Thrillville - updated impressions

For what it's worth, Thrillville is being designed for 8-to-12-year-old gamers and that has helped drive its simplicity. What surprises us is how much it's going to appeal to older gamers too. As you build more attractions, you'll also unlock minigames like bumper UFOs, which can then be played outside of the park in a special party mode. The Xbox, PS2 and PSP versions will all support four-player games (not over the internet, unfortunately).

Mind you, we're not sure whether that young target audience is going to get all excited at pop-up windows that update them about the interest rate on their loans - there are still some business details to tackle underneath the "get out and play" exterior. But it really looks like Thrillville focuses on the potential of the theme park genre rather than its accountant's-wet-dream history, and the game has certainly received refinement and polish since we last saw it. Line us up for the November grand opening of Thrillville.