Zoo Tycoon Complete Collection

What makes Zoo Tycoon Complete Collection especially compelling is its inclusion of the expansion packs Marine Mania and Dinosaur Digs, so you can add dolphin shows to your zoo, or even a T-Rex or wooly mammoth. Be sure to maintain those worn-out fences, though, or you could have big trouble on your hands.

Zoo Tycoon is a great game for kids because while they'll have terrific fun crafting the zoo of their dreams, they'll also get a reality lesson about what customers want, and how their choice of expenditures ultimately affect the bottom line (that nacho stand sounds tasty, but is it making money?). If you've made a good zoo, customers will be happy, and the money will roll in. And it's also the kind of game grown-ups can enjoy, because there are so many possibilities. Be wary, however, of trying to sneak in 20 minutes of play before bedtime because you'll probably stay up a lot longer than you planned. (Ages 7 and older) --David Horiuchi

Pros:

• Great game for kids and parents to play together.
• Endless replay possibilities
• Educational value in its animal information and "real world" economics

Cons

• Sometimes tiresome trying to get an animal's exhibit just right
• How much free time do you have to spare?

A quick overview: In the original Zoo Tycoon, you are in control of a Zoo building scheme, similar to other "tycoon" games on the market. The original game had many animals and features, and allowed you to solve problem scenarios and create you own free form Zoo. However, I thought the original Zoo Tycoon had rather limited selections for the money.

In the first expansion pack, Zoo Tycoon Dinosaur Digs, they went a little way to solving the limitations by giving you Dinosaurs to create your own version of "Jurassic Park". It also added (finally!) some themed concessions to make your Dino park even more of a time travelling adventure. But, it too was fairly expensive for an expansion.

In the second expansion pack, Zoo Tycoon Marine Mania, "Sea World" type attractions were added, along with some new theming concessions and other things that went a long way to solving the problems of the original limits of the game.

For a long while, some other additions were only available online. Several Endangered animals and some weird ones like Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster took quite a bit of download time to add to your park creation capabilities.

But now, in Zoo Tycoon Complete Collection, we have a truly complete collection. Not only is the original Zoo Tycoon included, but the Dinosaur Digs expansion, the Marine Mania expansion, =and= all of the previously only available by download material.

The added feature of being able to see a few facts about your animals in a special window could make this game an educational experience. Making sure your animals have the proper terrain teaches that animals prefer the environment they originally lived in, and may help reinforce people's thoughts to preserving the few endangered animals that are in the wild.

I'm almost a Tycoon game addict, I love this package. I've played this so much I can see it in my sleep. I really enjoyed the effort the company made to include the previously downloadable only material. The four sections of the game crate a truly complete collection, just as advertised.

When considering Christmas presents for children, or a special treat for tycoon game loving adults, I find myself telling people about Zoo Tycoon Complete Collection, where I never did while it was all available in separate parts. Former fans of Zoo Tycoon will enjoy the fact that everything's included. New players will enjoy the easy scenarios, while experienced Tycooners will have the real tough problem scenarios they love. Highly recommended.


Kids are STILL playing this   November 2, 2003
120 out of 129 found this review helpful

We bought Zoo Tycoon and the expansion packs Christmas 2002 and our two sons (ages 9 and 7) are still spending lots of time with it. Without adult help they figured the game out and can win every scenario, although sometimes they like to let the dinosaurs out "just for fun" or create a "realistic environment" by putting bluefin tuna in the shark tank or lions in with the wildebeest.
The starter game isn't as much fun without the marina mania pack. The dinosaur digs pack is sort of bare bones, pardon the pun. All together it's given us a good year of entertainment.


Prepare to lose your social life   April 8, 2004
J. B. Gill (Columbus, OH United States)
34 out of 36 found this review helpful

I don't write many reviews, but I just want to let everyone know that I think this is the best computer game ever made. You will not be able to tear yourself away from this game. If you've got kids, great--they can learn all kinds of things about animals. But, you can forget about your kids playing this anyway because you'll be the one sitting in front of the computer at 2AM every night building your dream zoo. I have never played a game where I found myself thinking about what my next steps are in the game after I turned it off.

