| Credits | |
| Published: |
1992, Gremlin Graphics
 |
| Design: | Tony Dawson |
| Coder: | George Allan |
| Graphics: | Adrian Carless |
| Musician: | Patrick Phelan |
| Box Art: | Alan Batson |
| Information | |
| Hardware: | OCS, ECS |
| Disks: | 2 |
| License: | Commercial |
| Language: | English |
| Players: | 1 Only |
| Relationship: | Also available for CD32  Also available for AGA Precursor to Zool 2 |
| Categorization | |
| Genre: | Platformer |
| Subgenre: | Scrolling Screen |
| Tags: | cute, jumpnrun, multidirection, ninja, platform, scrolling, sideways, stomp |
| Magazine Reviews | |
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Added by Kim Lemon on Sep 5, 2005. Viewed 25984 times.
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Lots of potential, doomed by frustrating control dynamics and wrong gameplay. The main problem is that the view is too narrow on Zool. A broad view of the scenario is lacking. This means that to protect yourself, you have to shoot the bullets continuously, thus ending up hitting opponents off the screen, barely hearing them crashing and seeing their fragments. This denies the pleasure of seeing your enemy in his face. Also, there's a chaotic method for energy recovery: we lose a notch when we are hit but we can recover it by catching a pill released sometimes by dying opponents. The problem is that the typical low-risky action of Zool (kind of turnaround with a slash) is so frantic that it happens to lose a notch and recover it almost simultaneously (in an instant, an enemy hits you, you kill him, you take the pill!). Not to mention the clumsy way in which Zool jumps from one wall to another, with considerable difficulty in calibrating the trajectory. Another problem that afflicts the game is the absence of the concept of "clearance": when you return to the scene of the crime after having strayed from it, the same enemies that you have killed earlier reappear more than ever. It is a pity that these glaring conception errors nullify an ultra-chromatic graphic, propelling an inspired psychedelic pop imaginery , rich in inventiveness, articulated in several worlds (the most brilliant is musical instruments one, with lots of genial ideas such as a trumpet-elevator!)
View all comments (11)
Zool is a good representation of an Amiga paradox. Initially developed for the Commodore computer, it suffers of amateurism of developers that were not really gifted in level-design or chara-design.
There's some nice ideas and I think many of us had fun with Zool back in the old days as we didn't have the opportunity to play on videogame consoles. But if you add forgettable GFX and musics that oscillates between the worst and the best, so you obtain nothing but an average game. Compare this game with Sonic in the promotional campain shows that Gremlin was completely off track in terms of gameplay. But Zool sales were impressive so I suppose it was a good marketing ploy. And the eternal "faux pas" on Amiga : musics OR sound effects, awful SFX turning to cacophony because we can not help but do too much with Paula, frustrating gameplay with too much inertia that makes the game quite unplayable, optional and unuseful turbo mode to prove once again that all the concept is about to run faster than in Sonic. Even rasters are missed, an attic on Amiga!
On Megadrive and SNES, the game has been published in complete and understandable indifference despite of upgraded GFX and gameplay that should be very nice on Amiga version. It's really a shame because I wanted Zool to be a wonderful game like in my memories, but it's just not! Give it a try but don't expect too much...
View all comments (141)
The Amiga answer to Sonic ? This was the question on The Game Machine.
It was a good game but nothing else. And too many Chupa Chups !!!
View all comments (57)
As far as platform games go, Zool is really average and generic. There is nothing really intriguing gameplay wise and no innovation trying to make this game stand out from its contemporaries: jumping, running, shooting, collecting bonuses and power-ups. As almost usual with Amiga platformers up is used to jump and music and sound effects cannot be heard together. Also, this is basically a huge full-price advert. On the upside Zool is quite well made if not beautiful, has an unusual amount of options for an Amiga action game and can be quite entertaining for platformer fans (6/10).
View all comments (212)
Very good platformer, cool and funny graphics, cool sounds, good gameplay. 'Zool' is fun, so if you like platformers it's really a good choice to spend some hours with your Amiga...
