Ice Cream Tycoon: A Review
Introduction
This previously received a positive 81% of 344 votes and there were 124 comments made which can be seen by following the link below:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/ice-cream-tycoon/#comments
The Game
This is another excellent and playable management game from Merscom. If you’re into management games, or have no others such as burger rush, lemonade tycoon or Sallys Salon (to name just a few of the many games of this genre) then it is worth downloading. I like the game, my children love it, and I’m sure a lot of the community will like it also. It’s a good quality game, that if it wasn’t being given away I’d probably purchase it anyway as my kids have spent a few hours playing with it and were upset when I told them they were going swimming, lol. They don’t always show such interest in arcade games. I did have to help them get started though because you don’t click on a start button to get the game running, you have to do some preparation, (mentioned below)
I would definitely use the tutorial function before you try to jump straight into a game because ice Cream Tycoon has quite a lot of features you need to know about before starting the game. The game has the usual options menu where you can turn down the music and sound effects, as well as play the game in windowed mode, change the cursor and play either in 3D or 2D (although when I de-selected the 3D option nothing seemed to change). You can also save your progress and more than one player can have games saved. There are two modes to choose from, story mode and arcade mode. The main difference between the two is that the arcade mode is not timed. You just have to remember to collect tsmiley faces so that you can upgrade your equipment, buy more ice creams and unlock new neigbourhoods.
Before you can start a game you must purchase ice creams to stock up. Once you’re on your rounds if you’ve not got an ice cream that one of your customers wants you get no sale. You start with $1000 with which you can purchase your stock. You can set your selling prices, upgrade your equipment and even change to more profitable districts (after paying for the privilege). Most of the options are not available at the start of the game because you haven’t enough money. As you progress you should become familiar with the tastes of particulat area's so this should help you to stock up on the correct ice creams.
The graphics are wonderfully cartoony, which will appeal to the children, (and I found them pleasant as well :lol: ) The music is appropriate, but I did turn it down to a murmur after a short while because it became irritating.
As with a lot of Merscom games, you don’t get a shortcut automatically generated on the desktop, so make a note of where you install the game. The default install path is:
C:\program files\Ice Cream Tycoon
Once the game has been installed you can go to the games folder by following the above path. Right click on the executable file, which looks like an ice cream cone and select ‘create shortcut’ . right click on the newly created short cut and select copy (or cut), then minimize the window. Right click on the desk top (assuming no other maximized windows are open) and paste the short cut onto the desk top. Alternatively, reduce the size of the games folder by clicking on the middle button to the top right of the screen (between the – and X buttons), then just left click and drag the shortcut onto the desk top.
The download is approximately 49Mb, of which nearly 28Mb is two intro and outro AV files; totaling just less than 3 minutes of play. The videos are both of high quality, but not necessary, although they do add to the overall package. As with most Merscom games you can also locate the music files (6 .ogg tracks) all of which could be exchanged for your own favorite music if you find the music that’s provided annoying; however you will have to convert the music to .ogg then rename the tracks to mirror the original track names. The music files only take up less than 10Mb. You can find a couple of audio converters that will do the job in the audio and video section of the freeware library:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/dir/50186/Download-Free-MP3-WMA-WAV-Converter.htm
or
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/dir/51535/Download-Free-Mp3-Wma-Converter.htm
Oh yeah, I nearly forgot; you will find a pdf document in the games folder that covers all the points of the game that you need to know; for example, it will tell you about all the upgrades there are in the game such as the four different methods of selling your ice creans from pushcart with bell, tricycle with freezer, Joystar van or the ultimate for any ice cream vendor the Star Truck as well as explain what all the different screens such as the budget screen the neigbourhood selection screen or the your ice cream screen mean. There's loads more so if your going to be playing this game more than the initial try out I would suggest you check it out. You do need Acrobat reader to read this document. If you don't have it you'll be prompted to download it. You can get it from the following address:
http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Other Reviews of this game that are worth reading:
http://www.gamezebo.com/reviews/ice_cream_tycoon_review.html (thanks skip2MaLou who provided the link)
http://www.bladedthoth.com/reviews/15mrs/ice-cream-tycoon/
http://compsimgames.about.com/od/gamereviews/fr/icecreamtycoon.htm
Images: All on one page
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Ice%20Cream%20Tycoon/?start=all
Images as a Slideshow
Googled Images:
http://search.msn.co.uk/images/results.aspx?q=Ice+Cream+Tycoon+game&go=Search+Images&form=QBIR
Minimum system requirements
OS....................Windows 95/98, Me, 2000 and XP
CPU...................Pentium III 600MHz or better
System Memory.........64Mb RAM
Graphics Memory.......any DX compatible graphics card
Conclusion
Overall this game is well worth downloading. It’s a self contained game so you should be able to move it from one computer to the next ;) The game play is okay to good depending upon which of the two modes you played; that is story mode and arcade. The arcade mode is easier and would probably be the best choice for the children (though that's just an assumption). I do think the game is aimed at children with the cartoon graphics, but younger children around the age of 7 and younger may find the game quite hard to play unless they have parental support. Well worth 7 out of 10.
Thank you very much Merscom LLC and the Game Giveaway team for providing this great game. :)
