What people search:
 | Title : Zoo Tycoon
Author : Microsoft
Release Date : 20011018
Binding : CD-ROM
Regular Price : $34.99
Amazon.com Price : $29.26
(16
%)
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Editorial Reviews :
Everybody likes the zoo. And why not? Casual walks, exotic animals, and fried foods are good fun. Managing a zoo of your very own is even better. Zoo Tycoon challenges you to build a zoo one path tile, one iron-reinforced fence, and one animal at a time. Zoo Tycoon bears more than just a title similarity to Roller Coaster Tycoon: it appears to be based on the same basic game engine. Building pens and paths, decorating, locating buildings, managing your staff, even the way your patrons look and how you tweak pricing are all extremely similar to the fun and intuitive Roller Coaster Tycoon. The gameplay consists of a series of inventive scenarios--sometimes building a zoo from scratch, other times taking over a failing or failed zoo and bringing it back from the brink.
Specifically, you've got to build pens and habitats with an eye toward the needs of each animal species. For example, putting bears in a savannah setting results in depressed, possibly sick, bears. You also have to tend to your human animals by locating gift shops, restaurants, drink stands, and bathrooms. Then you've got to adopt animals and hire zookeepers to tend your creatures. All of this costs money, but cutting corners can result in irate customers and unhappy animals. Unhappy animals bore people, and worse they make it difficult to adopt more exotic and finicky creatures, like pandas. Happy and well-fed animals will cavort and play, making your guests very happy. And happy guests results in more money for you to improve your zoo.
It's a balancing act keeping all the animals, keepers, and little wandering people happy, but the game is also a decorator sim. You've got to beautify your park, and it's easy to forget the specific scenario objectives and lose yourself in building the ultimate zoo. If you tire of the objectives entirely, you can delete some of your fences and watch the animals run amok on your guests (sometimes, through negligence, they can break free on their own). The carnivores grab, pin, and fling your guests (no blood, and no killing here), which lowers your zoo rating and dissuades people from visiting for a while. Still, it's great fun to watch.
Buyer Reviews :
As the name indicates, this game is very similar to Roller Coaster Tycoon - if you like that game, you'll likely enjoy this one as well.
I have 1 big complaint about this game though - each of the individual exhibits must be excruciatingly detailed to the likes and dislikes of the animal(s) it contains. For Example: an animal may like Savannah Grass in it's exhibit, so you'd think 'no problem, just cover the entire exhibit in Savannah Grass'; but it's not that simple. It may also like a little bit of dirt, and/or a little bit of sand, as well as some fresh water to drink - all of which have to be carefully balanced to what the animal likes (not too much of one, or too little of another). Then, you have to add the foliage - and there are TONS to choose from. They are broken down by type (i.e. Savannah, Rain Forest, Coniferious, Decidious, Desert, etc.), but each animal still has it's own preferences. All Savannah animals, for example, do not like all of the Savannah foliage - so you have to try each 1 to find out if they like it or not. AND, you not only have to have the right TYPE of foliage (and rocks! don't forget the rocks!), you have to have the right AMOUNT of foliage. Too little, or too much and the animals will not be happy.
All in all, I think this game requires WAY too much detail in the setup of the exhibits - so be prepared to spend a lot of time getting them just right (especially the first few times you play it, until you get used to what each animal likes).
I got tired of playing it after not too long because of the amount of time required to set up the exhibits, but I recently received the Marine Mania expansion pack as a gift and decided to give it another go. I found it much more enjoyable with the expansion pack because of the new types of animals and exhibits that were available - plus the fact that I was more familiar with the needs of the various animals so it was easier to set up the exhibits. I gave the expansion pack 4 stars because it has some features that make the game more fun (like the fact that you can add Dolphin shows, Orca shows, etc.), plus some tools to help make managing your park a little easier.
(by heavymtl@yahoo.com)
Features/Technical Specs :
* Design, Build & Manage your own zoo
* Stock your zoo with over 40 unique animals including Elephants, Cheetahs, Bears, and Penguins
* Over 175 different types of exhibit and building materials
* Play an open-ended game or tackle thirteen challenging scenarios
* Watch your animals (and guests) roam, rest, and play
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