Zoo Tycoon 2: Nostalgia is My Favorite Drug 

It has come to my attention that there a lot of people who actually really like Okapi, and I was like the one one weird kid who didn't care for them. If I offended you with the things I said about Okapi in this video, please accept this picture of a cute baby sloth as a peace offering: i.natgeofe.com/n/28f65c83-cb91-4489-ba1e-b62c76863c43/01_slothlove_leaves.jpg I will never take back what I said about secretary birds though, they are evil.

My fav thing to do in Zoo Tycoon 2 was to close down the zoo. Put a fence in front of the entrance, and then.. build a wild habitat like savanna! Placing savanna animals around the map that I created off of images from google. The wildebeest would act like wild wildebeests and follow the heard around. Lions would hunt in a real prides.. etc.. it was really fun and a different way to play. Watching the animals survive and to go extinct.. You would think the carnivores would out last all the other animals but wildebeests would kill lions. specific animals required bigger prides to hunt them, starvation.. If you ever go back to the game I suggest trying this out.

Not gonna lie, a little scary how finely accurate you captured my own experiences with this game

Zoo tycoon 2 was a big part of my childhood! (alongside spore) I once had a tapir enclosure. I bred a LOT of them. One of them was ghostly looking. I never found out why. Google has no answers so it must of been a glitch. I tried to breed another from it, but whatever caused it's appearance didn't pass on to the offspring.

Honestly I sometimes feel overwhelmed by Planet Zoo's endless posibilities. It happened to me with Planet Coaster, it was just to big a game for me, I just didn't know where to start, so I turned back to Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. I do like Planet Zoo and I do play it often, but that doesn't quit that nostalgic need I have for playing the Vainilla Zoo Tycoon 2. What a great video! Thanks for sharing your nostalgia!

Zoo Tycoon 1 and 2 were a huge part of my childhood. They were the reason why I knew about the okapi, how to pronounce it, their relation to the giraffe, conservation efforts, a bunch of other random trivia, and why, when my family were watching a hippo play with a ball in an underwater viewing area, I spent my time marveling at the real life okapi in the San Diego Zoo. I wasn't a fan of the PS4 Zoo Tycoon, viewing it as an atrocity, but my younger sibling who was never exposed to the real thing loved it... I guess there was a chance it was an okay game. Planet Zoo has captured my heart; however, I spent over a decade without access to either Zoo Tycoon 1 or 2. If I hadn't had that amount of time to dull the ache and fog over the details, I can't say for sure that Planet Zoo would have affected me as much. I still catch myself referring to Planet Zoo as Zoo Tycoon.

This was so nostalgic, I remember watching those videos where they created their own Prehistoric Park episodes with ZT2, so corny but yet so goood

I feel exactly the same as towards Planet Zoo. It's all I ever wanted as a kid, and I bought it day one but after I put it a few hours, it just didn't hit me the same way Zoo Tycoon 2 did. The game looked great and played great, but I guess I prefer the simpler mechanics of Zoo Tycoon 2 and Planet Zoo just ended up not being as fun as Zoo Tycoon was for me. Sometimes I feel that Planet Zoo is more about building beautiful zoos than playing an with actual zoo and make your animals happy.

Gosh, the nostalgia. I actually remember being really happy they had Okapis. My local zoo has Okapis, and they were awesome as a little kid. I actually got to pet them when I was 18 and nobody was nearby to yell at me. They felt like bristley horses.

Honestly I watched so many animal documentaries as a child, I was thrilled to see an Okapi in the game, lol

Wow, all the hundreds of hours I sank into this game when I was younger and I never knew about the animal mutations when failing the minigame!

Just to let you know, the Whale shark actually has an extra growth stage after you adopt them. You adopt them as Juveniles and they grow to be adults eventually (since you said their size was treated poorly). The same goes for Deinosuchus :) Also this video was amazing I can relate to sooo much of it since ZT2 has been my favourite game for many many years now. I remember on the loading screen it would take 5-10minutes sometimes and kid me would still just be sitting there watching it, waiting for my probably very laggy zoo to load up

Watching this while playing Planet Zoo 😭 Wish we could just get a remaster of ZT2, I loved it so much and PZ just doesn't hit the same with all the construction and bugginess. I also remember searching for ZT2 custom content after watching a Stalker2k7 video and that being the first game that I ever modded! Such good memories!

