Zool
Encyclopedia
Zool is a video game originally produced for the Amiga
by Gremlin Graphics
in 1992
.
Zool was intended as a rival to Sega
's Sonic the Hedgehog
. It was heavily hyped upon its initial release, including being bundled with the newly launched Amiga 1200
, although not the AGA
version with enhanced graphics which followed later. In 2000 the game was re-released as part of The Best of Gremlin compilation.
"Ninja
of the Nth Dimension" who is forced to land on Earth. In order to gain ninja ranking he has to pass six lands.
Producers have asserted that the name "Zool" did not refer to the supernatural
entity Zuul from the film Ghostbusters
. A lot of reviewers thought that Zool was an ant, which is incorrect and was refuted in a press release. In the PC game Jazz Jackrabbit
, a character slightly resembling Zool (with purple spiky hair, green overalls, a purple body, and a fox tail) makes a cameo as a boss called Zoonik and uses a laser gun as a weapon.
, relying on smooth, fast moving gameplay, colorful graphics and a popular soundtrack by Patrick Phelan
which overlaps with the Lotus 3
soundtrack and has inspired several modern electro/techno remixes. The game also contains a number of embedded minigames, including several arcade games, a scrolling space shooter and a game accessible only by making Zool play a certain tune on an in-game piano
or finding certain invisible warp points.
, Game Boy
, Sega Mega Drive
, SNES
, Master System
, Sega Game Gear
, Amiga CD32
, PC
, Acorn Archimedes
, and RISC OS
platform, as well as for the arcade machines.
The Amiga CD32 version has original red book
audio tracks by Neil Biggin and has the option to have both sound effects and music. This and the Acorn Archimedes port are the only two incarnations of the original Amiga version to have this.
Most PC ports are close to the Amiga original but the Megadrive and Super Nintendo port are very different
with different levels which are smaller likely due to shortage of RAM, different graphics and bosses.
The SNES port is very buggy with a low horizontal resolution which makes it eaiser to run into enemies and being overall a slower game.
, 95% in Amiga Format
, 91% in CU Amiga and 90% in Amiga Power
. However, some criticism was aimed at the blatant and pervasive product placement
in the game for lollipop company Chupa Chups
, in the first three levels (Sweet Zone). Another frequent criticism of the game was that it was allegedly excessively difficult. Some contemporary reviewers complained of not being able to get further than the second level (Music Zone).
In the early 1993 after Zool became the Amiga's 1992 best-selling game (nearly beating the sales of Sonic 2). Commodore
was then very interested with the character and wanted the upcoming new Zool game to be bundled with their upcoming gaming console Amiga CD32. However, the game was only 40% complete three months before the release of the Amiga CD32 and Gremlin couldn't make the deadline in time. So as a last minute decision by Commodore they decided to bundle the console with Flair
's Oscar and Millennium's Diggers.
Virgin Media
included Zool on the list of top ten video game ninja heroes.
and Ian Edginton
and published by Boxtree.
The Game Maker's Companion (APress, 2010), a book on hobbyist game development, contains step-by-step instructions on how to re-make the original Zool game using Game Maker
.
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
by Gremlin Graphics
Gremlin Interactive
Gremlin Interactive was a British software house based in Sheffield and working mostly in the home computer market.- History :...
in 1992
1992 in video gaming
-Events:-Notable releases:* Gremlin Graphics releases Zool, Amiga's answer to Mario and Sonic. It goes on to become the best selling Commodore Amiga game, boosting the already popular computer to be the leading gaming machine in Europe....
.
Zool was intended as a rival to Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog (character)
, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
. It was heavily hyped upon its initial release, including being bundled with the newly launched Amiga 1200
Amiga 1200
The Amiga 1200, or A1200 , was Commodore International's third-generation Amiga computer, aimed at the home market...
, although not the AGA
Advanced Graphics Architecture
Advanced Graphics Architecture is the third generation Amiga graphic chip set, first used in the Amiga 4000 in 1992. AGA was codenamed the Pandora chipset by Commodore International internally....
version with enhanced graphics which followed later. In 2000 the game was re-released as part of The Best of Gremlin compilation.
Zool
Zool is a gremlinGremlin
A gremlin is an imaginary creature commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented, with a specific interest in aircraft. Gremlins' mischievous natures are similar to those of English folkloric imps, while their inclination to damage or dismantle machinery is more...
"Ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
of the Nth Dimension" who is forced to land on Earth. In order to gain ninja ranking he has to pass six lands.
Producers have asserted that the name "Zool" did not refer to the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
entity Zuul from the film Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
. A lot of reviewers thought that Zool was an ant, which is incorrect and was refuted in a press release. In the PC game Jazz Jackrabbit
Jazz Jackrabbit
Jazz Jackrabbit is a series of video games featuring the titular character of Jazz Jackrabbit, a green anthropomorphic hare, who fights with his turtle nemesis, Devan Shell, in a science fiction parody of the fable of The Tortoise and the Hare. Created by Cliff Bleszinski and developed by Epic...
, a character slightly resembling Zool (with purple spiky hair, green overalls, a purple body, and a fox tail) makes a cameo as a boss called Zoonik and uses a laser gun as a weapon.