Unfortunately, I'm a grad student who works, so I must STRONGLY recommend thinking before you buy this game--I've lost so much sleep because of it and I think I'm beginning to creep out my girlfriend.

But, if you've got time to play a cool game, then I highly recommend this one. I don't even play any of the scenerios--its too much fun just playing the freeform. Also, you can get a boatload of downloads to further your demise as a zoo dork.

Like me.


Creative, moderately challenging, and tons of fun!   August 26, 2004
Monika (Davis, California)
34 out of 35 found this review helpful

This is definitely one of the most addictive games I've played in a while. That's not always such a good thing, being a full-time college student. I remember way back in elementary school I was enthralled with a game called Dino Park Tycoon, but could never find it for sale anywhere and therefore could only play it at school. When I recently found out about Zoo Tycoon, I couldn't pass it up! This is a great game for kids and adults alike. If you buy it for your children, beware: YOU may end up spending quite a bit of time with it as well. It took me a few sessions to learn all the ropes, but once I did, I lost an entire Sunday playing.

There are two different types of game to choose from:

Scenario Games: These start you out with a predetermined lot size on which to build your zoo, and a set amount of money with which to do it. In addition, you are given a list of specific goals and a time period in which to complete them. These games end when the time is up, and you either win or lose (though you can continue working on your zoo after this point just for fun, if you wish). There is a long list of different scenarios to choose from, so it takes quite a while to run out of options (I still haven't played even half of them).

Freeform Game: If you'd rather just build your own personal dream zoo, and not worry about reaching fixed goals, you may want to play the freeform version instead. This is what I usually prefer. You can choose the lot you want to build on, specifying its size (small, medium, large) and type of terrain (grassland, desert, mountains, arctic, etc.), and also select how much money you want to start with (anything up to $500,000). By selecting different types of lots and different amounts of money, you either increase or decrease the challenge involved in building your zoo. The less money you have to start with, the harder it is to create a successful zoo without going bankrupt. And the only way to lose the freeform game is to go bankrupt.

The options for building your zoo are nearly endless. You can choose from a huge selection of different species, customize the exhibits to your heart's content (so long as you make sure they suit the animals they house), and also buy things like rides, petting zoos, aviaries, etc. to make your zoo more fun. You'll also need to hire zookeepers to tend to the animals, and maintenance workers to keep the zoo clean and the exhibits in good repair. To keep your guests happy and generate extra income, you can buy concessions stands and gift shops. You can also choose to sponsor research projects, which in turn allows you to adopt endangered species and add additional special features to your zoo.

When you adopt an animal, you need to build an exhibit for it, and then make sure that all its needs are met. There is a "zookeeper tips" tab that will tell you if the animal is happy, and if not, what you need to do to make it so. For instance, your animal might prefer a different type of terrain, more foliage, some fresh water, some shelter, or even a toy. It's also easy to tell whether your animals like or dislike any change you make in their surroundings, as every action you take will cause either a happy or sad face to flash on the screen above each animal. If you neglect your animals, they'll be taken away!

The animals also breed (provided you adopt individuals of different genders), so you'll find that pretty soon you have baby animals running around as well. But be sure to keep an eye on the number of animals in each exhibit, as they'll become unhappy if they're over-crowded. Luckily, you can sell off extra animals, which also gains you a little extra cash.

The "Complete Collection" is great, because in addition to all the regular Zoo Tycoon animals, you also get the "Marine Mania" and "Dinosaur Digs" expansion packs, which allow you to add a variety of marine animals and dinosaurs to your zoo. With some of the marine animals, you can also set up shows to entertain your guests and generate additional money. You can also adopt some "oddball" creatures, like a Yeti, Bigfoot, or Loch Ness Monster.

Unfortunately, I have noticed one thing which seems to be a glitch in the game. For a few species, when you adopt some individuals, not all of them show up on the master list of animals in your zoo. For instance, if you adopt two clouded leopards, only one shows up on the master list, even though you can clearly SEE two animals in the exhibit. For the same animals that have this odd glitch, all individuals of the species that actually show up on the master list seem to remain permanently stuck on the "unhappy animals" list, even when you've tended to all their needs, assigned a zookeeper, and the "zookeeper tips" tab gives you the "This exhibit is well suited for Animal 2" message. The species for which I've noticed this problem so far are: Snow Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Black Leopard, Lowland Gorilla, Arctic Wolf, and California Sea Lion. There may be others as well, as I have not yet tried out every available animal.

