Zoo Tycoon (Microsoft)

By PETER ELEY

Microsoft historically suffers from an identity crisis when it comes to games: it wants to sell lots of them but won't put its family-friendly image at risk with the highly popular but violent titles that attract 15+ ratings.

Zoo Tycoon is the sort of game that results from this dilemma. No one, apart from hard-core animal liberationists, could possibly be offended here.

Our experience with Zoo Tycoon was thoroughly wholesome and it's ideal for parents who want to use the PC as a family bonding tool.

Perhaps a more appropriate name would be Zoo Manager.

That doesn't have quite the same ring, though, and it doesn't leverage off the highly successful Railroad Tycoon or Rollercoaster Tycoon titles.

But this game is all about management. Keep your animals happy and the zoo will run smoothly. Neglect them and watch profits fall as customers stay away.
A tip: food and drink stalls generate vital cash flow which lets you spend more cash on research, which in turn lets you buy more animals and hire more staff.

The game starts with an empty piece of land, and you build your zoo from the ground up. There are 40 different animals and each has specific needs.

This is a modern zoo and you can't simply stick your camels in a cage. They quickly get the hump if you don't give them a nice patch of sand.

Microsoft plan to make more animals available for download, but most of the main ones seem to be included already.

The game runs on quite low-spec machines. A Pentium 233 with 32mb of ram does the job, so don't expect stunning 3D effects. But the lions look fierce, the elephants are big and grey, and the graphics are fine.

Like most sim games, once you've built your railroad/theme park/city/zoo, you sit back and enjoy your creation while watching out for potential problems.
In Zoo Tycoon's case that means keeping the exhibits healthy and well-fed.

peter_eley@nzherald.co.nz