MIDI tunes for falling asleep

Business simulations come in all shapes and sizes. There are the tough versions like Banished or Frostpunk, where every mistake is rewarded with red digits and a big game-over screen. Or more beginner-friendly series such as The Settlers or Anno, which provide a solid foundation for endless gaming with great tutorials and a campaign. Transport Tycoon comes from a time when explanations were spared and not so much attention was paid to realism - at least from today's perspective.

The aim here is the same: To rake in cash. A lot of cash so that we can expand and expand our route network, rake in more cash and expand ... The principle should be clear. As a smart businessman, we are not a manufacturer of goods, but a supplier. So we don't build chains of goods, but instead for example connect coal mines with coal-fired power plants (the game dates back to 1994 - who would still generate energy from fossil fuels today?) and collect money for transportation.

What was great fun back then and the reason I was able to answer my astonished sociology teacher's question about what subsidies are, still works today. In fact, my brother and I recently tried out the free to play OpenTTD, an open source evolution of Transport Tycoon Deluxe, and had a few fun days. However, despite the hard-working community, the intended realism mentioned above is still the one thing that hu

While local transportation and freight transport represent a secure source of income, air travel is by far the most attractive means of travel. This is because the ticket price is not calculated based on demand, but on distance. So if you connect the two outermost cities on a map by plane, you will receive almost 5-digit amounts even with just a few passengers. And because demand is constantly increasing with the size of the city, full planes will soon be flying over the map and the money will be flowing into our account. Perhaps there are also fixes for this, but I can still recommend a short dive into the early 90s despite the pixel optics and this exploit - after all, it costs nothing and the whole thing should run smoothly on almost all computers 26 years after its release.

The score

What has aged less well comes from the loudspeakers. Although the somewhat quaint nature of the MIDI swing sound fits in wonderfully with the colorful pile of pixels, it is otherwise suitable for little more than mere background music. I actually fell asleep while writing this review due to the unagitated sounds. Iconic songs such as the Opening-theme or Easy DriverJohn Broomhall4 with screechy trumpet, synths and piano give the game a warm drive and make the monotonous track laying and circulation optimization an entertaining affair.

Beyond that, however, John Broomhall's soundtrack is unlikely to knock anyone's socks off. That's why the overall work gets a relatively low score from me, which is raised to a solid average thanks to nostalgic memories of dark cellar rooms and flickering tube monitors. For those interested, once you've heard two tracks, you've heard them all - and with that perhaps even the sound of an entire musical era.