View all comments (156)
Yeah, with hindsight it's a bit sad how Amiga mags overrated "wannabe" games that clearly weren't as good as their console rivals (in technical and gameplay terms), purely because Amiga owners obviously wanted "their" Sonic or Mario.
That said, while I only ever played the demo of this, it still looked quite fun (if slightly empty), and miles better than the other overrated console wannabe, Robocod.
View all comments (10)
The atmosphere is fun, the acid faces are cool, the levels remind me of Robocod and are often enjoyable, music is zany and character handles well. After world two it gets a bit repetitive and feels too long. 7/10
View all comments (174)
Sweet graphics like a James Pond 2 have!
View all comments (33)
I never liked it. Bad Control, bad graphics, bad playability, annoying sound ...
But the intro screen is cool
View all comments (165)
'Over-hyped' is a phrase that simply can't be matched in order to describe this average-at-best platformer. I can remember when this game came out and, after drooling over the preview screenshots in various magazines, I couldn't wait to play it. The betrayal I felt from the magazines after playing it for an hour or so was devastating. I think it must have been around this time (when I was 12 or 13) that I first realised I wanted to 'smash the system'. This was something I obviously quickly outgrew but my disappointment in Zool never quite left me. I so wanted to love this game but it is simply impossible because it makes almost no sense and is, in essence, a large, absurd advert for similarly disappointing lollipops. 5/10
View all comments (31)
Terribly over-hyped. In essence, it's just an above average platform game.
View all comments (211)
I've tried to be a fan of this, I've tried real hard... But it just gets boring after a while, period.
And besides, it shouldn't be me struggling to love Zool. It should be the game doing its best to be loved - which it only pretends to do.
View all comments (274)
Just crap!
View all comments (96)
It's the perfect mascot for me,his desing is very cool.I always wanted an agile character to be able to climb walls,ceilings,skidding across the floor,similar to Strider Capcom game.Assassin TEAM17 game tried it however didn't get a good result.I didn't like the fact that Zool wasn't an Amiga exclusive game though.Play on easy level and with five credits help a lot,however the gameplay is a bit annoying because it's impossible not to be damaged by enemies since they are very fast,this can become desperate.For this reason the hearts abound and the credits leave you right at the last checkpoint,unusual in a game.I'm disappointed by this gameplay but it's ok.
View all comments (91)
I remember this coming out, it was supposed to be a sonic beater but it isn't as good. Its not a bad game though. 7/10
View all comments (126)
No, guys. This is terrible. Even without the awful game design itself (which, to be fair, isn't so much unfair as it is simply dull), the graphics are ugly, grainy, and hopelessly choppy. And Zool himself is one of the lamest attempts at a mascot that I've ever seen.
Zool is too archaic (sound OR music, enemies that regenerate as soon as they're off-screen, pitiful level design) and ugly (terrible, sub-ST-quality graphics mated with cacophonous "music" that sounds like it was sequenced with a blender) to even approach serious competition with any 16-bit console game. Yes, even Awesome Possum.
[This comment was brought to you by Chupa Chups lollipops. Eat them!]
View all comments (141)
There was a lot of hype in the lead up to this game, and i think thats what ruined it for me. Its a good platformer, just i couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when i played it. A good title, just not quite what it was hyped up to be.
View all comments (178)
I played this so much when I was a kid. One day I turned on my loyal A600 and I played every songs from Zool. It was my first time checking those songs: Rock, Green, Rave and Funk. Before I only used effects (and they are still better).
View all comments (34)
I like both Zool I AND Zool II. Zool2 AGA looks the best overall.
(Oh, and by the way--CHUPA CHUPS!!!)
View all comments (225)
Very much on a par with the likes of Robocod - a platformer which looks quite nice but is very empty in comparison to the likes of The New Zealand Story.. It was popular with those wanting a Sega-type platformer - but Sonic was crap too! 4/10
View all comments (84)
The annoying "Nicky" saga better rated than Zool? I cant believe it!! Look at those fabulous graphics and see what an Amiga engine can do. Fun to play, big sprites, cool sounds, colourful sceneries to lose yourself.. And most important...high gameplay and some innovative controls on this great Sonic brother! Addictive to me as it was 17 years ago.
