Product Details
 | Zoo Tycoon Complete Collection |
| List Price: | $19.99 |
| Price: | $7.00 |
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from and sold by CostBuy
35 new or used available from $4.69
Average customer review:
Product Description
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3020 in Video Games
- Brand: Microsoft
- Released on: 2003-08-05
- ESRB Rating: Everyone
- Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 1.25" h x 5.25" w x 7.75" l, 1.00 pounds
Features
- Start out with the original Zoo Tycoon -- you'll have total control over a zoo, and create the animal displays that will impress and amaze people
- Create concession stands, take care of the animals and handle problems like escaped lions -- all while balancing the book & trying to turn a profit. It's fun AND challenging!
- Take it a step further with the Marine Mania expansion pack -- all-new exhibit materials, building and attractions for creating a beautiful aquarium display and dolphin show
- Dinosar Digs gives you the chance to create your own dinosaur park -- bring T-Rexes and brontosaurs to life and keep them from eating the customers
- Also comes with the Endangered Species Theme Pack, featuring a dozen unique animals, 40 objects, and 3 new scenarios -- plus bonus animals available for download
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
An
insidiously addictive simulation game, Zoo Tycoon allows players
to create their own zoo, but not just any zoo. It's completely
free-form: Start with fences for your exhibits, then pick animals and
give them toys, foliage, and anything else you want. For your customers,
you can lay down paths to lead them around, then add food stands,
amusement rides, even maps and trash cans. Not sure what you need? The
zoo advisors will tell you how to make the animals happy, and the
customers themselves will tell you what they're looking for, be it
snacks, more animals, or anything else. There's also a vast amount of
background information on each critter--its diet, its habitat,
etc.--which can be useful when you're adding a macrauchenia or a Loch
Ness Monster. In all, you can choose over 100 animals, plus countless
habitat and park embellishments.
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
- Sometimes tiresome trying to get an animal's exhibit just right
- How much free time do you have to spare?
Customer Reviews
3 in one and even more fun
Zoo Tycoon Complete
Collection is the video game my daughter was waiting for.
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
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.
Creative, moderately challenging, and tons of fun!
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment