Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania

Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania
File:Pageimage-MarineMania.jpg
Developer(s)	Blue Fang Games
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios Games for Windows
Series	Zoo Tycoon
Engine	Gamebryo
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	October 17, 2006 October 27, 2006 November 7, 2006
Genre(s)	3D Simulation
Mode(s)	Single player

File:ZT2MM animals.jpg

Several marine animals (left to right; green sea turtle; sea otter; bottlenose dolphin; West Indian manatee; blacktip reef shark).

This article is for the expansion for Zoo Tycoon 2. For the expansion pack for Zoo Tycoon, see Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania. For the mobile phone game, see Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania Mobile.

Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania is the third expansion pack for the Zoo Tycoon 2. The expansion focuses around marine animals, as did the Marine Mania expansion for the first Zoo Tycoon game.

Gameplay

Animal shows

Marine Mania introduces shows and an animal training minigame (more minigames were later introduced in Extinct Animals) which were previously not in the other expansions of the game. The player can train individual animals in the first-person, guest mode themselves or hire a trainer to train the animals.

The training minigame takes place in a training area, inside the animal's tank. The player uses a "training wand" to follow a tracer along a form which differs with the trick that is being taught. The training increases the animal's skill in that particular trick, as the animal becomes more skilled the training becomes more difficult. The difficulty of the training is increased by the form becoming narrower, the tracer moving more quickly and the addition of such obstacles as the player needing to press an arrow key or click the mouse at a certain point.

The shows take place in a tank adjacent to the animal's regular tank, accessible through a tank portal. The player coreographs the show by adding trick into the acts of the show. Tricks in the same act as each other take place at roughly the same time.

Animals

Animal	Biome	Conservation status	Star requirement	Performs in shows
Beluga	Tundra	Vulnerable	0.5	Yes
Blacktip reef shark	Reef	Lower Risk	3	No
Blue marlin	Pelagic	Lower Risk	1	No
Bottlenose dolphin	Coastal	Vulnerable	3.5	Yes
California sea lion	Coastal	Lower Risk	1.5	Yes
False killer whale	Coastal	Lower Risk	4	Yes
Goblin shark	Benthic	Lower Risk	4	No
Green sea turtle	Coastal	Endangered	1	No
Leatherback sea turtle	Pelagic	Critical	2.5	No
Narwhal	Tundra	Vulnerable	3	No
Manta ray	Reef	Lower Risk	0.5	No
Orca	Tundra	Lower Risk	5	Yes
Pacific walrus	Tundra	Lower Risk	4.5	Yes
Rockhopper penguin	Coastal	Lower Risk	2	No
Scalloped hammerhead shark	Pelagic	Lower Risk	3.5	No
Sea Otter	Coastal	Endangered	2.5	Yes
Short-finned pilot whale	Pelagic	Lower Risk	2	Yes
West Indian manatee	Coastal	Vulnerable	1.5	No
Whale shark	Benthic	Vulnerable	4.5	No
White shark	Benthic	Vulnerable	5	No

Animals which can perform in shows must be trained first. The players can either train the animals by themselves, or hire animal trainers to do the job for them. Players are also able to swim with certain animals, by 'riding' on them.

Animals can use either a tank or regular exhibit water. Animals like the Rockhopper Penguin, which can use land require a combined land and water exhibit to remain happy, and the turtles need land to lay eggs. Animals which use land will generally accept either the rock or desert islands instead of normal land, and so may be kept in tanks.

Some animals from the original game, like the hippopotamus, polar bear, and the emperor penguin have been updated to swim underwater

Ambient Animals

These animals appear automatically in water that the player places, but are non-adoptable and cannot be moved.

Animal	Biome 1	Biome 2	Biome 3
Blenny	Coastal	Reef
Capelin	Reef	Tundra
Rock crab	Benthic	Coastal
Herring	Coastal	Pelagic	Tundra
Moon jellyfish	Coastal	Reef
Lionfish	Coastal	Reef
Atlantic mackarel	Coastal	Pelagic
Remora	Coastal	Pelagic	Reef
Spadefish	Benthic	Coastal
Powder blue tang	Reef

File:Marine Mania Sea Lions.jpg

California sea lions

Biomes

Four new biomes have been added with the expansion:

• Benthic
• Coastal
• Reef
• Pelagic

Besides this, the method of biome layout has been altered, enabling players to filter rocks, plants and trees while laying down the terrain. The game also allows the player to build mixed tank-land exhibits, also called hybrid exhibits. This way, animals like the walrus can come onto land to rest, and go back into the water later, while allowing guests to view the animals both above ground and in the water. Also, players can now dive underwater.

It is worthy of note that all of the new animals go into either the above categories or the tundra biome.

See also

• List of Games for Windows titles
• Zoo Tycoon franchise

External links

• Marine Mania - Zoo Tycoon.com
• Marine Mania - Microsoft.com
• Screenshots - GameSpot.com