I LOVE this game! I am usually discerning a critical but this... it's so... I mean... WOW!
Ahem. I mean: Zoo Tycoon, in its original first game, was most certainly enjoyable. It's downsides? Limited animals, building and foliage get in the way with no way of hiding them, guests wander into impossible areas with no way of moving them. My only complaints.
This fixes them all! Special buttons hide and show plants, buildings and guests. Said guests can be easily picked up and moved – literally into the lion's den, if you feel so inclined (interesting to watch).
I say 'Just right' in difficulty because you can choose it yourself. Too easy? Change it. Too hard? Tweak the settings. You can hack into the game to change things like zoo staff salaries, but this will apply to all games and can often be so... well, you lose that triumphant feeling, knowing you've cheated.
If a free-form game, you can select how much money you start with – $75,000 to $500,000. Beginners should fill it right up, experienced players should get a challenge with lower numbers.
Another little thing I just HAVE to mention, is the pricing realism. In the Sims, you paid $5 for a small packet of chips, and so on – pricing was very variant. In ZT:CC, the pricing is much more realistic and guests respond accordingly. This makes it easier to select starting cash.
You can also select a scenario or tutorial, which is where the real meat of the game is (and the milk). Start off with your 'milk', the turitorials, and when your on firmer feet, bite into the beef with one of the scenarios of steadily increasing difficulty (I'm starting to have fun with these analogies). In a lot of these scenarios,your main restrictions are time (if you can handle the money) or money (if you can't).
Add in the fact you are no longer restricted to lions and tigers and bears (oh my), but can get dolphins, eels, swordfish, even humpback whales! Plus all the dinosaurs (several of which I could name off by heart but that's a little condescending, isn't it?)! And if you know how to get them, you can even adopt a mermaid (no mermen though, sorry guys). No secrets here.
The endangered species theme pack includes more things for the original Zoo Tycoon, land-based lifeforms. komodo dragon, mountain lion (cougar, puma, whatever you'd call it), przewalski's wild horse and more.
Plus, if you want more still, you can research for them (or cheat for them, shh) or, by completing certain scenarios, unlock unusual animals, buildings and decorations.
I really am rambling on here.
Controls are icon-based so it's easier to find what you want, but not so reliant on them that it becomes confusing – your alerts will be displayed in messages and icons are mainly restricted to menus and stat windows.
Awesome!
A little tip for you more sadistic gamers: all predators will chase and attack (or in sharks' and large dinosaurs' cases, eat) all adult male guests. Due to animation, they ignore all women and children. And another thing – each man can only be attacked once by anything in your zoo. He will then run screaming for the exit! To get rid of him, just pick him up and put him down by the exit...
...then select your next victim!
And, yes, sadistic girl that I am, I discovered this myself... and use it to my advantage...