The Story

You are Zeke, zoo keeper extraordinaire in charge of the local zoo. Unfortunately, your girlfriend Zelda has been kidnapped by the malicious monkey Marcel! To distract Zeke, Marcel has unlocked the cages in the zoo and the animals are running amok!

It’s up to Zeke to run and jump his way around the perimeter of the zoo to rebuild the walls and recapture the animals before finally climbing the platforms while avoiding coconuts to save Zelda.

GOOD LUCK!

How to Play

There are three distinct stages in Zoo Keeper, each with their own challenges and scoring opportunities. In each stage you use the joystick controller to move Zeke around the screen and press the button to jump. Can you help Zeke complete all 100 rounds?

• The Zoo Stage: The object of the Zoo Stage is to keep Zeke alive until the timer on top runs out and the round ends while avoiding any collisions with the escaped animals. In this stage, you navigate Zeke around the perimeter and build up the walls of the zoo by pressing the joystick in the direction you want to move.
• The Platform Stage: After a couple rounds of the Zoo Stage, Zeke must contend with the Platform Stage. Zeke’s objective on this stage is to jump on the moving platforms and make his way to the top and free Zelda, while avoiding the coconuts being thrown by Marcel the Monkey!
• The Bonus Stage: After the second and any subsequent Platform Stages are completed, Zeke will have an opportunity to reunite with Zelda and earn an extra life in the Bonus Stage. In this stage, Zeke must jump over animals escaping from cages and ride the escalators up to the top level where Zelda is waiting.

Gameplay Video

Screenshots

Game Options

• Novice, Standard, and Advanced Skill Levels
• One and two-player game modes
• Left Difficulty: Controls placement of bonus items on the Zoo Stage
• Right Difficulty: Controls the look of the brick pattern on Zoo and Bonus Stages
• Built-in Pause Feature using COLOR/BW Switch (2600) or PAUSE (7800)
• Supports QuadTari Adapter for two-player and AtariVox support
• High-Score Tables stored in AtariVox or SaveKey (if present)

Zoo Keeper Poster

We're including a free 10" x 14" poster in the box, featuring Nathan Strum's original Zoo Keeper artwork that graces the box, manual and label.

Get a Zoo Keeper Box!

If you'd like a boxed copy of Zoo Keeper, please select "Box Upgrade: Yes" at the top of the page before adding Zoo Keeper to your cart. Our boxes are professionally printed and include a box insert to hold your Zoo Keeper cartridge in place. We want you to play our games, so we have not sealed or shrinkwrapped the boxes in any way, allowing you easy access to the game cartridge and manual.

These boxes are the same size as boxes Atari produced for their games "back in the day". They look great sitting on a shelf with your other boxed homebrew games, or alongside games from the classic Atari 2600 library. We only have a limited number of boxes for each game, and there is no guarantee they will become available again once our supplies are exhausted.

QuadTari Support

Zoo Keeper has built-in support for the QuadTari, which is a device that allows you to plug up to four controllers into your Atari 2600 or 2600-compatible system. In the case of Zoo Keeper, you can connect two joysticks and an AtariVox or SaveKey into your console at the same time. This allows two players to enjoy the game while being able to save your high scores and other data to the AtariVox. You can see all the games in the AtariAge Store with QuadTari support here.

AtariVox Support

If you have an AtariVox or SaveKey plugged into joystick port 2, up to five high scores are saved for each skill level. The current skill level, game mode, and number of players are also saved. To reset all scores on the AtariVox/Savekey for Zoo Keeper, press and hold RESET while powering on the game.

Additional Information

Zoo Keeper is a Melody-enhanced game that takes full advantage of the CDF mode in the Melody. Included with Zoo Keeper is the game cartridge, full-color 16-page manual, and 10" x 14" poster featuring Nathan Strum's Zoo Keeper artwork. You can optionally purchase a professionally printed box (see above).

Zoo Keeper is available in NTSC and PAL60 television formats. Please specify above when ordering or you will receive an NTSC cartridge by default.