It's the return of Zoo Tycoon DS

Despite being one of the first games released for DS in Europe, Zoo Tycoon has rarely been out of the charts since October 2005 with over a million copies sold globally. So, the only surprise about the release of Zoo Tycoon 2 has been how long it's taken to arrive. And what a different place the DS market is now.

As this week's release schedule shows, animal nuturing and simulations have become one of the key genres for DS - Eidos' Zoo Hospital is out while THQ's Baby Pals demonstrates the type of audience publishers are now aiming at - something further backed up by the release next week of Build-a-Bear Workshop and Bunnyz amongst others.

And, at the risk of sounding overly old-man-grumpy, we'd also say the aforementioned plus the appearance of Fish Tycoon is a warning that too many similar-sounding similar-concept DS games are now being released - something that can be traced back to the original success of Zoo Tycoon.

On that basis at least it will be interesting to see if its sequel sells as well or for as long.

Europe: Out March 7th
Baby Pals (DS)
Bomberman Land (PSP)
Bubble Bobble Double Shot (DS)
Fading Shadows (PSP)
Showtime Championship Boxing (DS)
Zoo Hospital (DS)
Zoo Tycoon 2 (DS)

Europe: Out March 14th
Bomberman Land Touch! 2 (DS)
Brain Assist (DS)
Build-a-Bear Workshop (DS)
Bunnyz (DS)
Chessmaster (PSP)
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (DS)
Fish Tycoon (DS)
FlatOut: Head On (PSP)
Magic Made Fun (aka Master of Illusion) (DS)
Maths Play (DS)
Mr Bean (DS)
Ninja Reflex (DS)

US: Out March 11th
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS)
George of The Jungle (DS)
Insecticide (DS)
Nanostray 2 (DS)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (DS/PS)
Wild Arms XF (PSP)
World Championship Cards (PSP)