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Fancy yourself as Steve Irwin (aka Crocodile Hunter)? If you do, 'Wildlife Park' is your chance to design and manage your very own wildlife park. Design it, build it, buy your animals, employ staff, and then open your doors to the public!

Sounds easy, eh? Well, actually it's not... This is one of the most frustrating pieces of software I have had for a long time. Even now as I look with disbelief at the "3+" on the box (I am assuming this is an age indicator, I could be wrong), I find it hard to believe that a child of 3 years could grasp the applications interface, let alone interact with it enough to get a park up and running. In my opinion, any child under ten is going to need adult supervision or advice, if they are to really make the most of this game. This is well worth taking into consideration before you part with your cash.

Don't get me wrong, when you know how to operate it, and I highly recommend that you take the tutorial before embarking on building your park, this is a nice little plaything. The graphics are pleasing and the functions quite advanced, one could easily start to take this game very seriously. It also has different levels of difficulty and 'budgeting', which means young, old, inexperienced and experienced can tailor the game to suit.

When it comes to creating your park, there are a wide variety of environments, animals and features. The choice is impressive, just about everything you could wish for is here, though it is worth brushing up on your animal facts before embarking on anything too ambitious.

This is just like the real thing... animals can attack, or get sick from placed in the wrong environment...and animal-rights campaigners will ambush your park if you get it wrong! With so many things to be taken into consideration, at first it can be a little daunting. My advice? Start small and work your way up.

Price: £29.99 Manufacturer: Koch Media Website: www.kochmedia.co.uk Required Spec: 128Mb RAM, 800Mb hard disk space, Windows 98 or greater, 500MHz processor, 4Mb graphics card