Man I played way too much Zoo Tycoon 2 as a kid, really wish it was rereleased on Steam or something so I can officially own it again. Thanks for the nostalgia! :)

ZT2 is such a nostalgia trip. I totally remember watching old machinimas made using the game... and having my mind blown (I was, like, 15 and didn't have the internet growing up - I didn't know mods existed. As a concept.). Whenever I got bored, I would often make animal-based kingdoms. I would surround the land with waterfalls, fill it with different biomes and oceans, come up with some lore (like there being a single, "magic" tree in the exact center of the zoo, which the 'citizens' would worship), and fill the land with herbivores (and food, enrichment, shelters, etc.). Then I would just let stories unfold - mostly stock tropes, like "a single, young male zebra 'prince' goes on a journey to find true love, and finds it in the pretty, last-of-her-kind quagga living in the 'enchanted' forest". Sometimes I would section off a part of the zoo (usually the upper left of the map), create a fully-decked-out "palace" (series of tiered plateaus), plonk down a male and female lion, and call them the "King and Queen of Animalia".

My favorite thing to do with Zoo Tycoon 2 is to create ecosystems where I would place a group of herbivores (around 20 of them) and carnivores (4 of them), and watch them live together. The whole area would become this habitat and watch the animals in there.

Zoo Tycoon with Marine Mania and Dinosaur Digs was my childhood 🥰 So many fond memories 😅 (like unleashing a Dino to recreate Jurassic park) 😂

I, too, tried to fill the ZT2-shaped hole in my heart with Planet Zoo. But its own strength was its demise for me, the sheer amount of freedom is overwhelming, and it really feels more like you're managing a business than a place with animals. One of my favourite things of ZT2 was how hands on you could get with the animals, I loved being able to pet them and feed them, and really just being able to interact with things. Something fun is that english is not my first language, and Zoo Tycoon's name is, well, english, so when I played it as a kid I decided on an arbitrary pronunciation and it took this video to discover that was NOT the correct way to say it lmao Amazing video, except for the secretary birds hate and extinct animals erasure

I remember blocking the zoo entrance with a toilet and then letting the dinosaurs loose. In ZT1, I made an enclosure out of decorative fences. Added some paths, vending machines, toilets, and benches. Then I'd drop a few guests in and I'd have a human exhibit.

ZT2 (and WolfQuest) was my favourite game as a kid. I remember waking up super early on weekends and during school vacations so I could beat my brother to the only computer and play until my parents woke up. I still have the cds laying around even though some don’t work anymore. Ultimate collection still works fortunately, scratched as it is, but I don’t play anymore. These days I play Planet Zoo instead. ZT2 could hold my attention for hours when I was a kid, but adult me needs more complexity to enjoy creating and managing a zoo. ZT2 will always have a special place tho.

8:02 Okapis are my favorite animal at my local zoo. They're beautiful, bigger than you'd think, and not too skittish

As a south african the safari was one of my favorites as a child, It gave me the opportunity to build zoos with all the animals i would see in local zoos and and in our own national parks, me and my cousins always got excited about the animals that were local to us, as they were the ones we had the most knowledge about. My grandfather was an old hunter and would tell us stories about all these animals that you found less exciting, but we couldnt be more excited seeing them ingame and reliving his stories.

This popped up in my recommendations and Im so glad. Zoo Tycoon 2 was a massive part of my childhood. I remember making huge parks and adding well over 1000 mods. I used to film tours with my phone camera and send them to my then girlfriend, now fiancee. I remember playing it on my laptop in staffroom of my stepdads workplace to distract me on the morning that I found out my grandfather had passed away. This game will forever hold a special place in my heart, and though I don't think Ill ever go back to it. (I lost my disk ages ago) I will always think fondly of it.

God, I remember the Christmas my mom got me Zoo Tycoon 2... it was probably one of the best Christmas gifts I got, I literally screamed in joy.

17:34 By resurrecting the animals with the research station, if you gst 100% in the "resurrection minigame" you get "Super Animals". These are bigger than the regular extinct animals and live longer among other benefits. In the campaigns it is also a very cheap way to produce a zoo as the animals produced in this method cost no money to make and animals tend to be the most expensive in the game. Sure, it requires some extra time but the 8000$ for the research station with the minimal subsequent maintainance cost is nowhere near the cost it would take to get these animals by just "clicking".

