Zoo Keeper was originally a standalone, arcade game. In the game, you play the role of a dutiful zookeeper on a mission to contain and recapture escaped animals. This is basically a button-masher, and you'll spend the first few attempts learning how to use the controls.
The center of the screen is a rectangle which holds the animals, and the zookeeper will run around the outside of this. Every space you run over, you will create a piece of "fence" which really looks more like concrete.
As animals on the inside hit these pieces of fence, they will destroy them (a lot like those games where you have a paddle that bounces a ball towards blocks at the top of the screen). On the first few levels, it’s easy enough to keep the little boogers inside by taking laps and keeping the fence strong. After a few levels, though, they will begin to escape. By the way, the levels are timed so you basically just have to survive without hitting an animal to clear the level.
Once a little guy escapes, he will run around the outside of the rectangle just like you. You can jump over animals, and the zookeeper has a fairly impressive jumping distance (tons better than the
original Donkey Kong). You will also gain points by jumping over the animals, and jumping over multiple beasts at once will increase the amount of points you gain. Eventually, powerups will begin to appear, including something that looks like a bug net. The bug net will turn into your most powerful weapon, as it forces animals back into the middle when you hit them with it. The bug net will wear off, but you should be able to recapture several animals before it wears off.
As with most games, you will gain an extra life after a ridiculous amount of points. The number one skill to master with this game will be mid-air direction changes. While you are in the middle of a jump, you can change directions 180 degrees at any time, and as many times as you want. The thing to do will be to pick a place you can land and sort of ping pong back and forth until you land on it. With a little practice, you will be able to spend most of a level mid-jump and just carefully land to pick up powerups and initiate another jump.
