Difference between revisions of "Zero Tolerance"

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==Multi-Player==
 
==Multi-Player==
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In a similar manner to the [[Taisen Cable]] for the [[Sega Saturn]] released months later in Japan, Zero Tolerance is the only known official Mega Drive game to support linking 2 Mega Drive consoles to play a cooperative game between two players using a proprietary link cable plugged into the Genesis second controller port. This mode required each console to be plugged to their own television and running their own copy of the game. The original 3rd party cable could only be obtained by sending off the order card which was included with the game. It is possible to build your own cable using two 9 pin D-SUB male connectors or a pair of 9-pin controller cables wired accordingly:- Pins 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, 4 to 4, 7 to 9, 8 to 8 (via cable shield or wire) and 9 to 7.
+
In a similar manner to the [[Taisen Cable]] for the [[Sega Saturn]] released months later in Japan, Zero Tolerance is the only known official Mega Drive game to support linking 2 Mega Drive consoles to play a cooperative game between two players using a proprietary link cable plugged into the Genesis second controller port. This mode required each console to be plugged to their own television and running their own copy of the game. The original 3rd party cable could only be obtained by sending off the order card which was included with the game. It is possible to build your own cable using two 9 pin D-SUB male connectors or a pair of 9-pin controller cables wired accordingly:- Pins 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, 4 to 4, 7 to 9, 8 to 8 (via cable shield or wire) and 9 to 7 (pins 5 & 6 are not used).
  
 
The cooperative game works very well with little or no apparent lag and since players can be damaged by friendly fire it is possible to have a death match of sorts after a level has been cleared of enemies. Further, all previously cleared levels will always remain cleared and can be accessed freely via elevators at any time.
 
The cooperative game works very well with little or no apparent lag and since players can be damaged by friendly fire it is possible to have a death match of sorts after a level has been cleared of enemies. Further, all previously cleared levels will always remain cleared and can be accessed freely via elevators at any time.

Revision as of 05:52, 6 December 2019

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Zero Tolerance Title.png

Zero Tolerance
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Accolade
Developer:
Sound driver: GEMS
Peripherals supported: Link-up cable
Genre: Shoot-'em-up

















Number of players: 1 or 2
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US 		$59.9559.95[2] T-119146
Sega Mega Drive
EU 		T-119146-50
Sega Mega Drive
PT 		MD119146
Sega Mega Drive
AU 		$129.95129.95[4]
Sega Mega Drive
BR

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Zero Tolerance is a first person shooter developed by Technopop and Accolade and published by Accolade for the Sega Mega Drive in 1994. It is notable for being one of the few first person shooters available for the system, a demanding genre seen by many to be outside the capabilities of the Mega Drive's hardware. Another unique feature was the ability to link two Mega Drive consoles to play a two player cooperative game .

Gameplay

Gameplay in Zero Tolerance is similar to other first person shooters of the era, with the player controlling one of several characters navigating map from a third-person perspective, shooting enemies while trying to find an exit. (the player cannot continue to the next level without clearing all enemies) Unusually for the time however, the game contains primitive stealth elements as player can crouch, jump and has several different melee attacks such as punching and even flying kicks can be executed. Weapons include firearms and explosives such as dynamite and bouncing grenades. the player can hold only five items at a time, including weapons and inventory items. rooftop levels have snipers that cannot be taken out, and many of the HQ levels have security cameras that can be destoyed or avoided.

Rendering engine

In terms of technology, Zero Tolerance lies somewhere between 1992's Wolfenstein 3D and 1993's Doom - rooms two dimensional as the height never changes (although the player's height can change slightly), and maps are "boxy", with walls are rendered as textured, flat surfaces positioned at 90 (or, unlike Wolfenstein 3D, 45 degree) angles.

Floors and ceilings are not textured, but primitive skyboxes are introduced and if the player shoots a wall, the texture will change to a "damaged" variant, in effect creating primitive interactive scenery. Enemies are rendered as sprites, and, also impressive for Mega Drive standards, are scaled in real-time. Shooting enemies will also create "gibs" similar to more modern shooters.

The consequence of all this is that the 3D view is constrained to a small portion of the screen, with the rest being taken by the game's HUD. The frame rate and draw distances are also lower than in both Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.

Multi-Player

In a similar manner to the Taisen Cable for the Sega Saturn released months later in Japan, Zero Tolerance is the only known official Mega Drive game to support linking 2 Mega Drive consoles to play a cooperative game between two players using a proprietary link cable plugged into the Genesis second controller port. This mode required each console to be plugged to their own television and running their own copy of the game. The original 3rd party cable could only be obtained by sending off the order card which was included with the game. It is possible to build your own cable using two 9 pin D-SUB male connectors or a pair of 9-pin controller cables wired accordingly:- Pins 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, 4 to 4, 7 to 9, 8 to 8 (via cable shield or wire) and 9 to 7 (pins 5 & 6 are not used).

The cooperative game works very well with little or no apparent lag and since players can be damaged by friendly fire it is possible to have a death match of sorts after a level has been cleared of enemies. Further, all previously cleared levels will always remain cleared and can be accessed freely via elevators at any time.

History

Legacy

Zero Tolerance and its unfinished sequel, Beyond Zero Tolerance, were released by the developers as freeware.

