Windows

Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania

If there’s one thing that kids and adults both love and have a lot of fun doing together, it’s going to Aquariums or sea animal shows in various theme parks throughout the United States. There’s always been something about the somewhat bizarre but fascinating world of undersea life, and Microsoft has captured it for home use to not only enjoy watching, but profiting by as well.

Seeing that Microsoft hasn't released a patch yet (which they probably will) and that often new scenario's and features are added to both Zoo Tycoon and its expansions, the Marine Mania expansion is a good one. The graphics have slightly improved over the original game, the gameplay is much more fun, and overall you'll be able to keep yourself busy for quite a while before getting tired of this game. IF you like tycoon games that is of course.

Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania is the second expansion pack for last year’s Zoo Tycoon. The first, Dinosaur Digs, had numerous of problems. The dinosaurs were big, boring and annoying, and caring for them was almost identical to caring for regular animals, and so the expansion pack didn’t offer anything new to do. Well, developer Blue Fang Games corrected that problem in Marine Mania. Marine exhibits work much differently than regular exhibits, you can combine marine and regular exhibits to create “combo” exhibits, and you can connect special tanks to marine exhibits so that some of the marine animals can perform shows for the zoo guests. In other words, Marine Mania offers many new things for people to do, and that, combined with solid visuals, makes the expansion pack lots of fun to play.

Marine Mania is excellent value for those Zoo Tycoon fans who haven't yet played the Dinosaur Digs expansion; moderate value for those who have.

Ihr virtueller Tierpark erhält klatschnassen Nachwuchs: Mit der Zoo Tycoon-Erweiterung Marine Mania bieten Sie den Besuchern nun auch einen Blick auf die Lebewesen der Unterwasserwelt. Ob Rochen, Delphine, Quallen, Schildkröten Seekühe oder Killerwale - mehr als 20 Meeresbewohner tummeln sich in Ihren übergroßen Aquarien. Selbst der gefürchtete weiße Hai gibt sich ein Stelldichein. Sollte Ihren zahlenden Gästen der bloße Anblick der Kreaturen nicht reichen, sorgen diverse Attraktionen, wie ein Gang durch den Glastunnel im Haibecken, Orca-Kunststücke oder eine Bootsfahrt beim Kraken für spannende Unterhaltung.

Anders als das biedere Dinosaur Digs macht Marine Mania eine Menge Spaß. Alle Meeresbewohner sind liebevoll animiert, spielerisch fordern effektiv angelegte Trocken-Nass-Gehege auch erprobte Zoo-Veteranen.

Was Sie üblicherweise auf Ihrer Pizza Frutti di Mare vorfinden, schwimmt hier im Original hinter dicken Glasscheiben durch riesige Aquarien Ihres selbst gebauten Tierparks. Analog zu Bärengehegen und Elefanten-Häusern fühlen sich Tintenfische, Rochen, Quallen, Schildkröten, Walrösser, Tiger-, Weiße und -Hammerhaie nur in artgerecht eingerichteten Becken so richtig wohl - inklusive Schiffswracks, Seetangs und Korallenbänken; Pott-, Buckel- und Beluga-Wale verlangen nach gigantischen und extrem teuren Bassins und kombinierte Land-/See-Becken machen Seeotter, Seelöwen und Walrösser glücklich.

En bref, voici une extension plutôt sympathique, qui sans être incontournable est toutefois probablement plus riche en nouveautés que la précédente. Les fans de Zoo Tycoon, les passionnés de la mer et Georges Pernoud devraient apprécier ce titre orienté grand public.

Zoo Tycoon has been a rather quiet success in the gaming industry. It recently sold its millionth copy, and yet it doesn't generate the hype that the other tycoon games do. It's also quite a kid-friendly title, with only a bit of cartoon violence when incompatible animals attack each other. To make the most of this success, Blue Fang Studios and Microsoft have introduced a second expansion pack, Marine Mania. This one lets you create your own marine park, similar to the "Sea World Adventure Parks" found around the country, or you can create a dinosaur park and add a bottlenose dolphin show next to the T. rex exhibit.

All things considered, Marine Mania is a good choice for fans of Zoo Tycoon, especially for those who missed out on Dinosaur Digs the first time, or for parents who want to spend quality time with their small child or children. Unfortunately, if you didn't care for Zoo Tycoon in the first place, then Marine Mania's unimpressive presentation and largely unchanged gameplay probably won't do much to change your mind.

Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania is the second expansion pack to original Zoo Tycoon game. The first, Dinosaur Digs, was nice enough, but it only added bigger animals to manage. To be exact, you were given dinosaur eggs which you could hatch and create exhibits with living dinosaurs. To make Zoo Tycoon even more various, the focus now goes to building a successful water park, full of aquatic creatures and sea-themed buildings.

Attention ami Microsoft, tes add-ons se suivent et se ressemblent. Grosse déception : il est impossible d'immerger des lions ou tout autre mammifère terrestre dans les bassins. On devra donc se contenter d'animations classiques comme des accouplements de méduses, des élevages de piranhas géants, des ailes de raies au cidre, miam...