Money comes pouring in and, unless the player is inept, the animals should be perfectly happy all the time. There's very little challenge in keeping the zoo physically running. Players also want to raise their zoo's rating, since a higher rating unlocks the ability to add fancier exhibits and more expensive animals. Like all economic simulation games, the main point of Zoo Tycoon 2 is to effectively bring in the cash. If+you+don't+keep+the+animals+happy,+they+get+cranky.

Still, even at the most zoomed in camera mode, the game still has a detached, god-like view. The animations are probably the most noticeable improvement, with guests and animals alike actually moving around semi-realistically. There is an improvement, meaning you can actually tell what animals are in the cages this time, but there is really nothing spectacular. Zookeeper Mode is a bit of a step away from the Tycoon formula, but it's a welcome feature because Zoo Tycoon 2 still looks pretty bland in the overview mode. They animate differently based on their mood, and they all have realistic sound effects. A few of the species are a bit funky looking (like the bug-eyed panthers), but most of them are pretty good. Each animal is represented in 3D, and most have different models for male and female, and everyone has a model for the babies. Touch screen minigames allow the player to feed, clean, pet, and nurse the animals. The biggest change and new feature is Zookeeper Mode, which allows the player to enter the enclosure and interact with the animals. Thankfully, quite a few of the issues with the previous game have been fixed, giving players a far more engrossing experience. Long time DS owners may also remember the 2005 Zoo Tycoon, and how bad it was.

The Zoo Tycoon series has been around the PC for years, so this isn't anything new. Which means it's a game about running whatever the subject is, in this case, a zoo. This version has no tigers to maul us, and we got to pet otters! Plus, it's pretty fun, too. It's a couple years later, and Altron has developed Zoo Tycoon 2. When Zoo Tycoon came out on the Nintendo DS in 2005, it made us dislike zoos in the way that the prospect of getting mauled by a tiger at one does. It was cool during an elementary school fieldtrip when you got to look at polar bears instead of learning long division, but lame when the parents decided to go there instead of a real amusement park. For a lot of people, the zoo was an iffy experience.

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