Gameplay
The game is a pure platform gamePlatform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
, relying on smooth, fast moving gameplay, colorful graphics and a popular soundtrack by Patrick Phelan
Patrick Phelan (composer)
Patrick "Pat" Phelan , is a respected veteran video game audio composer, manager, and producer.-Background:At the age of 11, Phelan's parents presented him with a Commodore VIC-20. He learnt how to programme and began to write games...
which overlaps with the Lotus 3
Lotus (computer games)
The Lotus series consists of three racing computer games based around the Lotus brand, released between 1990 and 1992 on various formats.. Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, Lotus Turbo Challenge 2, and Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge were developed by Magnetic Fields and published by Gremlin...
soundtrack and has inspired several modern electro/techno remixes. The game also contains a number of embedded minigames, including several arcade games, a scrolling space shooter and a game accessible only by making Zool play a certain tune on an in-game piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
or finding certain invisible warp points.
Development
George Allen came with the idea of Zool as he was criticized on his previous game Switchblade II for having a lack of enemies. In development, Zool could cast spells to get him out of trouble by collecting potions. For example, Zool could escape from pits with high jump spells and cast a shadow spell to make a clone of him that follows his actions (thus doubling the fire power). In the final version, the spells were replaced with collectible powerups. The very early name for the project was Pootz.Ports
Zool was also ported to the Atari STAtari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
, SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
, Sega Game Gear
Sega Game Gear
The was Sega's first handheld game console. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
, Amiga CD32
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" , was the first 32-bit CD-ROM based video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year...
, PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
, Acorn Archimedes
Acorn Archimedes
The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer to be based on their own ARM architecture.Using a RISC design with a 32-bit CPU, at its launch in June 1987, the Archimedes was stated as running at 4 MIPS, with a claim of 18 MIPS during tests.The name is commonly...
, and RISC OS
RISC OS
RISC OS is a computer operating system originally developed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England for their range of desktop computers, based on their own ARM architecture. First released in 1987, under the name Arthur, the subsequent iteration was renamed as in 1988...
platform, as well as for the arcade machines.
The Amiga CD32 version has original red book
Red Book
Red Book, Redbooks, Little Red Book or Big Red Book may refer to:- Political or ideological pamphlets :* The Little Red Book, the name commonly known in the West for the pocket-size edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung...
audio tracks by Neil Biggin and has the option to have both sound effects and music. This and the Acorn Archimedes port are the only two incarnations of the original Amiga version to have this.
Most PC ports are close to the Amiga original but the Megadrive and Super Nintendo port are very different
with different levels which are smaller likely due to shortage of RAM, different graphics and bosses.
The SNES port is very buggy with a low horizontal resolution which makes it eaiser to run into enemies and being overall a slower game.
Reception
Reviews for the Amiga version of the game were mostly very positive, including 97% in Amiga ComputingAmiga Computing
Amiga Computing was a monthly computer magazine of a serious nature, published by Europress and IDG in both the UK and USA. A total of 117 issues came out. The games section was called Gamer, although later Amiga Action was incorporated into the magazine and became the games section.- External...
, 95% in Amiga Format
Amiga Format
Amiga Format was a British computer magazine for Amiga computers, published by Future Publishing. The magazine lasted 136 issues from 1989 to 2000. The magazine was formed when, in the wake of selling ACE to EMAP, Future split the dual-format title ST/Amiga Format into two separate publications...
, 91% in CU Amiga and 90% in Amiga Power
Amiga Power
Amiga Power was a monthly magazine about Amiga computer games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996....
. However, some criticism was aimed at the blatant and pervasive product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
in the game for lollipop company Chupa Chups
Chupa Chups
Chupa Chups is a lollipop company founded by the Catalan Enric Bernat in 1958, and currently owned by the Dutch-Italian multinational corporation Perfetti Van Melle. The name of the brand comes from the Spanish verb chupar, meaning "to suck."- History :...
, in the first three levels (Sweet Zone). Another frequent criticism of the game was that it was allegedly excessively difficult. Some contemporary reviewers complained of not being able to get further than the second level (Music Zone).
In the early 1993 after Zool became the Amiga's 1992 best-selling game (nearly beating the sales of Sonic 2). Commodore
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
was then very interested with the character and wanted the upcoming new Zool game to be bundled with their upcoming gaming console Amiga CD32. However, the game was only 40% complete three months before the release of the Amiga CD32 and Gremlin couldn't make the deadline in time. So as a last minute decision by Commodore they decided to bundle the console with Flair
Flair
Flair can refer to:*Ric Flair , a professional wrestler*David Flair , his older son, also a professional wrestler*Reid Flair , his younger son, also a professional wrestler*The Flairs, an American doo-wop group in the 1950s...
's Oscar and Millennium's Diggers.
Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
included Zool on the list of top ten video game ninja heroes.
Books
Two young adult novels book based on the games, entitled Cool Zool and Zool Rules, were released in February 1995. They were written by Stan NichollsStan Nicholls
Stan Nicholls has been a full-time writer since 1981. He is the author of many novels and short stories but is best known for the internationally acclamied Orcs: First Blood series....
and Ian Edginton
Ian Edginton
Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer.He is one of the few British comic talents to follow the reverse trajectory to the one usually taken: becoming successful in American comics before returning to work for 2000 AD.-Biography:...
and published by Boxtree.
The Game Maker's Companion (APress, 2010), a book on hobbyist game development, contains step-by-step instructions on how to re-make the original Zool game using Game Maker
Game Maker
GameMaker is a Windows and Mac IDE originally developed by Mark Overmars in the Delphi programming language. It is currently developed and published by YoYo Games, a software company in which Overmars is involved...
.
External links
- Zool at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- Zool: Ninja Of The Nth Dimension Amiga - HOL database