And, for anyone who loves their movies, this is a potential gold-mine - the people who designed it were obviously hardcore film buffs. But what really seals the deal on this wonderful game is just how many hidden Easter Eggs are there waiting to be unlocked. And try not to delete bits of exhibit fence by accident (or otherwise), or your patrons will soon all be running screaming from the zoo (and with good cause - those beasts will be all too willing to maul them). Manage your funds effectively, make your investments wisely, and your zoo will prosper. It goes without saying of course that maintaining all those lovely giraffes, wolves and ibexes is only half the challenge - to be a real zoo tycoon you gotta ensure that your guests are having a good time, and that you can afford to hire all those zoo keepers and maintenance workers your zoological garden would be utter chaos without. Your animals will eventually die of old age, but under the right conditions new ones will be born - and if you can get rare and endangered species like snow leopards and giant pandas to reproduce, you'll get more money and visitation (and that, after all, is the real objective of the game). If the term 'educational' repels you as an adult, let me assure you that learning about the zoology of the natural world from this thing is no more demeaning than learning it from a nature documentary. There are lots of naturalistic animal sounds and animal behaviour, foliage and terrain types lovingly adapted from each environment and each available species comes with its own encyclopaedic profile, so you can do your homework on their unique preferences, and get your educational value's worth while you're at it. Just like real animals, if you fail to provide for their every need they become unhealthy and unhappy (much to the annoyance of guests and animal rights protesters alike). Your animal residents are extreme perfectionists, and it's important to recreate their natural habitats just right, ensure they have the appropriate amount of space and enrichment, and enough room for privacy from the guests. A lot of effort and research obviously went into this, and it really shows. Granted, the technology and graphics would have improved over the last decade or so, but 'Zoo Tycoon is so beautifully designed and rendered that it puts those early 'Theme' games to shame. I thought 'Yay, they did it - Microsoft finally did it!' I was all too eager to get my hands on a copy, and, once I'd loaded it up and begun giving it a whirl, knew that it had been worth the wait. Years and years later my heart nearly skipped a beat when I was walking past my local video game shop and saw the poster with the African elephant crashing through the admission booth, along with the tagline 'build and manage your own zoo'. I kinda lost interest in the whole franchise after that, and stopped expecting a zoo game. I remember how pleased I was to hear they were doing a follow-up, and how disappointed when I heard the title - Theme Hospital? Maybe it's just prejudice speaking, but for some reason that premise didn't grab me in quite the same way. I was completely in love with that game, always thought how great it would be if they could do a zoo version, being the demented animal-lover that I am - just think how much more challenging and involving it would be than even a theme park. I don't care how geeky that makes me sound for me Construction and Management is what a fantastic VG's usually all about - I grew up playing the crude, glitch-filled but oh-so-colourful wonder that was the original 'Theme Park' (the one that offered you virtual simulations of the rides themselves but made your computer crash every time you tried it - remember that?).