Better than Zoo Tycoon?

[Vault]

Do you think Planet Zoo is better than Zoo Tycoon? Why/why not?

[Black Dynamite]

No, Zoo Tycoon had a more animals available in not only the base game but the DLC, and was cheaper. Don't get me wrong, love Planet Zoo, but Zoo Tycoon 2 was PEAK!

[MrHappy]

There are lots of features in Zoo Tycoon that for some reason are not in Planet Zoo. I do think PZ is the better game though because of all the customisation.

[Vault]

Originally posted by With Faceless Panda:

There are lots of features in Zoo Tycoon that for some reason are not in Planet Zoo. I do think PZ is the better game though because of all the customisation.

Which features? Maybe I should check out Zoo Tycoon 2.

[jcp011c2]

Originally posted by Black Dynamite:

No, Zoo Tycoon had a more animals available in not only the base game but the DLC, and was cheaper. Don't get me wrong, love Planet Zoo, but Zoo Tycoon 2 was PEAK!

Your numbers are somewhat incorrect. Zoo Tycoon 1 (the original not the 2013 console to PC remake) had 45 animals in the base game with 12 more free animals released outside of DLC over the years. Zoo Tycoon 2 had 30 animals in the base game. Planet Zoo base game includes over 70 animals, though of course, some of those are exhibit animals.

The DLC was cheaper, and did have more animals than what PZ is releasing. But cheaper in terms of early 00's is a bit off from today's prices as well. I would imagine those EP (I think they were $20?) would be closer to $30 or even $40 now.

It's easy to look back at ZT 1 and 2 through rose colored glasses. Of course they have more animals total than PZ does right now. But they did not have more in the base game.

[XrystalBelle]

All down to personal preference. I prefer Planet Zoo as it is updated to recent hardware, zoo tycoon in its day would have been classed similarly but to compare today would put it lower in my opinion.

My mother on the other hand loves the animals, the graphics, pretty much everything except the path building. She hates it with a passion and prefers zoo tycoons version of it. But she is getting old so some things are harder to learn.

There are other zoo games more recent than zoo tycoon, tried those but didn’t like them. But that’s just a personal observation. The 1,000 plus hours of game play since beta with at least half in the first month shows you how much I like it.

[Roney99]

Hi I was born at 1990 so for me, ITs Zoo tycon like chocolate cake from childhood. :) I spent a loooots of hours played with that games. BUt for graphics, sounds, animations of corse is PLanet zoo better.

[PlaymateBunny]

If you dont mind spending hours on 1 exibition or building than its definatly Planet Zoo 😁✌
For a lot of people Zoo Tycoon has HIGH nostalgic value and thats hard to compete with ♥️

[SotiCoto]

I've been contemplating trying the Zoo Tycoon games since I never bothered playing them before. I've never really been big on management games before, but I've been trying to branch out a bit lately.

[Siamese55]

I would argue it fits very well as a remade Zoo Tycoon. The original, though. In my initial review I went over the same thing, but PZ feels like the original Zoo Tycoon for the modern era with so much emphasis on habitats and its connections to education. Zoo Tycoon won several awards for such back in its day.

However, I wanted something more akin to Zoo Tycoon 2. Although PZ had more animals, technically, I would argue Zoo Tycoon 2 did have more diverse offerings for base game and DLC. (Some aquatic animals from the beginning, for example.) I do hope PZ gets some meatier expansions later, so I cannot judge it too harshly on what has not happened. However, things like an egg stage for birds and reptiles that were in Zoo Tycoon 2 are not in PZ. You cannot walk around the zoo and do things or interact with animals in PZ either.

I feel much more constricted in PZ. I like the building, sure, but your customization boils down to playing the game the "right way." You need only remove a habitat gate for a moment to see that. In ZT2, I used to plop a keeper in an exhibit and they would would live there with no way out in a number of zoos. They functioned perfectly. They could also swim to the animals, and if they malfunctioned you could take care of it. However in PZ and ZT1, you are at the complete mercy of the keeper AI.

The exhibit focus also really constrains how I build and makes building them really tedious for me. I used to make something more akin to wildlife refuges all the time in ZT2 or even just let animals roam on the map sometimes. That is not only discouraged but impossible now, and you are at the mercy of the keeper AI to transport animals again instead of being able to move them yourself. All in all, it really limits what I can do to a "zoo within the lines" and it really divorces me from the animals through layers of keeper AI. That is fine when all you want is a business simulation, but I play PZ for the animals.

Further, there are some base choices I do not like. I have hated the terrain block requirements of ZT1 since the beginning, just as I hate them now as terrain paint. I think the current terrain paint could be fun to mess with, but in a requirement? So long as it is the right biome and what not, it feels overly fickle. I want the ZT2 biome paints back. As mentioned previously, not being able to directly move animals is a problem for me. The lack of an egg stage is a also a weird thing to not be a priority for something with such an emphasis on realism and breeding. The general barriers between the player and the animals are want annoy me the most, though.

[Jynn]

they both have their pros and cons (my opinions of course). I grew up with Zoo Tycoon 2, but i still prefer planet zoo over it

Planet Zoo:

Pros:
- Immense customization, able to build pretty much anything terraform, etc
- Animals look better
- People seem to have better needs and wants
- Animals seem to have more needs, personality, and in general just better AI

cons:
- for some reason we're not allowed different terrain types
- the management side can be pretty complex
- low animal selection

Zoo Tycoon:

- lots of animals to choose from
- aquatic animals like sharks, rays and dolphins
- Can instantly add and move animals without needing a trade center stop over
- lots of little shop carts you can place without needing a huge gift store
- aviaries and aquarium buildings
- entertainment buildings and entertainers in costumes

Cons:
- it is, of course, a much older game so graphics and AI are worse
- far less customization on what you can build in terms of building or terraforming
- animals are a lot less personable and fun to watch IMO