This game was a big part of my childhood, I related so much to most of the stuff (except the hate for African adventure animals how dare you!) I probably logged thousands of hours in this game over quite a few years. And for planet zoo, I would advise giving it another chance, I had the exact same response when I first played it but once you start being familiar with it you’ll be in love!

I love Zoo Tycoon 2 and while I'm enjoying Planet Zoo, there's still no comparison to Zoo Tycoon 2. I was so excited when I discovered mods. Of course a ton of them didn't work and a good number of them crash your game instead but they are still awesome when you find ones that do work. ZT2 is so much calmer than PZ and I wish they would actually add in a slow it down mode and let you walk around PZ as well.

I just bought Zoo Tycoon 2 again recently and have been playing it for hours. I was not prepared for how strong the nostalgia would hit when that opening video first started up.

Zoo Tycoon is my favorite franchise. Sad that last year was the 20th anniversary and nobody really said a peep.

I have this game since 2015, and I’m still playing it. This game with mods is just something else! This game was my childhood,…it’s very important to me 😇

I remember getting the ultimate collection on the last day of second grade and I’ve played that game ever since and I can’t tell you how much I’ve played this game. I really love it and even though I prefer planet zoo I still really like to play this game and I see why still so many people love it.

this showed up in my recommendeds out of nowhere and i'm so glad it did. the intro music to this game IMMEDIATELY took me back to being, like. 11 years old and making a massive savannah exhibit just so i could see how cool the african wild dogs were. i was obsessed with them for months in elementary school because of this game. the music still shreds in these games and i'm not sure why.

Honestly, I spent so many hours in Zoo Tycoon 2 and for the most part, I never actually opened my zoos to the public. I remember five zoos in particular which were basically just all the animals from either the base game or the expansion packs. I even remember drawing little maps so I know how they'd be set up and how they'd look.

I loved this game, I still have it but now, compared to other same kind of games, it became boring to me. But it will forever be part of my heart c:

I still have CD's with the game and all DLC's. Even managed to get them to work sometime ago, but my PC has had a reset since then and I don't remember how to make it work. These games are awesome, especially when Dinosaurs come into play. This game is amazing and I wish they released it on steam or somewhere where it's easy to access.

I'll never forget the original Zoo Tycoon. I never did play the second game, but the first on I'll always remember and hold dear. Born in 93', It was the first game I ever owned as a kid when it came out, and along with it, my very first computer my parents went out and bought. The original Windows 2000... The old 17" Square box PC monitor... That hideous grey cream-esque keyboard and mouse with that horrible scroller that you use to take out and clean every so often it got gunked up with hair and food lol. Not long after, my friends would introduce me to the original Age of Empires, and so began a two decade career of PC gaming. Amazing. Nostalgic, and an incredible journey. Thank you for this video. :)

I remember plaything this game for hours and hours on end, trying to get full star zoos because I thought it would unlock something. Man, 2004-2005 was a special timeframe for me as a kid.

This game was and still is my absolute favorite. I remember getting on the family computer just itching to continue my next zoo project. This game holds a special place in my heart, and I am so happy to see that so many other people cherish it as I do.

When I was little, I wanted Zoo Tycoon 2 SO BAD. My animal loving heart was on the fritz, so Im absolutely delighted that Planet Zoo exists, and that so many people still remember this game. Also, omg, the fan-made RU-vid series/movies, aaaaaa, i remember the dinosaur ones! I loved those! ;;

Zoo Tycoon 2 was my childhood. I was WAY into the modding scene and even tried to make a few on my own. I was far to young to really understand what exactly it was I was doing, but it taught me a lot and now I have a career in computers! While most people were limited to the 5 (if you include Dino Digs) expansion packs, I had probably 500+ animals to play around with to the point that my computer started to slow down a lot. Planet Zoo is so large that I don't even feel like I need any mods (though I'm well aware of their existence) as I spend so much time creating intricate enclosure and guest services that even after all this time I've still yet to use every animal in the base roster, much less all the DLC.

