User Reviews (31 - 41 of 179)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

All 3 versions and extras!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

With the Complete Collection, you have everything- the original animals, the marine creatures and the dinosaurs.

Also, to my surprise, several new zoo objects and about a dozen new animals are included on top of that. In my opinion, most of these new animals are very rare, impressive and nice to see like the wild horse, whale shark, orangutan, tapir, komodo dragon, Asian black bear, African wild dog and mountain lion. However, as I like to exhibit 'real' animals, I have not yet included the new yeti or bigfoot in my zoos.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how fun Marine Mania was as I originally thought it would be boring, never really being interested in sea creatures. There are actually some very interesting animals like the different sharks, manta rays, etc. and new visitor attractions- like the boat hire- are nice ideas.

Overall, this game is great, but I find the later scenarios almost impossible!

how much free time do you have???

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

like it says... forget any social life or sleeping ever again. You will become irate and smelly. even if you can pry yourself away from the computer you will find any excuse to come back and check on how your animals are doing (the game will continue on its own if you let it) You may originally buy this for your kids but they will be eating cold cereal for dinner while you obsess over the polar bear to zookeeper ratio and what kind of trees the giraffes would like to have in their exhibit.... it is soothing to build aqaurium tanks for the marine life(stingrays, dolphin shows, and sea turtles) and the dinosaur tycoon has T-rex, bigfoots, and abominable snowmen!

How much FUN is this!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: February 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

What an astounding game! For all the negativity that Microsoft gets you gotta hand it to them when they back the right horse! Some amazing games have come out of Microsoft Game studios!

This complete collection is well worth the price - there is so much game in this box! You will be hard pressed to finish everything offered in here unless you play non-stop for days on end (I hope not...) Value wise there is not question, don't worry about getting ripped off!

And Fun! Woohoo! If you like Rollercoaster Tycoon and such games then Zoo Tycoon will keep you glued for some time. There is a ton of stuff to do just with the original game - nevermind adding marine animals, dinosaurs, and endangered species! There is a TON of stuff to build, upgrade, modify, and limitless combinations for zoo exhibits and scenery!
HINT: check the Zoo Tycoon website for FREE downloads of bonus animals and add-ons!

The game's graphics, interface, sound, and so forth run well: and some will take the graphics as less than average - but this is a simulation game and super high-definition 3D graphics aren't needed. Remember Rollercoaster Tycoon? This game's graphics and interface are VERY similiar to that game. All is well-organized and easy to understand: included Tutorials will get you up and running in about 15 minutes.

PERFORMANCE:

The recommendations on the box are spot-on. Take into account that you should have updated video & sound drivers and disable any problematic software like virus scanners before loading the game (only if you're having performance issues). Other than that the game runs great: graphics and sound features can be tweaked to match your system's needs from in the game.

Take care!

Excellent game for fans of simulation games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you're a fan of simulation games, such as SimCity or the older Sim games, you will enjoy this game a lot. The goal is simple, to run a successful zoo by keeping the guests and the animals happy without running out of money. If you are someone who needs an ending point or a way to "win," you probably won't enjoy this game as much. The scenerios add a bit of a goal and are fun for when you want more of a challenge.

It's also a great game for kids. It has a very realistic feel to it, and gets you thinking about animal habitats. It also allows for great use of creativity in planning the zoos. The addition of dinosaurs and marine animals makes this set even more appealing for children.

Great game -- my 6 and 8 year old boys can't get enough!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game for my 6 year old because he LOVES lizards and dinasaurs and going to aquariums. Even before we became aware of this game, both my boys talked about wanting to build their own zoo. Then I stumbled upon this at Toys R Us and knew we had to get it.

Both kids figured it out with minimal adult involvement. There is a lot of education and learning that goes along with it like knowing what steps you have to follow to create an exhibit. You need to know how to keep the animals happy and the guests happy and keep the zoo under budget -- I find it challenging to keep everyong happy and healthy. If an animal is sick or unhappy, you need to research what to do to make it healthy, what kind of habitat it requires, where it is from, what to feed it, etc.

It is not designed to be a violent game ... however my boys (which includes my husband) have taken great delight in learning that you could feed the zoo guests to the carnivors -- the T-Rex is particularly brutal... it is a good thing they are extinct!

Basically, they NEVER get bored with it because there is so much variety that they will go on for hours. We find that we have to limit their time on the computer because they would play that game to the exclusion of all else -- INCLUDING watching TV!

Basically, there is something for everyone -- education, animals, mayhem and violence... the makings of a perfect game.

