Fun Tzu
I never noticed before that Fun Zoo kinda rhymes with Sun Tzu so I've gone a little nuts with it. Please accept my apologies.
Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Fun Tzu is an enjoyable game aimed at younger players to help them identify the written names of animals with their illustrations, improve hand-eye coordination through the use of the Odyssey controllers and employ morale crushing stratagems designed to annhilate the enemy's will to wage war.
Let your rapidity be that of the wind, your compactness that of the forest.
-Sun Tzu, The Same Book as Before
Essentially, it is a racing/maneuvering game that takes place in a Zoo. The Überlay is very colorful and contains 28 different destinations within a Zoo, to which the Players may maneuver their Player Spots. These destinations are determined by a pack of cards which are drawn and read by the TZU KEEPER. They consist mostly of Animals but also contain concession creatures, such as the elusive Popcorn and the mighty Hot Dog.
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunder bolt.
-That Sun Guy Again, Same Book.
The TZU KEEPER draws the card and says (for example) GO SEE THE TIGER or something like "The Tiger pounces only when certain his enemy is at his most vulnerable" (you can replace the animal "Tiger" with whatever animal is actually on the card, i.e. Penguin, Turtle, Ice Cream). The two Players must then maneuver their Spots though the yellow area (the "paths") without "lighting" any other animal cages on the way. The first to "light" the correct cage with their Player Spot, wins that card. If either Player lights the wrong cage they lose a card.
When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
-Surely, you know who.
My son wasn't initially available to experience this game (He was playing Age of Mythology) so I conscripted my three year old daughter, to whom I think the game was most likely targeted. I played the TZU KEEPER and ordered her to the cages on each card using badly accented, cryptic references to animal behavior. ("The owl strikes from above. GO SEE THE OWL.") I drove her to ruin and made her cry. MuAH-HA-HA-HA-HAAAA!!! Victory to my glorious empire!!!!
Okay, forgive my self-indulgent babbling. We had a very nice time of it and my son even wanted to play after he heard us having fun. My daughter liked the pictures of the animals, was able to name most of them and, most importantly to her future life of videogaming, she was able to maneuver the Player Spot to the correct cage via the yellow paths.
For a mind unjaded by the opulence of 21st century gaming, Fun Zoo is an amusing 15 to 30 minutes of quality time with a twisted father. Again, I give the point to the Odyssey.
Ultraman 6, Odyssey 11
Since tomorrow is the 4th of July, I'll have to pick an All-American game to talk about. I'm torn between Baseball and Invasion.
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