Zool or Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension, known as Zool no Yume Bouken (ズールのゆめぼうけん) in Japan, is a platform game developed by Gremlin Graphics for the Commodore Amiga in 1992 as an answer to the "mascot wars" of the early 1990s spearheaded by Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. The success of Zool success saw it brought to a number of platforms, including the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, and Sega Game Gear during late 1993 and 1994.
Story
While investigating a disturbance in the nth dimension, Zool is caught in a vortex and crashes his ship in a strange land. He learns that the evil Krool has conquered seven worlds, including the one he has found, and that he must free these worlds from Krool's grip in order to make it back home.
Gameplay
Zool is a fast-paced platform game where players control the gremlin ninja Zool. Zool is moved with and and jumps with (or in the 8-bit versions). He attacks by shooting a ranged projectile with (or ). He can kneel with and does a kick and fires his shot with +. He can fire his shot in mid-air by pressing after jumping (or after the apex of the jump). Holding while jumping makes Zool perform a spinning attack (or before or at the apex of the jump). He grabs on to walls when he jumps onto them and can climb them with and or by jumping up them (he cannot jump up walls in the 8-bit versions). Pushing while running causes a sliding attack. Because of the fast pace of the game and the enemy placement, it is necessary to progress slowly and make use of the sliding attack to avoid taking too much damage.
The objective of each stage is to collect a certain amount of items (the design of which varies depending on the world) and then find the exit beacon (a giant coin). The status bar on the bottom of the screen shows how many more items need to be collected and also has an arrow that points to the direction of the exit. Each world contains four different stages, with the fourth stage having a boss fight before the exit.
Zool has three hit points and loses one whenever he takes damage from an enemy. When he runs out of hit points, he can only take one more hit before losing a life. Some enemies drop hearts that can restore a point of health, and Zool starts each stage with full health. Each stage is timed, and Zool loses a life if he runs out of time. He retains all of the items he has collected if he loses a life.
The game 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.
Worlds
|
The Sweet World
|
|
|
The Music World
|
|
|
The Fruit World
|
|
|
The Tool World
|
This world is not present in the 8-bit versions of the game.
|
|
The Toy World
|
|
|
The Fairground World
|
|
|
The Desert Island World
|
This world is not present in the 8-bit versions of the game.
|
Items
|
Bomb
|
Destroys all enemies on the screen.
|
|
Jumping Zool
|
Temporarily gives Zool an enhanced jump.
|
|
Shield
|
Temporary makes Zool invincible.
|
|
1-Up
|
Awards the player an extra life.
|
|
Two Zool
|
Creates a "shadow Zool" that follows Zool and mirrors his movements, including his attacks.
|
|
Goal
|
Ends the stage if the player has found the necessary amount of collectibles.
|
|
Restart Point
|
Checkpoint where Zool is revived after losing a life. Stand in front of it and hold down (or ) to activate.
|
History
Legacy
The game ends with a cliffhanger and clear hint a sequel. While Zool was followed by Zool 2, it was not brought to a Sega system.
Zool Redimensioned, a remaster of the game, was released in August 2021. It was developed by Sumo Digital Academy and published by Secret Mode on the Steam platform. It was based on the Mega Drive version, which was included as a bonus.
Versions
Compared to the Amiga original, the Sega Mega Drive version runs faster and has multiple parallax scrolling background planes instead of the Amiga's typical "copper mode" color gradients.
Localised names
Also known as
Language
|
Localised Name
|
English Translation
|
English
|
Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension
|
Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension
|
English (US)
|
Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension
|
Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension
|
Japanese
|
ズールのゆめぼうけん
|
Zool no Yume Bouken
|
Production credits
Mega Drive version
- Sega/Game Code: Paul Hiley
- Game/Frontend Code: George Allan
- Artists: Ade Carless, Paul Gregory, Damon Godley
- Music: Patrick Phelan, Krysalis
- Maps: Paul Gregory, Ade Carless, Tony Dawson, Paul Green
- Additional Help: Mick Lister
- Test: Lee Campbell, Tony Howe, Rob Millington, Simon Short
- Produced by: Mark Glossop
Master System version
- Main Code: Siz
- Additional Code: Richard Stevenson
- Music Composition: Patrick Phelan
- Sound: Krisalis Software
- Art: Michael Hirst, Ade Carless, Greggs, Pete Daniels
- Map and Level Design: Mike Lister, Michael Hirst
- Project Manager: Tony Casson
- Development Manager: James North-Hearn
- © Gremlin Graphics, 1993
Game Gear version
- Main Code: Siz
- Additional Code: Richard Stevenson
- Music Composition: Patrick Phelan
- Sound: Krisalis Software
- Art: Michael Hirst, Ade Carlesss, Pete Daniels, Greggs
- Map and Level Design: Mike Lister, Michael Hirst
- Project Manager: Tony Casson
- Development Manager: James North-Hearn
- Copyright 1993 Gremlin Graphics
Magazine articles
- Main article: Zool/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
Print advert in
Consoles + (FR) #25: "Novembre 1993" (1993-1x-xx)
Print advert in
Video Games (DE) #1993-12: "12/93" (1993-11-22)
Print advert in
Sega Magazin (DE) #7: "Juni 1994" (1994-05-11)
Physical scans
Mega Drive version
Mega Drive, US
|
Cover
|
Cart Manual
|
Mega Drive, EU
|
Cover
|
Cart Manual
|
Mega Drive, UK (English-only manual)
|
|
|
Mega Drive, AU
|
Cover
|
|
Master System version
{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
|
Division by zero.
