Zoo Tycoon holds a lot of mixed emotions for me. My ex wife and I used to spend time playing it in tandem. One of us would be controlling while the other would be helping out with advice. Zoo Tycoon levels were long and often complicated the further to the end you got, so someone to bounce ideas off was often useful.
It sucks because my marriage did not end well and I do harbor deep resentment towards my ex. However they are still good memories and it was a fun time. So I guess on the whole I’m quite the fan of Zoo Tycoon and enjoy it none the less.
So it is another Sim game, you take control of either a failing zoo or a completely new development and have to fulfill certain criteria to progress on to the next level. With all of the expansion packs it is a long immense game and not something to be undertaken lightly.
To be fair though that is true for perhaps all of the Tycoon games. Anyone who ever played Rollercoaster Tycoon, knows of what I speak. Transport Tycoon however in my opinion was the best one they ever did.
But I Digress.
So the criteria needed to progress forward was often tricky and convoluted as hell. You needed to bring the zoo value up to a certain level, have X amount of certain animals, sometimes you had to have your animals produce offspring before you could advance. While the whole time you had to make sure your guests were taken care of as well. Making money was often the hardest part of the game, having to wait for guests to bring you enough cash to build that new ride or enclosure was often a trial of patience.
It’s a great game though, fun and complicated and very long. I recommend it regardless of old wounds.
Ramblings of a Schizophrenic Brit 