Anna Sky Hulton is busy building zoos and breeding exotic creatures in this SIM for the PC...

Wildlife Park is now being released as part of the M.A.D, budget range, along with its expansion pack, Wild Creatures.

Similar to other popular 'management-sim' games such as Roller Coaster Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon, Wildlife Park Gold follows the tried and tested formula that many have done before in one form of another.

The basic idea is simple, to run a wildlife park. However it is not as easy as it first seems and as manager of the park you will find there are numerous things to think about. You'll be in charge of the employees, the entrance price and which animals you buy and sell, amongst many other variables which all affect how successful your park is.

The game has a number of modes; it starts with the tutorials which talk you through the basics of running the park and then progresses onto the campaigns. Each campaign tackles a different aspect of running the park. The campaigns gradually increase with difficulty, eventually providing taxing problems for the gamer to overcome. Campaign objectives include attracting a certain number of visitors to your park, or to breed a certain number of animals.

Both games follow the same idea although the add-on, Wild Creatures gives you the option to research into extinct species and perhaps even breed the woolly mammoth or your favourite dinosaur. Think something along the lines of small-scale Jurassic Park. Surely this will draw the visitors in?

It's not just the animals that attract the visitors. You will have to install information boards and of course other facilities such as refreshments stalls and toilets will be needed.

The graphics are nothing new, but bearing in mind that the original game was out a few years ago they are sufficient for the game which doesn't demand a great deal from your system.

Wildlife Park is a fun game to play and easy to pick up if you have played a few of the other simulation games on the market, definitely a worthy budget buy.