Zoo Tycoon 2 with Bonus Animal Pen (Monkey or Tiger)

Rating:
Summary: Glad I'm not the only one...
Review: ...frustrated with this "upgrade." I stopped playing and uninstalled this one when it continually froze up my computer, which is barely a year old and top of the line from HP. Not only that, but Microsoft has changed the game so much from the original that it is definitely not friendly to the adult player anymore. Maybe a kid will have more fun with this simplified game, but I ENJOYED the challenge of creating appropriate exhibits and planning out all the "extras" for my zoo. It was the details like knowing what and how many rocks, square of grass, trees, etc that were challenging and fun for me and those details are gone now.

Granted, the new 3D format is fun and I liked the "guest" mode that lets you see your zoo and animals from a first-person perspective and perform staff tasks. I like that you can interact with the animals in that mode - feed them, groom them, etc. But, the rest of the game is too simplified. I may give it one more try, but if it locks up my computer AGAIN, I'm back to the original ZT.

Here's an idea, Microsoft - add the cool new features like first-person mode to the original ZT, make the game more compatible with a variety of video cards, and release THAT ZT2!

Rating:
Summary: Awesome. Don't listen to them
Review: I bought this game because i enjoyed the original version and was really excited to play this one.

After installation i got a message saying my video card was too old for this game! It's a one year old DELL laptop with every bell and whistle. The card is ATI Mobile 7500. I updated video drivers, but it was a no go.

I guess you need a top of the line PC bought in the past 3-6 months to play this. I'd say stay away unless you want a nasty surprise, especially since the game box has NO warning on it.

Rating:
Summary: Zoo Tycoon 2 Rocks!
Review: I LOVE Zoo Tycoon Complete Collection, and eagerly awaited the release of ZT2. I have not had any problems so far with crashing, bugs or unsupported video cards (I am running it on a Sony Vaio RA-710G, purchased in 7-04).

The game is actually quite different, IMO, from ZTCC. I would recommend ZT2 for young children, but for an adult I would recommend ZTCC. I admit that I have not finished the campaigns, and I have not played any of the challenge games yet, but I am disappointed in the biome brush and apparent lack of thought needed to make the animals happy (everything is filtered for you). I really miss the challenge of figuring out how to get those last few points for the perfection of the exhibit, after the zookeeper has told you it is well suited, but you are still 5-10 points below the requirement in the scenario.

That said, ZT2 is much easier for my 5yo to play. ZT2 does not require the reading skill that ZTCC does. He has played ZTCC for about a year, and needed a lot of help with reading the zookeeper recommendations (he could then carry them out, he just could not read them), but needs very little help with ZT2 (everything is in icons, even zookeeper recommendations). Zookeeper recommendations even take the form of filtering the game content to only what will make the animal happy!

My son and I both LOVE the guest mode, being able to visit the zoo you created is great! Being able to do the staff duties takes care of that annoying zookeeper that you would keep dropping in the pile of poo and they would just walk away instead of cleaning it, or the maintenence worker who refused to empty the trash. The photo safari mode is the best!!! I have gotten some fabulous shots of my animated animals! I just wish I could do those things in ZTCC..........

The graphics are great, but a little (cartoonish? smooth? round? Disney-ish?). I cannot quite put my finger on it. Maybe not textured enough........

Overall, a really good game.... I would ideally have given it 5 stars for kids and 3 for adults, but had to settle for an average of 4 stars.

HEY! BLUE FANG!!! how about a ZT*3* that combines the challenge of ZTCC and the awesome features of ZT2???


Rating:
Summary: Zoo Tycoon 2
Review: i played this game ovr my friend's house and when i played it i fell in love. In Zoo Tycoon 2 you can be the zoo keeper. yeah! you have to feed your animals and you can even rake up poop (he he)but if you don't want to be a zoo kepper that is okay too you can just hire some. now your animals get pregnant and then they have their babies. they look so real. unfortunately i don't have this game yet but i am going to go buy it imediatley so if you love animals then add this to your list.

Rating:
Summary: Be SURE to check your graphics card before buying!
Review: We have been fans of ZooTycoon from the start, and waited for months for the new ZooTycoon2 to come out, and then promptly bought it. We have a couple of decent computers, and never gave it a worry...until you install the game and are advised that it won't run due to graphic card issues. This was a Christmas persant for my son and myself...but it took us a month to play it due to the problems we had. We even tried this game on a friends brand new computer (not a high-end, but new), and the game kept freezing up. First of all, be sure you have at LEAST a 16MB video card (then pray the game will support it - there is a long list of known issues), then make sure you have at LEAST 256MB RAM...which is the mimium (512 recomended), and lastly, your processor needs to be at LEAST running at 1GHZ. I would recomend higher as it makes my 933MHZ grind away the entire time the game is on. The intro to the game is bogus...you can't copy what it shows, but the graphics are pretty good. We actually had to spend a couple hundred bucks to play this game, having to buy a better graphics card and memory. Overall, I think that Blue Fang changed the game too much, trying to get toooo fancy. Fun for kids, but if you haven't bought a decent computer in the last 6 months, order one when you order this game!

Rating:
Summary: BLAH!!!!!
Review: Zoo Tycoon was great, but Zoo Tycoon2 is much more realistic. You can adopt 29 animals, 4 of which are different from what you get in Zoo Tycoon.
You can assume the role of different people in your zoo; a zoo guest, a matinence worker, a zoo keeper, and the zoo owner.
In this game, you can actually choose what you feed your animals. You can groom, wash, and heal your animals. You can also build waterfalls and moats.
Another good thing is that in the freeform games, your cash is unlimited, so you can buy whatever you want. But in the campaign games, you don't get very much money, except for in the first one.
One con is the system requirements. It was days before I could actually start playing the game becuse first we didn't have a 3-D graphics (video) card, then we didn't have enough memory, and we had just gotten a new computer a month ago.