Cam's Connection

Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania and Dinosaur Digs Expansion Pack Review Blue Fang Games/Microsoft Games Originally published in Brand New Planet. This expansion pack is a lot of fun. If you already have the game Zoo Tycoon, it would be perfect for you. However, you need to have the original for this to work at all. New features available in this game include being able to have dinosaurs in your zoo (scientists have created a way to bring them back, 65 million years later) and fit their needs by providing ancient plants and specialized keepers. You can also have marine animals and provide ocean habitats for them. Another fun feature (that’s also great for making money, caring for all those animals can get expensive) is being able to make show tanks for aquatic creatures and programming special moves and tricks to entertain audiences. You can build zoo attractions better than Marineland and Sea World put together! This expansion pack also comes with some new types of buildings, statues, plants, decorations, 10 new scenarios and over 30 new marine and prehistoric animals. This may sound like a great package, but personally, I think the original Zoo Tycoon by itself is more than enough to keep me occupied. If you were a huge fan of the first game, you’ll probably love this addition and the ability to make your zoo even more spectacular, but if you’re like most players (myself included) you were probably satisfied with just the basic package. I’m not a huge expansion pack enthusiast, anyway. Although I think getting extra options for any game is cool, I don’t know if it’s really worth the price tag (computer games are getting more expensive these days, and let’s face it. Are you willing to drop $30 on an extension of a game you already have?). One problem I had with this game was that it froze my computer a lot and crashed regularly. I had to call the technical support number to find out what was going on. I eventually realized that my computer didn’t have the latest Direct X Video upgrade, so I downloaded it from Microsoft.com and the game worked fine. This might help you if you have problems with the game too. Overall, I think this was a very enjoyable computer game, but you have to decide yourself if you’re willing to put down the money for it.