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Product summary
Zoo Tycoon DS captures the basic idea of what a Zoo Tycoon game is all about, but in the end it feels more like a cheaply made imitation than an engaging strategy game.
Specifications: ESRB: Everyone; Genre: Strategy; Number of players: 1 Player See full specs
Price range: $18.50 - $19.99
Gamespot editors' review
- Reviewed on: 11/04/2005
- Updated on:11/17/2005
- Released on: 10/11/2005
Of all the tycoon games available on the PC and home consoles, Zoo Tycoon is probably about the easiest one to translate to the Nintendo DS. The concept of the game is simple enough to be shrunk down to portable size without sacrificing too much. Most of what makes Zoo Tycoon interesting and challenging is entirely transparent, so it shouldn't be too terribly difficult to translate the game to a handheld system. The relationship between animals and their environment is really what Zoo Tycoon is about, and the DS version of the game does do a fairly good job of capturing that spirit. Unfortunately, Zoo Tycoon DS is lacking in just about every other respect.
There are 50 different animals in the DS version of Zoo Tycoon.
Zoo Tycoon DS can be played two different ways. You can play a scenario game or a free-form game. If you play a scenario game, you're given a partially designed zoo to work with, and you have to satisfy certain objectives within a given amount of time. There are 15 scenarios in the game, as well as three tutorial scenarios to get you started. Objectives range from breeding pandas in captivity, to simply creating a few stable exhibits and then keeping your animals above an average happiness rating for six months. The scenarios range in difficulty, and the difficult ones are locked at the beginning of the game. As you play a scenario, you can purchase cards for $2,000 each. You can buy as many as you want, and if you complete the scenario, the cards will be added to your collection. The cards aren't at all useful during play, but you can view them in a gallery to learn more about each of the animals in the game.
If you choose to play a free-form game, you can choose one of more than 20 templates that range in size and theme. If you like to keep things simple, you can choose an open grassy field. For a bit more of a challenge, you can try to build a rocky desert zoo, or you can set up a park in a snowy mountain forest. Once you choose your template, you can set your starting funds, the amount of which will depend on how much of a challenge you're looking for. You can even set it as high as $500,000, which is more than enough to build the most extravagant zoo the game will allow.
When designing your own zoo from the ground up, you can arrange exhibits to suit any of the 50 different animals in the game. You start off by building a fence to contain your animals, and then you can choose the terrain type before placing foliage, rocks, shelter, and toys in the exhibit. You can also assign a zookeeper to each exhibit, and he'll tell you exactly what you need to do to make your animals happy. If your animals are happy and healthy, they'll have babies, which you can put up for adoption or keep in your zoo. Keeping animals happy is the key to maintaining a popular, healthy exhibit, and thanks to the hints provided by the zookeeper, it's relatively easy to keep even the most fickle species happy in your zoo.
You not only have to keep animals happy, but you also have to take care of your guests as well. To do this, you can create pathways to guide your guests through the park, in addition to building food and drink stands, gift shops, restrooms, benches, picnic tables, and more. You can also beautify your park with scenery, like fountains, shrubs, flower beds, and statues, which all add to the appeal of your zoo. You can also make adjustments to the operations department of your zoo. You can adjust ticket prices, spend money on marketing, put money toward researching new items and animals, and hire maintenance workers and tour guides.
You can play through one of the 15 scenarios, or you can build your own zoo from the ground up.
- See more CNET content tagged:
- tycoon,
- exhibit,
- animal,
- tycoon game,
- park
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Where to buy
Zoo Tycoon DS (DS):
$18.50 - $19.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$19.99 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$18.50 | Yes |
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Amazon.com
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$19.99 | Yes |
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