Zoo Tycoon 2

***Zoo Tycoon 2*** is the sequel to the 2001 game *Zoo Tycoon*.

Originally released for Microsoft Windows on November 9, 2004, *Zoo Tycoon 2* is also available for the mobile phone, Mac OS X, and Nintendo DS.

## Gameplay

*Zoo Tycoon 2* has 3 modes of play: Freeform mode, Challenge mode, and Campaign Mode.

Freeform mode allows the player to create a zoo of limited space with no restrictions. The player is given an unlimited money supply and every animal is available. All objects, except the ones yet to be unlocked in campaign and challenge games, are available.

Challenge mode is very similar to freeform mode. The player chooses the initial amount of money available; players must earn money through donations. There is initially a limited amount of animals and objects. As the zoo increases in fame, more animal species and objects will become available. Many objects must be researched before they can be purchased. In this mode, the player is given tasks that must be included. These include pleasing a celebrity guest, or photographing an animal's behavior. The reward for completing these challenges could be an in-game award or cash grant, and may also unlock themed objects for use in freeform mode.

Campaign mode involves the player receiving a specific goal, and the completion of the goal allows the player to go on to a harder challenge. If all the scenarios are completed, objects become available for purchase in freeform mode.

## Game Mechanics

The Zoopedia, an encyclopedia on the entire game and all of its objects, will give the player information about anything in the game. Animal's dietary habits, compatibilities, preferred habitats, real-world and in-game behaviors, for example, are noted on the Zoopedia.

Animals each have their own biome that they belong in. A biome is an important feature in the game, as an animal in an unsuitable habitat will quickly become unhappy. Biomes include alpine, boreal forest, desert, grassland, savannah, scrub, temperate forest, tropical rainforest, wetlands, and tundra.

As a player's zoo becomes more popular, the zoo will increase its fame rating. Accessible pathways, a wide variety of happy animal species in well-kept exhibits, guest activities all play a role in the guests' enjoyment of the zoo.

## Animals

### Ambient Animals

Ambient animals appear in the zoo depending on the biome that the zoo is based in. For example, the red squirrel will appear in a temperate forest zoo. However, the player cannot interact with these animals.

* African grey parrot
* Bald eagle
* Blue jay
* Blue-and-gold macaw
* Broad-tailed hummingbird
* Bullfrog
* Common loon
* Fiddler crab
* Giant bullfrog
* Herring gull
* Keel-billed toucan
* Lappet-faced vulture
* Mallard duck
* Monarch butterfly
* Pigeon
* Red squirrel
* Red-tailed hawk
* Ruppell's vulture
* Sheep
* Springhare
* Toco toucan
* White-winged vampire bat
* Western honey bee
* Yellow-billed oxpecker

## Expansion Packs

### Endangered Species

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species
In October 2005, Microsoft released the *Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species* expansion pack. This expansion pack adds rarer animals, including the komodo dragon, scimitar-horned oryx, and orangutan, in addition to new forms of transportation for guests, such as sky trams, jeep tours and elevated paths. The expansion also has a feature called "variant skins", which means that when the player adopts an animal, it may look different from normal members of its species (such as a white Bengal tiger and King Cheetah).

### African Adventure

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure
*Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure*, released May 2006, adds 20 new African animals such as the bongo, striped hyena, and the meerkat. In addition, it includes African-themed jeep tours, new maps based on well-known African locations, desert-themed buildings, lizard live food, and a new set of challenges and campaigns. The Jeep vehicle tours originally included in *Endangered Species* are featured in this expansion, with the addition of the new Jeep Liberty.

### Dino Danger (Premium Download)

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Dino Danger
The *Dino Danger* was released at the end of July 2006. This pack could originally only be downloaded from the *Zoo Tycoon* website via credit card. It added four new animals and a campaign scenario. Since the release of *Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals*, which includes more updated versions of all of the animals included in the pack, *Dino Danger* was taken offline from the *Zoo Tycoon* website and can no longer be downloaded from that site. However, the pack can still be downloaded from the Microsoft site.

### Zookeeper Collection

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection
The *Zookeeper Collection* was released in October 2006. Rather than being an expansion, it's more of a large standalone pack featuring the *Endangered Species* and *African Adventure* expansions, as well as all animals and content from *Zoo Tycoon 2*. It includes some *Marine Mania* features, such as the new mode of biome layout.

