Customer Reviews

Zoo Tycoon II

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My 8-year-old got this game about a month ago. We checked here for reviews before buying, but at that time, there weren't any. Therefore, she asked if she could provide one now to help other kids decide whether to buy the game. So here's her opinion, as dictated to me:

"I would give this game 8 stars if I could. For me, it took about one day to figure out. When you really get to learn it, it's really, really fun -- not too easy, not too hard. You get to take care of a lot of animals, have restaurants, bathrooms, and you just get to create your zoo. You can make as much money as you want. You want to make all the visitors happy. If you have a lot of animals, you can get medals. I haven't gotten the dolphins yet."

Now a note from me: Even though she said she figured it out in a day, I can tell from the game's description and from the other reviewer's comments that she has *not* figured it all out yet -- which is good in a $[...] game! The game holds her interest, and she can "grow into" the more strategic parts of it.

I should explain that I'm over 50, have not yet played any version of Zoo Tycoon on a PC, but have played the orginal Zoo Tycoon for the DS in freeform mode only, as I prefer designing a custom-made zoo with lots of attention to the landscaping. In this context, I found Zoo Tycoon 2 more limiting:

> The scenery items on offer are less attractive, and a player is limited severely as to the number allowed per game (about 30). The game doesn't warn you that you're approaching a limit; it merely locks up all scenery items when you're there. Though the allowance of foliage throughout the zoo is much greater, there's still a limit. I have yet to see such limits in the original Zoo Tycoon DS.

> The original Zoo Tycoon DS lets you place any type of terrain wherever you please, and I used this feature to arrange fresh-water tiles in gardens around the zoo. Zoo Tycoon 2 allows terrain tiles only within exhibits (and not even directly outside the exhibit for a bit of local color).

> It's fairly easy to construct fences of unusual shapes in Zoo Tycoon DS. I have yet to figure out how to construct anything but a square or rectangle in Zoo Tycoon DS 2.

I still enjoyed playing a freeform game, just not as much as with Zoo Tycoon DS. And there are some good features:

> Touching individual animals with the stylus brings up a fact sheet on that animal and a close-up picture with superb graphics. From here a player may play several mini-games in which success heightens the animal's happiness (for example, tapping the animal a specified number of times to pet it). In Zoo Tycoon DS, I haven't found a direct way of interacting with the animals like this to make them happier; animal happiness seems to depend solely on exhibit design.

> If the zoo reaches a certain level of success, it may add a dolphin exhibit and with it a dolphin show. The graphics here are really attractive: The upper screen shows an overhead of the dolphin performing, while the lower screen shows an underwater view. Each show consists of a video clip lasting several seconds in which the dolphin does its three tricks. It was well designed and relaxing to watch.

> Placing terrain in an animal habitat is much faster: An option lets a player lay it all at once and then change individual squares. As well, clicking the question-mark icon on the animal's fact sheet shows at a glance everything the animal prefers, taking much of the guesswork away.

There were some improvements and some detractions in keeping a player informed. Zoo Tycoon 2 has fewer messages, announcing only a player's awards. Unlike Zoo Tycoon DS, it will not issue a message about an animal falling ill or dying and says nothing about guest happiness, even in its charts, a lack I disliked. However, the message delivery itself is improved: A chime and a small envelope on screen tell the player of a message, which does not disappear until the player taps the envelope and reads the message.

I haven't played any campaign games in either version, though this one appears to have added some interesting scenarios. Primarily I enjoy designing a pretty, individualistic zoo, and the original Zoo Tycoon DS is preferable for that.

Since I love the PC version of this game, I thought I'd try it on DS so I could take it with me or just play in bed instead of sitting on the computer. That was a mistake. It does not have the detail of the PC version, I can hardly make any money on the restaurants and shops and at least the first few scenarios were too easy. If you've played this game before, it's not worth it, but if you're new to Tycoon games it might be a good place to start since it's pretty simple to pick up.

I do enjoy this game. However, I have a major problem in the last campaign. It freezes on me. Does anyone else have this problem?

This game is enjoyable if you are into animals. I love seeing the little heart that pops up on new babies, I get so excited. You can click on any of the animals and interact with them by feeding, cleaning, etc. It's the kind of game, however, that gets boring after a while. But, the only major problem I had was with the last campaign. Right before it freezes, the animals get placed in other exhibits... I saw the dolphin swimming with the camels!

