GENRE
	Simulation
	DEVELOPER
	1st Playable Productions
	PUBLISHER
	THQ
	LOCAL WIRELESS MULTI-PLAY
	Yes
	Wi-Fi/GLOBAL ONLINE MULTI-PLAY
	No
	MICROPHONE
	No
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Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard scoring criteria.

Pet simulators enjoyed a brief time as the flavor of the month on handhelds, ranging from the collectible critters of LCD yore to the superbly realized (if oddly named) Nintendogs. World of Zoo is a new entry to the pet simulator subgenre, and its number of pets and settings are numerous. The game also tries to do so many things that it ends up doing them at a level well below that of the believable canines in Nintendogs.

Players begin with an untapped zoo and a myriad of unlocked sections. Each section houses an animal -- bears, crocodiles, monkeys, canines, et cetera -- and the object of the game is to unlock all the sections and populate them with animals. The currency of the game comes in the form of stars, which are used to purchase new sections and add new animals to them. Stars are accumulated by a few different methods, but the most common is by having positive interactions with animals in the zoo.

The primary game plays out in the animal sections. Players can choose among settings, such as ice or jungle, then use stars to purchase animals and bring them into the sections. A variety of breeds and variations are available for each animal, and they can be further customized physically, both in terms of physical features and color. Once designed, players interact with animals by tossing food or toys into the animal’s domain. Animals will either ignore the items or react positively to them, with positive interactions resulting in increased affection. Increased affection, in turn, results in “leveling up” and the addition of more stars, which can be used to unlock more animals, more sections, and such.

While most of the game is played out in the animal enclosures, there are a few other side-game options. There is a nursery for baby animals, where regular animals can be imported, converted to younger pets, and petted and played with. There is also a collectibles area, complete with classic animal cards, as well as multiplayer play options. Each of the animal enclosures also contain mini-games, such as helping a bear catch fish, which yield stars for good performance.

The DS’s unique design gets full play in the game. The dual screens are put to use within animal closures, with both the top and bottom screens spanning the environment. The touch screen is used to manipulate the animals' habitats in a variety of ways, whether tossing toys to the animals or moving items around during mini-games. In these instances, the game uses the DS’s capabilities well.

Also, the game looks pretty good in the process. The level of sheen is not on the same plane as Nintendogs, but the game looks comparable to other middle-of-the-road DS titles and has a nice, colorful look. The sound is chipper and appropriate, although it doesn’t necessarily do anything particularly memorable.

The premise of the game, then, is that of an animal care simulation, set within the expansive world of a zoo. World of Zoo doesn’t seek to do much more than that, and in fact, it has a few flaws that keep it from being an elite simulation. One, the animals show thought bubbles to indicate their current desires, but the bubbles aren’t helpful as animals almost never respond to the thought-of object. Two, the animal AI is a little strange, with the animals sometimes chasing after everything and other times wandering around aimlessly. Three, the animals sometimes behave in decidedly unrealistic ways, such as a crocodile that leaps into the air and comes pounding down on the ground. Finally, there is no adaptive AI, so these animals will not grow more responsive to commands as time goes on, nor can they be trained to respond to commands the way the animals in Nintendogs can.

Otherwise, World of Zoo is a decent animal simulation, with lots of animals to choose from and a star collection system that encourages systematic animal handling over time to unlock more sections. Unfortunately, it is also little more than a collectionist’s bonanza, and those looking for more significant animal changes over time will find this okay in short bursts but also repetitive after awhile. Whether gamers will attach to this one is a matter of taste; younger players who have played the life out of Nintendogs and other pet simulators may find World of Zoo a worthwhile, new distraction. Unlike Nintendo’s dog sim, though, this game probably won’t attract fans outside of the pet sim genre.

6.0/10