Running my dream menagerie in Planet Zoo is always going to feel a little different than the entertainment-focused spectacles of Planet Coaster or fantastical dino parks of Jurassic World Evolution. All of these gorgeous beasts and birds are real species we share the planet with and, in some cases, have put on the endangered list. So I was glad to see that Frontier's sequel put an even deeper emphasis on conservation as a main goal this time around, even if certain pieces of that – like wildlife reserves – feel a bit less fleshed-out than they could be.

When it comes to the daily tasks of building enclosures, hiring staff, and caring for animals, there isn't a ton that has changed since the original Planet Zoo. In that way, it feels more like a gentle evolution than a wildly ambitious one. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you played the first game, you should have no trouble getting your bearings in this one. There are a lot more options for adding detail, but building a functional zoo doesn't require you to learn all of them.

The species list is downright impressive, too, with over 130 creatures of all sizes to display. Some of these are exhibit-based, meaning they live in a smaller terrarium and don't have all of the same features of the bigger ones. And only around half of the list is eligible to eventually be released into the wild – more on that later. But at no point did the roster ever feel stingy.

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