We bought this for an 11yr old boy's birthday present. We decided to try it out first (lol, couldn't resist) and we were glad we did. We definately bought it for the wrong agegroup. My 6 yr old daughter ended up loving it... got something else for the 11 yr old.

The things I like: I believe its the computer version, but some of them you can drown the guests and feed them to the lions. I don't think you can in this one, not that any of us have discovered anyway. :) Also, you have to learn what habitats the different animals thrive in. A very small educational value added in.

Things I don't like: none so far. It's a favorite around here.

My 7 year old wrote this review so that other children would be able to see if they would like to try this game. Here is his review:
In Zoo Tycoon 2 it tells you the things you need to have a good zoo. You can build your own zoo and save it. You can click on what you want to put in your zoo and then the game leads you to where you want to put it and you can click on the arrow and put it in. You can do a tutorial to learn how to play zoo tycoon 2. You earn money by putting in food, stores, donation boxes and selling tickets to let people into the zoo. You lose money by paying for the animals, their cages and food, paying for buildings and paying the workers. When you lose too much money you are bankrupt. You want to try to earn more money than you have to spend. You can have up to 30 animals, 20 buildings, 10 cages, and 14 workers. Once you get to all these limits, your zoo will end. You can open and close your zoo. This game is very easy to learn and use. It is fun. It is easy to save your progress in this game and go back to it later.

I bought this game for my 7 year old daughter and we are very happy with it. It's a little advanced for her but not so much that she can't play it alone which is a good thing because that means she'll stay interested in it longer. We often play together . . . I'll build the cages, make sidewalks, add caretakers and such and she'll add the animals and take care of them. The part that I say is a little advanced for her is doing advertising, setting prices and basically running the zoo. She's actually starting to understand that part of it too so it's not over her head. I think she'll be playing this game for a long time.

I always loved the orginal Zoo tycoon on the computer. So when I saw Zoo Tycoon 2 on the DS, I picked up a copy thinking I could have the same amount of fun, only portable. I was wrong. The game is nothing like the original. It's much simpler, and you can't really build impressive zoos. In the orginal game, you hire workers to care for the animals. You can still do that in the DS game, but I still found myself trying to care for the animals. And by care, I mean play annoying little minigames. You're options are severly limited in this version. You can't build large, good looking areas for guests to sit and eat. There's only a couple buildings you can build, and even with research, there's not that much to build. And it's not even worth it to make buildings anyway. In the orginal Zoo tycoon, it was easy to make several buildings, and they would all generate a lot of profits. In this game, no one even bothers. THe upkeep is almost always more than the money earned. So it's a loss. My finalm complaint is the size. You're only allowed 30 animals, and there's very little space. I filled up over half my zoo with 5 exhibits.

This game seemed to have so much potential. The first Tycoon games were great. But, you can do a lot more in that game, even though it was made several years ago. Even the graphics in the sequel didn't come close to the original. This version was so downgraded, it lost what made the game fun.

If you remember the older games and loved them, keep playing those, this game just can't compare.

Yes, it's addictive if you enjoy simulation games. It's simple enough to pick up quickly but engaging and progressively complicated to keep you playing. the graphics are cute and better than I'd expected on the DS. Overall, a fun game!

From the time they first premiered, I've been a strong fan of all the PC Zoo Tycoon games. However, I'm much more on the go recently than I ever have been in the past, and handheld games have been more interesting to me as of late.

I thought to myself, I love ZT. Why not love this?

What's Good:

The game has classic menus and navigation, making it easy for a regular ZT player to immerse themselves in the game. There are a variety of animals to choose from, including reptiles and mammals, living and extinct. The zookeeper mode minigames are a nice touch. The animal sprites are fun and a little bit retro.

What's Not So Good:
The graphics are poor, compared to this game's DS counterparts. It feels more like Blue Fang tried to cram the full version of the game onto a tiny screen rather than create detailed graphics. Just a hint, BF: for tiny graphics, the simpler, the better. There are limits on both how many exhibits you can have(10), as well as how many animals (30) which I found to be hindering to my gameplay. The controls are a bit awkward to use, and could have been more DS-friendly.

Conclusion:
Could be better, but remains just as fun as the PC versions of Zoo Tycoon. A good game to buy if you're a ZT junkie, but not the best game for someone looking for a unique experience.