View all comments (38)
Fun and addictive although the bosses are a bit too tough, and the scrolling wasn't perfect either. 7/10
View all comments (248)
I've given Zool a 7. It was hyped up at the time, and it's true to say it doesn't deliver particularly innovative gameplay, but it was a decent platforming game for the time and had good graphics (especially the main character).
View all comments (45)
A fast-paced, fun game. Quite addictive, although I do prefer it's sequel.
Too bad this game was so overrated. I certainly don't think it deserves the kind of overly-exaggerated criticism it gets, and while it wasn't as amazing as it was initially supposed to be there doesn't seem to be anything horrible about it either. I have seen some very biased reviews about Zool, where the writer has gone against it purely for the fact that it was overrated. So the creators probably kicked themselves for that.
That said, it isn't one of my favourites either, but just because it's not amazing doesn't mean I hate it. A fun game with some interesting levels and good gameplay.
View all comments (185)
Released with a loud bang this title was all-over the magazines - unfortunately I think it was overrated - it's an ok platformer but there were much better titles around.
View all comments (27)
One of the most overrated games in the Amiga's history. Were Amiga magazine reviewers so desperate for "our" Sonic that it was necessary to laud this ugly and distinctly average platform game?
View all comments (145)
Gremlin's attempt to compete with Nintendo's Mario and Sega's Sonic, fails miserably.
The game is pretty standard, lacking that spacial magic that made the two above games so memorable.
The game's characters is forgettable, and the controls are often annoying.
And finally, the look of the game is very sub-par, at least for a game meant to be the mighty Amiga's icon.
View all comments (49)
Yes, zool is cool...
View all comments (31)
Playing this game was like trippin' on acid, even if the strongest thing you ever took was Day Nurse! The music, sound effects, graphics and gameplay were just surreal! And sales of sweets must have sky-rocketed when this came out, just look at it!
View all comments (64)
The first AGA game that I bought for my A1200.
View all comments (21)
Zool was to the Amiga what Mario was to the SNES and Sonic was to the MegaDrive - a platforming mascot who was intended to implant the machine's identity into the mind of the public. Although why the Amiga community seized on this particular game to serve that function is unknown - Team 17's Superfrog was released around the same time, was a much better game and had bags more character.
But if Nintendo and Sega were worried they needn't have been. Zool was a decent but flawed platformer which boasted little of the finesse of it's rivals.
The main problem is that while the normal stages are perfectly playable the boss stages are utterly dire. The bosses in Sonic and Mario World tended to follow patterns which, if the player could pick up on them would (with some skill) allow them to defeat the enemy unscathed. In Zool, the bosses simply zip randomly around the screen firing off dozens of bullets at a time. There's no strategy to be applied to these sections at all - they just become wars of attrition with you desperately hoping that your bullets get through before theirs do, and it's no fun at all. It also has the side effect of ramping the games difficulty up to ridiculous levels as each boss will cost you at least one or two of your precious lives.
This problem was solved in the excellent sequel, imaginatively titled Zool 2, although by that time the Amiga market was in terminal decline. But if you simply must play a Zool game that's the one to go for.
6/10
View all comments (24)
Imaginative, and fun. It brought elements of Sonic to the Amiga. I liked it alot.
View all comments (37)
I think for the Amiga back then Zool was quite a good little platform game compared with others. We were never gonna get Sonic The Hedgehog cos 16bit consoles & Amiga were at competition but this was OK, wasn't great but not bad either. Colourful GFX whether it be AGA or Non AGA, nice sound, decent music to go along with the character & its level changing environments.
View all comments (522)
This was an OK platformer. Later levels for me got slightly tiresome but an OK game all round. Didnt quite take the Sonic the Hedgehog crown.
View all comments (524)
Enjoyable and fun, though rather basic and limiting when compared to better platformers of the day.
View all comments (15)
To be honest, I didn't really like this one. We had it (my brother and me) But it didn't do it for me. My brother liked it, but he played it alot longer than I did. I just wasn't into these kind of games alot in those days.
View all comments (27)
Funny platformer! Rented this one before buying it
View all comments (809)