I remember I stayed up all night chatting to modders and youtubers through all the forums that popped up for the game. I would spend days making lists of plant life that I wanted them to create in blender to try and make a more "realistic" zoo with the tools that were given. I saw that the community was still active years later but sadly took a big toll when people moved to Planet Zoo. Who could blame them with such an upgrade to buildings and more real zoos. However Zoo Tycoon will forever be one that I personally hold in my heart forever. Thanks for bringing up the memories :)

This review is just so wholesome and relatable. As someone who grew up with this game too, it makes me happy I’m not the only one who was really impacted by Zoo Tycoon 2

I remember when me and my friend would just release dinosaurs all over the place and watch the visitors get eaten. We also would just flood the place, placing deep water all over the park, we must have been so bored lol. Also omg that main menu song just slapped me in the face with nostalgia!!!

I remember having a portion of my zoos fenced off so I could farm glaciers and collect cavemen. They’d have their own stalls and everything

Man... this and the sims (2 to be exact.) was such a big part of my childhood and even though now I find myself not really enjoying the TS series anymore, I still find myself going back to ZT2 (even ZT1) because even though I LOVE Planet Zoo, there's just something about Zoo Tycoon 2 that makes me still come back to it, like, my very first memory of it was that my mother had built a nile crocodile exhibit (she wouldn't let me play the game at first because of mothers being mothers) and we thought that the croc would attack us in guest mode so we kinda screamed a bit and she turned around and ran for the gate but then the next day when I got to play I found out that we're pretty much a ghost to everything so I had told my mom that the animals won't attack you. I also remember when I was little I would sometimes pretend to have had a nightmare so my mother would let me play ZT2 and then I'd sometimes play all night XD but yeah, no matter what, this game will always hold a special place in my heart. (Also it was only about 3 or 4 years ago that I had learned how to mod ZT2)

Zoo tycoon will always hold a very dear place in my heart. My cousin's who let me have the game told me about the animal details icon so I picked up on that quickly. Although being a dumb kid I thought it was all I needed and made habitats that were too small, too chock full of every kind of food dish and enrichment item too many animals starting off, often breeding excessively. The design for visitors faired similarly with everything condensed in one spot. Over the years I've drifted back to the game every so often and recently I've really taken to utilizing everything to make some really nice zoos. I have planet zoo but for me there's too many systems, it's not really intuitive for new players and snap functionality that could help with it is limited in my experience so I haven't really played it much. Although it could also be I don't like the lack of a keeper mode to make interacting with my zoos more engaging. I never really found myself on early zoo tycoon RU-vid but I'm still glad I found your video and this has gotten pretty rambly but I also find it so interesting how many other people share these really similar experiences around this game. Edit: also restoring fossils into animals using the lab can result in super versions of this same animals, that live longer and are healthier, they can also pass that trait down to their offspring.

There are videos on youtube that are rarer than everything and they manage to hit you perfectly and wake the right memory up. Your video absolutely is part of those ! Thank you for the amazing dive through childhood memories you just gave me.

You mentioning ZT2 Machinimas instantly sent my mind back to a time where my bones weren't made of sand, fantastic video man 👍. It's a shame there isn't much of a way to play it anymore.

What a great video! I think you perfectly summed up the feeling of having played this game for hours as a child. Thank you for the nostalgia :3

You know, in a land filled with planet zoo videos (which I do love) you could probably make zoo tycoon 2 videos and people would adore watching them just as much. Like you said, nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

Man the nostalgia. I loved the Marine Mania expansion. I use to build so many shows and I loved the training mini game. Great video.

Fun fact: Ratel is just another name for a honey badger. That “lower risk” designation is INACCURATE, Zoo Tycoon 2!

This was a fantastic video, and really captured everything about how I felt about Zoo Tycoon 2 as a kid. Kudos to you for making my childhood come back to life!

totally agree! zoo tycoon 2 has been my favorite game for years and years now and i wish i could play it more :( the developers making it impossible to play nowadays without pirating really sucks but nonetheless it’s a fantastic game that is the source of a lot of my childhood nostalgia!

