At that time, "Theme Park" was so crude, the screen was full of pixels, and it took half a day's budget to build a toilet. If tourists were dissatisfied, they would just leave in disgust. Now this game is quite good. Opening a zoo is like playing, the expedition team can leave at any time, and rescuing small animals is like a secret agent on a mission. The frogs, snails, hippos, and rhinos are all so cute that they can squeeze out water. If I could play with this kind of picture quality at that time, I could brag in front of my classmates for a whole year.
But to be honest, the core gameplay of this game still has the flavor of the old generation management game. Don't you think the same thing happened with "RollerCoaster Tycoon" back then? You must first have facilities before you can have tourists, only with tourists can you have money, and only with money can you make improvements and upgrades. This game replaces the roller coaster with animals, but the "raise poultry first and then recruit guests" approach is similar to what I did in "Zoo Tycoon" back then. It's just that at that time I had to keep an eye on the mood value of each animal. Now it's better. Just tap on the phone screen, and even the feeding is automated, which really saves our generation of veteran players worry.
The funniest thing is the advertising system, I was so happy when I saw it. Did you know how to attract customers in "Theme Hospital" back then? Hire a few clowns to hand out balloons at the entrance of the hospital, and you have to keep an eye on the cleanliness of the air. Now, with just a swipe of your finger, you can forward it to Moments and receive limited-time offers, and visitors are flocking in. This marketing method is progressing faster than my hair is receding.
But to be honest, this game is easier than anything else. It's not like when we played "SimCity" in the past, and one night if planning was not good, the whole city would have a power outage, which would make people drop the controller in anger. In today's zoo, even if you put an animal in the wrong place, at most the tourists will complain and just adjust it another day. And the best time to play is to feed a hippopotamus while waiting for the bus or give a rhinoceros a bath during lunch break. It is much more nourishing than when I hugged my GB and hid under the quilt playing "Harvest Moon".
The shortcoming is that the charging model is too "modern". Although it says free, if you really want to build a luxurious zoo quickly, you still have to be careful with the in-app purchase of props. I remember when we played through the game with a cassette tape, there were no such twists and turns. But having said that, developers always have to eat, and we veteran players also understand that as long as it is not like some games that cannot be played without paying money, this zoo is still worth a visit.
All in all, "Animal Land Party" can be regarded as bringing the soul of old-fashioned management games into new mobile phones. If you are like me and miss the days when you were the "director" in the pixel world, but don't want to stay up all night staring at data, you might as well try this. Anyway, I now open two of them every day before going to bed. Watching those little animals is silly and happy, which relieves stress more than watching short videos. Hey, when it comes to games, I have changed the platform and the skin, but the addiction to "building a home from scratch" in my bones cannot be changed no matter what! 🦁🐸🦛