Production credits

Technopop, Inc.
  • Producer: Randel Reiss
  • Assistant Producer: Desmond Crisis
  • Design: Thomas Gjørup
  • Art Direction: Scott Haile
  • Programming: Justin Wolf, Thomas Gjørup
  • Lead Artwork: Sheryl Knowles
  • Level Designs: Tony Ramos
  • Music: Dezso Molnar
  • SFX: Dezso Molnar
  • Voice Over: Maya Daniels
  • Conceptual Art: Curtis E. A. Karnow
  • Additional Support: Lasse Faabeng, Satoe Ishii, Jo Ellen Reiss, Patrick McEnvoy, Paul Puey
  • Special Thanks: Steven Ackrich, Nick Laveroff, David Bamberger, Kelly Flock
Accolade
  • Producers: James Kucera, Troy Sheets
  • Lead Tester: James A. Vitales
  • Testers: Richard Gangwish, Alex V. Cabal, Ty Johnson, Randall Hauser, Seth Friedman, Daniel P. Dunn
  • Marketing: Karen Safran, Megan Humpal, Larry Wiesler
  • Executives: Alan Miller, John A. S. Skeel, Brenden Maloof, Jim Barnett, Peter Harris
  • Art Director: Bob Busick
  • Artists: Patricia Pearson, Craig Marshall, Dale Mauk, John Xu, Shawn Monroe, Scott Burroughs, Ken Capelli, Chris Peterson, Tom Denmark
Source:
In-game credits


Magazine articles

Main article: Zero Tolerance/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #62: "September 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #21: "October/November 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in GamePro (US) #64: "November 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg
Freak 26 IL SMD advert.jpg
Print advert in Freak (IL) #26: "12/94" (1994-xx-xx)
Freak 26 IL SMD advert.jpg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Velikiy Drakon (RU) #60: "xxxx xxxx" (2002-09-05)
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
80 №36, p110
85 [3]
75
65
82 [8]
80 №5, p16
80
86 [9]
88 №25, p44-47
77 №51, p104
83 №9, p82/83
91 №58, p40-43
84 №38, p54/55
60 [10]
Sega Mega Drive
 80
Based on
14 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
80
[11]
Consoles + (FR)
80
[12]
Cool Gamer (RU)
80
[13]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
85
[3]
Computer + Video Giochi (IT)
81
[14]
Digitiser (UK)
90
[15]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
75
[16]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
75
[17]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
80
[18]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2 (RU)
90
[19]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
65
[2]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
80
[20]
Gamers (DE) PAL
67
[21]
GamesMaster (UK) PAL
82
[22]
Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL
80
[23]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
78
[24]
Joypad (FR) PAL
85
[25]
LeveL (CZ)
60
[26]
Mega (UK) PAL
88
[27]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
89
[28]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
82
[29]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
84
[30]
Megazin (SI)
79
[31]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
86
[32]
Player One (FR)
77
[33]
Play Time (DE)
85
[34]
Power Up! (UK)
83
[35]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
83
[36]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
91
[37]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
84
[38]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
74
[39]
Sega Megazone (AU)
83
[40]
Todo Sega (ES)
88
[41]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
80
[42]
Video Games (DE) PAL
70
[43]
VideoGames (US)
60
[10]
Sega Mega Drive
 80
Based on
36 reviews

Zero Tolerance

Mega Drive, US
ZeroTolerance MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Zero Tolerance MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Zero Tolerance MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
Zero Tolerance MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
ZeroTolerance MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, BR
Zero Tolerance MD BR front.jpg
Cover
ZeroTolerance MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, SE (rental)

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments

References

  1. ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 12
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 90
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Computer & Video Games, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-09-15), page 85
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gamestar, "October 1994" (AU; 1994-xx-xx), page 58
  5. ↑ Sega Visions, "February/March 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 68
  6. ↑ EGM², "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 38
  7. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "December 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 74
  8. ↑ GamesMaster, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-25), page 36-38 (36)
  9. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-08-xx), page 84-86 (84)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 VideoGames, "December 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 128
  11. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 273
  12. ↑ Consoles +, "Octobre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 110
  13. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 244
  14. ↑ Computer + Video Giochi, "Dicembre 1994" (IT; 1994-xx-xx), page 114
  15. ↑ Digitiser (UK) (1994-12-01)
  16. ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 88
  17. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "September 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 32
  18. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 369
  19. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2, "" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 300
  20. ↑ GamePro, "November 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 94
  21. ↑ Gamers, "Januar 1995" (DE; 1995-01-08), page 36
  22. ↑ GamesMaster, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-25), page 36
  23. ↑ Games World: The Magazine, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-09-29), page 16
  24. ↑ Game Informer, "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 24
  25. ↑ Joypad, "Octobre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 116
  26. ↑ LeveL, "Únor 1995" (CZ; 1995-02-24), page 41
  27. ↑ Mega, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-09-29), page 44
  28. ↑ Mega Force, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-12-02), page 56
  29. ↑ Mega Fun, "11/94" (DE; 1994-10-19), page 65
  30. ↑ Mega Play, "August 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 63
  31. ↑ Megazin, "Letnik 3, Številka 2, Februar 1995" (SI; 1995-xx-xx), page 31
  32. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-08-xx), page 84
  33. ↑ Player One, "Mars 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 104
  34. ↑ Play Time, "11/94" (DE; 1994-10-05), page 106
  35. ↑ Power Up!, "Saturday, October 29, 1994" (UK; 1994-10-29), page 1
  36. ↑ Sega Magazine, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-xx), page 82
  37. ↑ Sega Power, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-04), page 40
  38. ↑ Sega Pro, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-06), page 54
  39. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Review, "2" (RU; 1996-01-03), page 181
  40. ↑ Sega Megazone, "September 1994" (AU; 1994-0x-xx), page 22
  41. ↑ Todo Sega, "Octubre 1994" (ES; 1994-xx-xx), page 64
  42. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 28
  43. ↑ Video Games, "10/94" (DE; 1994-09-28), page 99
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