This game does mean a lot to me. I remember being under restrictions just to play it while young. And every chance I got, I got on Zoo Tycoon 2, customized my zoos through sandbox mode to help with my curious and creative side. I always explored the possibilities of setting up a type of feel for the animals and the guests for the zoos. When night fell, I remember how the lights all around the zoo lights up perfectly. I remember looking beyond the zoo limits, just watching as birds fly in the distance, and forests on a hill as the sun sets. The loading screen was just pure bliss. I remember one that had an orangutan looking out at the Zoo entrance in the distance, with the sun over head. I tired to recreate that in the zoo. I tried, searching for that particular screen every load. But never saw it again. The videos were definitely pure quality content as well. Zoo Tycoon 2 will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you for this video bring light on these memories.

I seriously teared up at the end, I’m so happy to have stumbled across this video. This game truly means so much to me and it’s so great to see it’s still appreciated after all these years. Thanks for a lovely trip down memory lane!

Watching this video as I play Planet Zoo, it's an amazing game but ZT2 definitely hits me in the nostalgia hard. I think I also remember that Mysterious Island series, gonna have to rewatch it.

This was a fantastic video and speaks to the precise reasons I’m not the one to just want open ended choice driven games. I want to see the guard rails that game designers curate. The fact that Zoo Tycoon 2 was able to inspire even young players without overwhelming them speaks to good and more timeless game design. I was thinking of getting Planet Zoo the other day and think about how I spent an hour making a custom building in Planet Coaster instead of actually you know, playing the game. I’m glad these more granular hi fidelity games exist, but they don’t replace what something Zoo Tycoon 2 accomplished in its time.

This video brought me soooo much joy. I still recall that Christmas Eve when I received ZT2 and left all the boring adults downstairs to sneak up to the computer and install it. Thank your for your video and such a sweet nostalgic moment!

The sweet, sweet nostalgia I got hit with with this video--you just reminded me of why I adored this game as a kid and why I keep coming back to it every couple years or so. Thank you!

Zoo tycoon was the first game I played with dedication. I was lucky because find the game in my country was almost impossible, but it gave me a lot of fantastic moments

I love this game so much, it's great to hear someone finally talk about it

Thank you for such an amazing video. Zoo tycoon 2 was the cornerstone of my childhood, and I’m so glad someone shares the same sentiment. The loading screens and the RU-vid skits were so nostalgic... thanks again

When you started talking about the old zoo tycoon 2 videos people used to make I was reminded of my favorite one of those as a kid, the zooevil series by meerkatmatt2. It was essentially a remake of the tv show primeval but in zt2 with most episodes revolving around a time portal opening and some prehistoric animal coming out and then the main character would capture them and try to send them back through the portal or they would keep them in some secret facility. I was pleasantly surprised to find all the videos of the series still exist and someone even compiled them into a playlist which was nice to see.

Oh wow, I did have the first one. I also had a hard time getting into Planet Zoo just because of how complex the systems were.

I loved Zoo Tycoon 2 as a kid! To the point where I even 'borrowed' money from my parents without asking so I could buy the Marine Expansion when it came out because I go so overexcited...ah childhood shame haha. A very nostalgic video, I immediately bookmarked the Complete Edition on CEX for the future after watching this, thank you for bringing back so many memories!

Man seeing this video in my recommended randomly hit me so hard. Honestly I can’t thank you enough for reminding me of this game :)

I don't know how this video ended up in my recommended, but I am so pleased that it did! Thank you for the nostalgia trip. Zoo Tycoon 2 was the first video game I ever played and a core part of my childhood. It will forever hold a very dear place in my heart.

Zoo Tycoon was a huge part of my childhood, especially the Seaworld expansion. The day I got Zoo Tycoon 2, I was in heaven!

Honestly, I have the same feeling towards Planet Zoo. Zoo Tycoon 2 was my Nr. 1 childhood game so naturally I was so pumped for planet Zoo. I got it, played a few hours and stopped. Its just way too much for me. Like its really really overwhelming with all the customization and details you have to look out for. I‘ll always prefer Zoo Tycoon 2 over Planet Zoo.