### Marine Mania

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania
*Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania* was released on October 17th, 2006. It features 20 new aquatic animals, new marine options, marine shows and several other brand new gaming features. The expansion also includes marine plants, the ability to build tanks, animal shows, minigames to teach some of your marine animals behaviors, 4 new aquatic biomes, and new scenarios and challenges. Changes have been made to the original method of biome layout allowing the ability to turn off rocks , flowers, and trees.

### Extinct Animals

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals
*Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals*, was released on October 17, 2007. It is a very large expansion in the *Zoo Tycoon series*, with 34 adoptable animals, plus two bonus animals. Paleontologists can be hired to find fossils hidden under the ground, or players can go in first person to find them themselves. The tools are a fossil finder gun that beeps based on proximity to the fossils. Then, in the laboratory, depending on the animal, the player executes a series of clicks and spacebars to increase the lifespan and rarity of the animal. If the clicks are executed perfectly, a perfect animal clone will be made. Like the animals in Zoo Tycoon, they get sick with diseases. Due to the extinction of these diseases, the player must utilize the Extinct Research Lab to investigate and find the cure.

### Forgotten Animals

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Forgotten Animals
*Zoo Tycoon 2: Forgotten Animals*, was released on January 16, 2008. It is the largest expansion in the *Zoo Tycoon series*, with 55 adoptable animals. It focused on adding animals from the first Zoo Tycoon game that didn’t return in the previous expansion packs. Several select objects and foliage are also featured in the expansion.

### Mesozoic Pack

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Mesozoic Pack
*Zoo Tycoon 2: Mesozoic Pack*, was released on May 20, 2008. It is one of the largest expansion in the *Zoo Tycoon series*, with 39 adoptable animals from the Mesozoic era, such as the giant Sarcosuchus, the striped Yangchuanosaurus and the social Centrosaurus. It also introduces coastal and pelagic extinct animals to the game.

### Jurassic Park Pack

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Jurassic Park Pack
*Zoo Tycoon 2: Jurassic Park Pack*, was released on June 18, 2009. It is the smallest expansion pack in the series and includes 9 animals from the Jurassic Park franchise, such as the famous Jurassic Park Tyrannosaurus, the armored Jurassic Park Stegosaurus and the intelligent Jurassic Park Velociraptor. It also adds a brand new map, Isla Sorna.

### Ultimate Collection

Main article: Zoo Tycoon 2: Ultimate Collection
*Zoo Tycoon 2: Ultimate Collection* was released on September 30, 2010. It contains the original game and all of its official expansions, similar to *Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection*. Many people have had a formatting program on their Ultimate collection discs, causing this particular expansion to be not so popular.

## Reception and Awards

The release of *Zoo Tycoon 2* in 2004 received mixed views. Many parents played the game with their children, which resulted in the numerous awards for the sequel. Although the game is aimed at children and teenagers, the educational side of the game was the rise to popularity. However, there were numerous bugs. Reviews from Gamespot and IGN pointed out poor performance of lower-resolution computers, unimpressive sound system, and acceptable graphics.

*Zoo Tycoon 2* received several awards. These include multiple awards from parent organizations for being a family-friendly game that could be played by young children with adult supervision. The sequel also received Dan Takahashi’s "Top 10 Games of 2004". The expansion packs for *Zoo Tycoon 2*, in particular *Marine Mania*, also strut over 5 different family friendly gaming awards.

## Competition

Since the release of *Zoo Tycoon* in 2001, many other companies have imitated the gameplay, and the concept of running a zoo. The followers since include *RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Wild!*; *Zoo World*; *Wildlife Park 2*, its expansion packs *Crazy Zoo*, *Marine World*, and more to follow; *Zoo Empire* and its platinum pack *Marine Park Empire*. All of these have different gameplay and content, but all have the same basic concept.

However, *Zoo Tycoon* seems to have become more popular and better known. *Zoo Empire* was a relative failure, while the *Zoo Tycoon* franchise has continued to expand since it first came out. The most recent competition is Deep Silver's *Wildlife Park 2*, originated in Germany, which has produced many expansions in the following years, and eventually gained a short-lived sequel called *Wildlife Park 3*.

Frontier, the developers of the Elite series, Planet Coaster, and RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 have released their zoo business simulator Planet Zoo.

## Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Zoo Tycoon 2.

Pre-release screenshot of an early build of *Zoo Tycoon 2*.