Zoos provide a convenient location where wimps like me can come face-to-face with ferocious animals that, in the wild, would surely eat us. Zoo Tycoon on Xbox One aims to delight and inform animal lovers by capturing the thrill of such interactions in digital form.

Satisfying time management exercises; Convincing animal models; Extensive customization options; Learning all about animals and conservation

Tedious menu navigation; Limited number of unique species

It's Saturday night, and we're nuking turd piles in an Indian Elephant exhibit during a virtual heat wave. No one ever said that the life of a videogame zookeeper was glamorous. It's a lesson Zoo Tycoon teaches firmly; for all its warm, fuzzy screenshots of adorable chimps gazing at butterflies,...

+ Easy to pick up and learn; nice Kinect interactivity; who doesn't like making animals happy, + An initially huge suite of tools to build out your park with; Freeform mode good for the entire family

- Doesn't introduce enough new surprises after long; re-researching for each new Campaign scenario grows tedious, ?

At most zoos, numerous signs and railings adorn every habitat, designed to keep hapless patrons from coming face-to-face with the wildlife. That's a practical and life-saving maneuver in the real world, but keeping people at a distance doesn't work in video games.

Zoo Tycoon isn't your typical console launch title. It's an oasis of calm and entry-level accountancy in a cacophony of tyre smoke and bullets, a sim designed for all the family. And a Kinectimals sequel.

Varied menagerie of brilliantly-realised animals; Enjoyable management suitable for less experienced or younger players; but can be pleasingly stressful; Surprisingly compelling; features numerous unlocks and challenges; Fun Kinect interactions and superb voice commands

Overlong; boring and dull (if functional) tutorials; Inconvenient interface - learn those voice commands; Lacks advanced depth for genre fans; somewhat repetitive

You might remember Zoo Tycoon as a title that was mentioned in an interview I did this past August at Fan Expo 2013 in Toronto with Jeff Rivait from Xbox Canada as we discussed some of the games that families would be able to jump into during the launch of the Xbox One.

k/d ratios have settled however, Frontier Development's colourful park management simulation could easily act as a palate cleanser for those of you...

Fantastic animation; Colourful; joyful presentation; Good controller interface; Huge variety of animals

Automated road placement; Little in the way of challenge; Occasional slowdown; Meta-game is a grind

A solid game that definitely has an audience. Might lack replay value, could be too short or there are some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.

Zoo Tycoon is definitely a family friend game that can be played by all ages.

Zoo Tycoon returns after nearly a decade, and arrives for the first time on Xbox. It also proves that a good management sim is addictive and fun regardless of platform or generation. Frontier Development's Zoo Tycoon was one of those dark-horse sort of launch day titles.

Maybe I want more complexity as an old Tycoon fan but I feel the port of the style has been managed well and showcases a nice enjoyable game where you aren't forced to battle Romans/Zombies every 2 minutes.