Zero Tolerance

From Sega Retro

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Zero Tolerance Title.png

Zero Tolerance
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Accolade
Developer:
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: FPS

















Release Date RRP Code

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.

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. 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 primitve 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.

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

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
80 №36, p110
85 №155
75
82 №21, p36/37/38
65
80
86 №24, p84/85/86
88 №25, p44/45/46/47
77 №51, p104
83
84 №38, p54/55
Sega Mega Drive
80
Based on
11 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
80
[1]
Consoles + (FR)
80
[2]
Cool Gamer (RU)
80
[3]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
85
[4]
Computer + Video Giochi (IT)
81
[5]
Digitiser (UK)
90
[6]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
75
[7]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
75
[8]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
80
[9]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2 (RU)
90
[10]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
65
[11]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
80
[12]
Gamers (DE) PAL
67
[13]
GamesMaster (UK) PAL
82
[14]
Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL
80
[15]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
78
[16]
Joypad (FR) PAL
85
[17]
LeveL (CZ)
60
[18]
Mega (UK) PAL
88
[19]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
89
[20]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
82
[21]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
84
[22]
Megazin (SI)
79
[23]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
86
[24]
Player One (FR)
77
[25]
Play Time (DE)
85
[26]
Power Up! (UK)
83
[27]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
83
[28]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
91
[29]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
84
[30]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
74
[31]
Sega Megazone (AU)
83
[32]
Todo Sega (ES)
88
[33]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
80
[34]
Video Games (DE) PAL
70
[35]
VideoGames (US)
60
[36]
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
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
  1. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 273
  2. Consoles +, "Octobre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 110
  3. Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 244
  4. Computer & Video Games, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-09-15), page 85
  5. Computer + Video Giochi, "Dicembre 1994" (IT; 1994-xx-xx), page 114
  6. Digitiser (UK) (1994-12-01)
  7. Electronic Games (1992-1995), "October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 88
  8. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "September 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 32
  9. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 369
  10. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2, "" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 300
  11. Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 90
  12. GamePro, "November 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 94
  13. Gamers, "Januar 1995" (DE; 1995-01-08), page 36
  14. GamesMaster, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-25), page 36
  15. Games World: The Magazine, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-09-29), page 16
  16. Game Informer, "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 24
  17. Joypad, "Octobre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 116
  18. LeveL, "Únor 1995" (CZ; 1995-02-24), page 41
  19. Mega, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-09-29), page 44
  20. Mega Force, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-12-02), page 56
  21. Mega Fun, "11/94" (DE; 1994-10-19), page 65
  22. Mega Play, "August 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 63
  23. Megazin, "Letnik 3, Številka 2, Februar 1995" (SI; 1995-xx-xx), page 31
  24. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-08-xx), page 84
  25. Player One, "Mars 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 104
  26. Play Time, "11/94" (DE; 1994-10-05), page 106
  27. Power Up!, "Saturday, October 29, 1994" (UK; 1994-10-29), page 1
  28. Sega Magazine, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-xx), page 82
  29. Sega Power, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-04), page 40
  30. Sega Pro, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-06), page 54
  31. Sega Mega Drive Review, "2" (RU; 1996-01-03), page 181
  32. Sega Megazone, "September 1994" (AU; 1994-0x-xx), page 22
  33. Todo Sega, "Octubre 1994" (ES; 1994-xx-xx), page 64
  34. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 28
  35. Video Games, "10/94" (DE; 1994-09-28), page 99
  36. VideoGames, "December 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 128