Cashing in on Tycoon Series

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: September 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game for people new to the Tycoon series, Animal Lovers, and children. However, be wary if you are an advanced Tycoon player or Computer Gamer.

The game itself is rather fun. The user interface is nicely done, and it's relatively easy to build exhibits. There are plenty of animals to choose from. The most fun have to be the marine animals. I didn't bother with the dinosaurs, besides hatching a T-Rex and throwing animals into the pen with it to see what would happen, as well as letting it run loose in the Elephant exhibit, escape, and devour scared guests. Unfortunatly, that was only a brief 3 minutes.

I like the game, and it was worth the modest purchase price. However, the game lacks many things for more advanced players.

The first being the simplicity of the game. You can easily setup a box pattern of exhibits with a double walkway, and exhibits on both sides. You can throw some themed acessories and plants by the walkway, a restroom or two, a food and drink stand, and your guests will be happy forever. There is no need for Primate/Bird houses, Arcades, Put-Put Golf, or even a gift shop. As long as your animals are happy, your guests will think your park is great, and you will make money.

Guests really have no clue what they are doing. While they have a favorite animal, they don't dislike any animal, or any specific area the animal comes from. That means you could create all Savannah animals in your Zoo and guests won't care. In fact, that's generally what I did. All Savannah style animals, with maybe a few others here and there, and then I'd move on to Marine Areas. I always planned on adding specific areas for other animals, but frankly, there was never a need, and I got bored and started a new Zoo.

Which leads too the next point....wow, alot of animals. It's actually a good thing, but creating a huge Zoo with every animal would take a month or two, and I'm guessing it would be a micro-managing nightmare, as you'll have to monitor each exhibit when it starts becoming empty due to death, or too crowded from births. It would be great though, if the game could automate such tasks, allowing for a maximum and minimum number of animals per exhibit.

The Research is actually too quick, and often, animals just appear in one lump group. If you bump your research up, you'll be done with research in a few hours of gameplay, which isn't nearly enough time to actully USE all those animals it just gave you.

The Terrain editor is halfway useless. While you can raise and lower land, There's no way to lower the corners of the land besides the huge valley tool, so you can't get a smooth path down, for something like a double square path below ground to see an exhibit like a shark tank. You can still do it, but you have to use the valley tool to create a HUGE valley, and then raise up the remaining territory, which is just too much work to be worth it. You also can't build over paths, or any obstacle. If it was there, it would allow for alot more variety in Zoo Design.

While the game is fun, it's certainly no challenge to create a working, profitable park. Just keep in mind that when it starts becoming profitable, go watch TV for 30 minutes and come back, you'll have gained enough money to build more exhibits. If the Guest AI was halfway decent, it would be much more worthwhile to create a realistic Zoo. As it is, the game has horrible play value, and for any Tycoon Series player, you'll just wish your guests were as smart as the ones in Roller Coaster Tycoon, or atleast the ability to see how much money they are carrying.

Recommended, but beware of limitations.

Just love it!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: January 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

My little brother, who is 10 years old, insisted that I should let him ask for this game in Christmas and play it in my computer. At first I was reluctant but finally I accepted. Now it's me who has become zoo-addict with this great game.

Tycoon Millionaire

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: May 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

In my dreams, I want to be a millionaire, and it comes true when I play zoo tycoon. You not only have fun, but you get to see memorable moments (the zookeeper shooting the runaway lions with a tranquilizer darts, the helicopter in action, T-Rexes gobbling up people, watching the dolphin show). Great for everybody, especially sadists will like it too, when they see what they can do.
Hint: Press $ (shift+4) to get $10,000, however, it breaks a fence with a single click. Use it in the beginning.

THIS IS GREAT!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this PC game for my 14 year old daughter for Christmas, but my 9 year old daughter also plays this game alot. In fact, I can't get them off of the computer!! They play this game continuously!! Zoo Tycoon features all the great zoo animals and my daughter loves it when the elephants get out of their pen!!! Would recommend this PC game for anyone--young or old!!

GET THIS GAME!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

One day I went over my friend's house and we played one of her new games called Zoo Tycoon. We played it for less than an hour, but I still fell in love. The next day, I went out to buy it. I played with it for 4 hours straight. This game is extremely fun. There are more than 100 animals you get and you have to make their habitat perfect and like the animal's home habitat. There are som many tools and fun things to make you zoo looking fabulous. The expansions, Marine Mania and Dinosaur Digs, add even more gameplay. Get this game, it's definately worth it.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions