can ensure that a lack of time due to other important stuff doesn't stop the entire process.

It has been a while indeed, which is regrettable. The next update should come out this month at least, and the update after than one should also take less long since it has been worked on parallel to the upcoming one.

Great write-ups all, especially Kayte Ridge.

So glad to see RCTNW's Hyatt project in this list. It is truly monumental and tragic that it never was fully realized. RCTNW is dearly missed.

glad to see this alive again. Some awesome parks here, with my favorite easily being shadowlands (no surprise lol)

Another pleasant read with some fabulous and memorable parks. Thanks NE! Lijang easily my fav park from this part. 

Great to see this back! Keep up the good work as we're entering the top 10.

wow 15 years, I think very cool this passion that all have for the RCT and all this organization, events, site, screens, parks, disputes, comments, no. members registered in the discordia.
I was enjoying the list, gee! wonderful works.
I know that age is reaching all of us, but I hope it will continue for very very very years.

Deserved #1

I'm quite satisfied with this top 10. Definitely heavy on realism, but given that realism has been the dominant movement for most of RCT2's history by now, that's not unreasonable. Every park in the top 10 is either highly influential or groundbreaking (Watkins, Lenox, Kumba, Startpointe) or just the gold standard (DAW, RoB). Zippo's offers some variety both in the list and in the general realism meta. Fantasy got two good representatives in Le Reve and BOMB. It's a great top 10 that can serve as an introduction to NE very very well. Just as the List set out to do!

The fact that RoB is number 4 tells me something went terribly wrong in setting up this list.