You just brought out my inner nerd with this video! Zoo Tycoon 2 practically raised me and taught me so much of what I know about animals today! When you talked about Stalker2K7's horror series it brought back memories of me being too scared to fall asleep at night because I saw those videos as pure horror and was always scared my zoos would turn into a scene from Oslane Swamp! Even with the newer Planet Zoo being out I still look back at Zoo Tycoon 2 with fond memories, I even play it from time to time to reminisce. I don't think anything can beat how fun the game was even with all of the flaws it had ❤

This video just awakened so many memories. Thank you. I played Zoo Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon 2 for so many hours as a kid and still do now - at 28 with a Master‘s in Biology. Which I probably also got due to these games.

man it really puts into perspective how a system can affect a game, i had zoo tycoon 2....on the ds. and i loved it! i apparently loved it so much i somehow ended up with two copies! but wow does it look more impressive on pc. this was a really good video man! good stuff. B)

I hope I wasn't the only one who blocked the entrance and basically made a nature reserve. God, I'm so glad young me begged for the ultimate collection in Walmart(or sam's, I can't remember)

Thank you for making this video! I surely remember how happy was I when I finally reached five stars in the challenge mode, it felt so fulfilling. When I first played this game around ten years ago I've been always stuck between three to four stars. The part I've always loved the most is change to first person view and start filling dishes, washing animals, cleaning poop (there are always so many of them!) or walk alongside other guests and be a part of them. The modeling and animation of the animals are so good for a game this old and I still like them now. I've always loved animals, this game is just so good. Now that I think about it, it does feel very nostalgic.

I’ve been sick recently and whenever I’m sick, I always end up downloading old games that I used to play as a kid. Brings me some comfort I guess. So this time around, I’ve been playing Zoo Tycoon 2 for hours a day and man, the memories and nostalgia are so good, and the game is honestly great!! This video was lovely to watch, thank you 🤍

The modding community is one of the most amazing things about this game

God damn it was nostalgic to see ZT2. ZT2 with its zookeeper mode was one of the best gaming experience I had as a kid. It's relaxing, bonding with your animals was great, hell roleplaying as a guest was fun too. Planet Zoo with superior graphic and tech still cannot give me the similar feeling, it's super hard to bond with your zoo compared to ZT2. I'd still be playing this game if it didn't give my PC a stroke after I placed too many fooliages.

Wow, watching this to the very end and you really managed to bring it all together perfectly. I used to spend hours reading the Zoopedia, modding Zoo Tycoon 2, and watching Stalker's videos. Crazy to think that it's 2023 now and I can find folks that shared similar experiences, I use to wanna be a Veterinarian so badly and this game really filled a good part of my childhood because of that. Thanks for making this video lad.

Thanks a lot for that shot of nostalgia, it's been a while since I last played that game and my inner child really enjoyed remembering these hours spend in front of my pc.

Honestly, I love Zoo Tycoon 1 so much. It’s how I grew up. I did enjoy Zoo Tycoon 2, but like you with Planet Zoo… I kept creeping back to ZT1. I still own my CDs of ZT1, but somehow my ZT2 discs have been lost to time. This video did remind me how much I did love the jeep explorers even if they sucked ass. 🥰

Planet Zoo looks awesome in its endless possibilities but it is PLAGUED with game breaking bugs and the management parts of it are a nightmare to work out. I much prefer going to the simpler, yet full of content, Zoo Tycoon 2 Complete Edition

This is such a sweet video! Something about you gushing about a game I forgot I loved just makes me happy! Also all the footage is so fun to watch!

I remember the killer penguin being so unnerving. I think you first get it as an egg, so when it hatched, I was just "Wtf is this, why does it have fangs, and why are its eyes glowing?" and the fact that it could kill a T-rex scared me. I would be especially terrified when this bug would happen, when instead of seeing the scientist in the fossil reviving room, the killer penguin would be in its place just staring at you. Man I loved and still love Zoo Tycoon 2

Planet Zoo needs to add more pieces that are fully made for you already, so that the simpler people can make everything without custom placing every detail

I HAD NO IDEA Zoo tycoon 2 had expansions!! I played this when I was a kid, too, and just.. Hearing about all this content I missed out on.. Where can I get it?? Why isn't it on steam?? I've tried Planet Zoo as well, but it feels very janky.. The way things are built, the fact I can't be a zookeeper, the lack of terrain tool, it really misses the mark for me

Every couple of years I'll go on a journey through RU-vid to see if anyone has played recently, or just to visit some of those old mini movies. It's great to know that this game meant to much to so many people. Really love the video. I remember finding some sort of blog website way back when through the launcher, outfitted as a kind of script. I believe the main characters were mice? I haven't been able to find it since.

