Zoo Tycoon 2

I've been playing Zoo Tycoon 2 again. I forgot how much I enjoyed it.
The game is just... awesome.

Let me back up and give a titch of history.
First.. there was Zoo Tycoon and it's three expansion packs (Well.. two and a half, really): Dino Digs (Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals), Marine Mania (Aquatic and partially aquatic animals) and Complete Collection which included the Engangeres Species collection (some new dinosaurs and marine animals were also included.
The animals were.. OK, but never spectacular. They sounded.. OK. Obviously some real sounds were used, as possible. They looked... vaguely correct. You couldn't zoom it and see details of the animals, but male lions did have manes and giraffes did have long necks, so...
The fun was in designing the zoos, sticking compatible animals together, possibly, but mostly design and layout of the exhibits, food areas and various decorative options.

Then Zoo Tycoon 2 came along and changed the nature of the game completely.
ZT2 was an all-around upgrade, starting with the idea that we wanted to zoom in and see our animals in action.
Sadly, Zoo Tycoon 2 came out with about half of the animals the original Zoo Tycoon came out with, but each one of these animals was so much more detailed!
Starting with that basis, the animals were made photorealistic and you can zoom in to the point where you could see even some of the smallest animals fairly easily: the beavers and ring-tailed lemurs.
Then they went ahead and gave the animals realistic behaviors. This, for me, is the best part.
There's a set list of behaviors... the animal can only choose from so many, but some of these behaviors are fun as hell to watch and suddenly you aren't just designing a zoo, but visiting.
The best part, imho, is watching the animals play. And my favorite animals are those that can react with a whole bunch of toys...or other non-toys! I once caught a grumpy camel spitting at a Zoogoer. The Zoogoer was very upset, but I was highly amused. On the other end, I built a tiger exhibit, filled it with rocks, trees, a lake to swim in, lots and lots of toys... and WHAT does the tiger do? It bounds on top of the large rock and lies down, obviously content to sun. HMPH! ;)
Actually, there's a bunch of awesome behaviors and I know I haven't check them all out, because I've never played with all of the animals or watched them all very closely. You can stick a bunch of sticks in a beaver exhibit and it's just... awesome to watch them grab them, bring them into the water and create a dam. The animation isn't perfect, nor is the A.I. (they made the dam in the middle of a pond. Next time I make beavers, I'll bring in a waterfall and small river, but sheesh! The middle of a pond?!?)

And the best news is... they're finally working on an expansion pack: an Endangered Species pack, which includes more than a dozen new species (FINALLY including my favorite, the Grey Wolf. WOLFY! :D), new flora and fauna for the exhibts, new toys (New toys are good :) It's FUN watching the animals use the toys we give them :) ), plus new modes of transportation, such as a way to drive through the park (Forget Jurassic Park. I wanna make African Lion Safari! :D )

And they, occasionally, put new downloads on the web, including new scenery, new animals (they've realeased a Musk Ox, An Asian Elephant, a Black Leopard... is that it for animals?) and other goodness.

This is just a fun game :) Can't wait for the expansion. WOLFY! :D