The only thing I like to do at theme parks is do lines of powdered sugar off of babies' funnel cakes and ride coasters. But I can do those things in real life, provided the deep fryer is working, so I've never had much of a ken to play a theme park simulator. Last year's Thrillville got middling reviews—it wasn't bad, I'm told, but it wasn't exemplary—but that didn't stop it from selling like crazy, precipitating a sequel. That new title is Thrillville:
Off the Rails, and from my short time watching a live demo, it is primed to offer more of the same as last year's hit. Whether that's good or not depends on how you felt about the first title.

First of all, the art direction, to my not-so-expert eyes, feels disjointed and vanilla. Theme parks and carnivals are some of the most visually interesting and lively places on Earth, but Off the Rails' characters and rides don't do anything more than serve as representations of what they're supposed to be. Perhaps I'm just cranky because I think the best theme parks are creepy and leering, not a random splatter of color of stock zaniness.

Multiple versions will be planned—although the PS3 is conspicuously absent—with only real difference on the Wii, where each of the new mini-games have been tweaked to take advantage of the Wiimote. I played a robot boxing game which played a lot like the Wii Sports boxing, except actually fun. (Different bunchs, some minor movement, boxing that actually works.)

If you liked the previous Thrillville it might be worth checking out this sequel, but I can't say I'll be anxiously waiting a proper review. –Joel Johnson