|
Based on 0 review
|
Sega Retro Average
|
Publication
|
Version
|
Score
|
|
|
Master System, EU
|
Cover
|
Cart
|
Game Gear version
{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
|
Division by zero.
|
Based on 0 review
|
Sega Retro Average
|
Publication
|
Version
|
Score
|
|
|
Game Gear, JP
|
|
Cart
|
Game Gear, US
|
|
Cart Manual
|
Game Gear, EU
|
|
Cart Manual
|
Technical information
ROM dump status
System |
Hash |
Size |
Build Date |
Source |
Comments |
|
|
|
?
|
CRC32
|
cb2939f1
|
MD5
|
2d28ddb5be02a3b3612ba73ca064edb5
|
SHA-1
|
ee016f127b81f1ca2565738fa47fac0c4ed15c97
|
|
1MB
|
1994-01
|
Cartridge (US)
|
|
|
|
|
✔
|
CRC32
|
1ee58b03
|
MD5
|
98a9c42c965a336c2c3e6dca5319d031
|
SHA-1
|
cab14f63b7d00b35a11a3a7f60cf231199121dc8
|
|
1MB
|
1993-09
|
Cartridge (EU)
|
|
|
|
|
?
|
CRC32
|
9d9d0a5f
|
MD5
|
42fb44c9a2c82b8c4aef8191c1b5676f
|
SHA-1
|
aed98f2fc885c9a6e121982108f843388eb46304
|
|
256kB
|
|
Cartridge (EU)
|
|
|
|
|
?
|
CRC32
|
b287c695
|
MD5
|
db7dc3e8f0d46f0396af99a87ff0489f
|
SHA-1
|
8143c1d5e6c677ae5dd8143620b9fd02be8873f6
|
|
256kB
|
|
Cartridge (US)
|
|
|
|
|
?
|
CRC32
|
23904898
|
MD5
|
3c200f229978af32c223bccd65428426
|
SHA-1
|
40b68abd8f2419178ea2e0d02412c29306bff46c
|
|
256kB
|
|
Cartridge (EU)
|
|
|
|
|
?
|
CRC32
|
e35ef7ed
|
MD5
|
ff5f8ad2c620e25d2b028f2e1fed2b54
|
SHA-1
|
2c799ee084b858cb71cfaa7a3f6d3a4f364b6c43
|
|
256kB
|
|
Cartridge (JP)
|
|
|
|
|
References
- ↑ File:Zool GG EU Box Back.jpg
- ↑ File:Zool GG JP Box Front.jpg
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://sega.jp/fb/segahard/gg/soft_licensee.html (Wayback Machine: 2013-01-01 20:24)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 GamePro, "March 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 50
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-16), page 107
- ↑ Sega Force Mega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-16), page 49
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Mega Action, "Christmas 1993" (UK; 1993-12-02), page 16
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Sega Magazine, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-15), page 100
- ↑ Sega Master Force, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-11), page 23
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1994" (DE; 1994-03-23), page 47
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-06-15), page 67
- ↑ SuperGamePower, "Abril 1994" (BR; 1994-0x-xx), page 45
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 275
- ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Avril 1994" (DE; 1994-03-07), page 113
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "August 1994" (JP; 1994-07-08), page 21
- ↑ Console Mania, "Gennaio 1994" (IT; 199x-xx-xx), page 117
- ↑ Consoles +, "Décembre 1993" (FR; 1993-1x-xx), page 146
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-15), page 89
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "January 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 46
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 369
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 10, "" (RU; 2003-10-08), page 246
- ↑ Freak, "1/94" (IL; 1994-xx-xx), page 1
- ↑ Gamers, "Juli/August 1994" (DE; 1994-07-01), page 37
- ↑ Hyper, "January 1994" (AU; 199x-xx-xx), page 37
- ↑ Joker, "Maj 1994" (SI; 1994-xx-xx), page 21
- ↑ Joypad, "Décembre 1993" (FR; 1993-1x-xx), page 130
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-1x-xx), page 34
- ↑ Mega, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 48
- ↑ Mega Force, "Décembre 1993" (FR; 1993-12-10), page 100
- ↑ Mega Fun, "01/94" (DE; 1993-12-22), page 74
- ↑ MegaTech, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-20), page 64
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-11-30), page 96
- ↑ Player One, "Décembre 1993" (FR; 1993-1x-xx), page 146
- ↑ Play Time, "5/94" (DE; 1994-04-06), page 137
- ↑ Power Up!, "Saturday, January 08, 1994" (UK; 1994-01-08), page 1
- ↑ Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 2, Nummer 3, Maart 1994" (NL; 1994-02-23), page 38
- ↑ Sega Power, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-xx), page 46
- ↑ Sega Pro, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-14), page 70
- ↑ Sega Zone, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-25), page 36
- ↑ Sega Force Mega, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-16), page 48
- ↑ Sega Force, "2/94" (SE; 1994-02-23), page 24
- ↑ Sonic the Comic, "February 4th 1994" (UK; 1994-01-22), page 12
- ↑ Todo Sega, "Diciembre 1993" (ES; 1993-1x-xx), page 56
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 236
- ↑ Video Games, "3/94" (DE; 1994-02-23), page 82
- ↑ VideoGames, "February 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 88