Man, my buddy and I used to watch Stalker2k7 videos. This is a hella trip back. Thanks for the upload man

Anyone else make crazy mazes to force your siblings to find there way through with fences?

Damn, here comes the nostalgia train, womp. Loved Zoo Tycoon 2, was the first game that I ever played on PC, absolute classic

I still have my complete collection CD case with the instruction manual including every single animal in the game. When I was a kid I somehow believed that by placing the cursor over the loading bar it’d go quicker. To this day I still mindlessly place it over it, and it makes me smile every time.

So glad you talked about Stalker2k7's videos, I was also super into them, to the point where I joined his invisionfree forum and ended up becoming a moderator - whole lotta memories there. I also feel the same way about Planet Zoo - I was really excited for it prior to launch, then barely played it at all. Was a bit of a bummer.

Love this game so much! Planet zoo is great but I miss the challenge mode in zoo tycoon 2 it made your zoo feel so much more alive! And the behavior of the animals in this 2004 game feels more realistic than Planet zoo. Nursing, eggs all that. And the marine expansion and the personality of zt2 is just amazing

Planet Zoo would be infinity better if it added proper aquariums. It has them technically as DLC but there are very few marine animals and as someone who loved marine biology as a kid it kinda sucks. There are mods but they're iffy.

This game was my game as a kid. I remember my older siblings playing the first one and I got the second as a present later. They made up a song because I played it so much tooXD. I recently went back to this game not too long ago, and added some quality of life mods to it, and boy was it fun. The whole game is my childhood, I loved dinosaurs and this game only amplified it. I love creators like you showing how much you enjoyed this absolute unit of a game, because I loved it just the same. I can’t believe this game could be so nostalgic. I don’t have a way of playing it now, but soon I’m gonna get a disc player for my laptop or buy a computer so I can relive the memories this game and I made. Thank you for taking me back down those memories and sharing with your community. I know one more subscriber isn’t a whole lot, but just because you like ZT2, you earned it dude. Thank you!

Zoo Tycoon 2 was a huge part of my childhood as it was one of few games i could play on my old mac computer. Watching this video made me realize that in all my time playing, I never once found the zookeeper suggestion tab...

Man, you just made my day with this video. It's almost like you described my whole experience with this game, such as figuring out which fences worked (I swear I still laugh when remembering the fact that elephants have no problem with those small horizontal-barred fences, but put in the same sized wired fence, they break through lmao) discovering you can change animals genders ( I remember being awestruck when I accidentally discovered that and got baby tigers, and ahh the baby penguins and their little sounds were so precious I swear that influenced why I love them to this day) not knowing how to pronounce peafowl (I'd just say common pelafelew) and the whole thing of watching Zoo tycoon horror videos just unlocked a long lost memory of me watching them with my cousin. The only thing I did additionally was since I used to watch documentaries about Lions, Cheetas, Zebras, etc on Animal Planet, I loved trying to recreate those habitats and I even remember renaming the lions (and their pride members) like the ones I saw in the documentaries lol. But yeah, this game holds such a special place in my heart, so I'm so incredibly grateful for this video and reading everyone elses experience with this game just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. So genuinely, thank you!

Jeez man, too much nostalgia in one video, my brain just forgot this game existed and the images and music were a constant bombardment of memories. When I was a child I was addicted to this game, I don't even remember for sure how I discovered it, but when I did, I was amazed at everything that could be done. I remember the happiness I felt when I was able to get it in my language and with all the expansions, I even remember using it to present in my English class and getting the best grade for it. Damn, I even remembered seeing that machinima you added in the background, I had a lot of machinimas from zoo tycoons 2 saved on my old laptop, the ones I remember the most were two; one about a weird space war stuff with Matrix music in the background and another from a guy trapped in a forest with zombies and that always had the theme of Jurassic Park: The Lost World in the background. Not long ago I decided to try Planet Zoo, but it doesn't feel the same anymore, it seems I ran out of imagination or I'm not so attracted to this kind of games anymore:p. What an amazing video, glad youtube recommended this to me

Thanks for making this video! It brings me piece of my memories from my childhood.

Thank you so much for making this video, so well done. My childhood game, means a lot to me too. I didn't remember it being this impressive for a 2004 game that was able to run on our PC back then. Insane vibes and nostalgia!