On the whole, though, this is a terrific game that's sure to provide hours upon hours of fun. There are plenty of different strategy elements to keep you occupied. As I said earlier, it might take a little while to get the hang of building and maintaining a successful zoo, but once you have it all down, there's no stopping. This is great entertainment for not only children of all ages, but adults of all ages, too. Highly recommended!


Parents Get Ready To Kick The Kids Off The Computer For This   August 2, 2005
Nathan T. (SOMEWHERE)
31 out of 31 found this review helpful

Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection goes by its name, as it is zoo tycoon and all of its expansion put into 2 discs. You get the original Zoo Tycoon with the addition of the endangered species,dino digs, and marine mania expansion themes as well.

What makes this game so good is the simple fact that it has interactive simulations of animals, people, and marketing, meaning it'll try to go close to what real life is like. It also gives great information on the animals that are avail. which makes it educational as well. People nowadays live in a stressful and crowded life and sitting down and being your own boss for a change and doing whatever you want to do helps make life flow a little swifter.

With over 100 creatures ranging from komodo dragons, giant squids, and even the mighty T-Rex and with a HUGE asortments of items, the limits is bounded by only your imagination. With new updates, you can now train all your staff to work more efficiently and keep the animals alive and happy even longer.

However...the way I am is that I look on both sides of the picture...so here it goes.

Not So Great:

-Unless you have a family thats playing this and having a turn, by the time you finish playing several of the scenarios, you'll probably not want to play anymore or lose alot of your interest. Why? All the scenarios are sort of similar in objective: keep the animals happy, keep your ratings up, keep your guests happy, not going bankrupt, and adopt a large variety of creatures. The animals, by the way, all act pretty similar, just a very few differences. So its like playing it over and over again. This is especially so if you look at how the "pros" make their zoos and learn from it, because afterwards, its all just not that much of a challenge.

-This is indeed an educational game, but the fact still comes that little kids aren't too ready to sit and read and learn, its a game, people play games in order to get away from reading in a way. So if you have a little kid, sit with them, play along, and learn together is the best strategy here. Sometimes you also have to set them straight as this is also a game and whats known in here may be different in real life.

-The guests and staff are still dumb sometimes. Sometimes you just get the urge to smack them around a few times. Example: One of the guests are hungry so you think you'll do them a favor by picking them up and setting them next to a resturant. You do that, but they just walk right pass it and continue bringing your ratings down. Staff on the other hand, have improved greatly with updates, but is farrrrr from perfect. They will sometimes go right pass something you want them to do. OH well...its good enough I guess. I've seen real life people work and maybe the computer simulation is even better than real life...

TIPS ON THE GAME:
-Build resturants instead of other food items, resturants give the guests all the needs they want without the need to build multiple buildings and eliminates trash, so your zoo will stay cleaner.
-Use red bricks and cobblestone paths, they make guests happier. Also use flowers and decorate your zoo A LOT.
-Paths should be anywhere from 2-4 square blocks in width so that people can move around in congested areas and not feel too crowded. All paths at LEAST 2 squares.
-Too many people/animals make this game very laggy sometimes.
-Using the pause button can be very useful to help fixing problems.
-Clue: Animals sometimes don't know what they really want and so even though they might not want it or disagree upon something, doesn't mean it'll have a negative effect.
-Putting animals together make it neater and better. Example: White/Normal Bengal, Zebra/Wildebeast/Giraffe/Elephant/gazelle/etc, Chimps/mandrill. Just remember however to not put too many animals in one place as its harder to keepor make perfect.
-Put 2 animals, male and female of the same type if you are mixing animals.
-Build exhibit openings close together so a zoo keeper can handle as much as 4 of them.
-Put a lot of chairs around for people to relax.

If you have many kids, this is one fantastic game. Definately worth the buy, $20 is a great deal for something like this. Nice day everyone.