''Zoo Tycoon DS'' is a 2005 construction and management simulation game developed by Altron and published by

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

for the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

. It is based off the PC game ''Zoo Tycoon''. A sequel to the game, titled ''Zoo Tycoon 2 DS'', was released in 2008.

Gameplay

The graphics and gameplay are somewhat similar to the first ''

Zoo Tycoon ''Zoo Tycoon'' is a series of business simulation video games in which the player is tasked with building and running a successful zoo. The series was initially developed by Blue Fang Games and published by Microsoft Studios who later in 2001 ...

'' game, however, for the DS version, the terrain is in a grid format and does not blend smoothly with other terrain types like they do in the PC and Mac versions. The objects and animals available in the game are also that of the first ''

'' game. The game has two playing options, either tutorial/scenario or freeform. Tutorial/Scenario mode takes the player through many short games, each with a set goal, increasing in difficulty. Freeform lets players create a zoo free of time restrictions and goals. There are some limitations that the game has, such as not placing animals into the same exhibit.

Reception

''Zoo Tycoon DS'' received mixed to poor reviews, with an average score of 44.96% on

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and 44/100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Greg Mueller, reviewing ''Zoo Tycoon DS'' for

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

, disproved of the game's graphics, criticizing how "Of all the 50 animals

n the game N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

only a few of them actually have distinct looks. You'll see the same brownish blob move around using the same two or three frames of animation over and over, which just doesn't look natural at all.". Muller also criticized the near-complete lack of music and sound effects, remarking "You could play this game on mute without missing anything. You might be deprived of the sweeping noise maintenance workers make, but you can just grab a broom and make the noise yourself, which, incidentally, would probably be about as much fun as playing this game". Dan Adams of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

also strongly detested the game, despairingly opening up his review with the words, while sending himself death threats; "Please kill me. I just want to die. ''Zoo Tycoon DS'' has sucked the will to live out of my eyeballs and left me with nothing but cramped hands. ... I can't remember the last time I saw such an ugly game with so many deficiencies." The most positive review came from

Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...

, who praised the game for "faithfully reproducing the ''

'' experience" on the

, November 2005 issue, Page 112 ''Zoo Tycoon DS'' received a "Platinum" sales award from the

Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) is a non-profit trade association for the video game industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Ukie was founded in 1989 as the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), then chang ...

(ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

References

External links

* {{Zoo Tycoon 2005 video games Altron games Nintendo DS games Nintendo DS-only games Single-player video games THQ games Video games developed in Japan Video games with isometric graphics Zoo Tycoon