Zool

n/a

Mega Drive Master System EU/JP US
Zool
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear
Publisher: GameTek (US) Electronic Arts (EU) Gremlin Graphics Software (EU) Nisshouiwai Infocom (JP)
Developer: Gremlin Graphics Software
Sound driver: Krisalis sound driver
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code US 1994-02 $59.9559.95 T-83096 EU 1994-01 E264SMXI UK 1994-01 £44.9944.99 E264SMXI AU 1993 EU 1994-03 27075-50 UK 1994-03 £29.9929.99 27075-50 JP 1994-07-29 ¥3,8003,800 T-149017 US 1994 $39.9539.95 T-83048 EU 1994-03 123018-50 UK 1994-03 £29.9929.99 123018-50
Non-Sega versions Amiga Amiga CD32 Archimedes Atari ST IBM PC Super NES

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 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 punching and shooting a ranged projectile with (or ). He can kneel with and does a kick and fires his shot with +. He continues punching or kicking by holding (or ), which can be used to break certain walls and provide access to areas. He can fire his shot in mid-air by pressing after jumping (or after the apex of the jump). He can also defeat enemies by jumping on them. 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 and then find the exit beacon (a giant coin). The design of the items varies depending on the world; for example, they are CDs and cassette tapes in the Music World but various fruits in the Fruit World. Stages contain more items than are necessary to complete them. Some stages contain objects that can be destroyed with the spin attack that release more items. Some enemies burst into items after being destroyed. 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.

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

	Heart
	Restores a hit point for Zool. Sometimes dropped by enemies when they are destroyed. It flies away and must be caught before it leaves.
	Bomb
	Destroys all enemies on the screen.
	Jumping Zool
	Temporarily gives Zool an enhanced jump.
	Shield
	Temporary makes Zool invincible.
	Two Zool
	Creates a "shadow Zool" that follows Zool and mirrors his movements, including his attacks.
	Clock
	Adds more time to the timer.
	1-Up
	Awards the player an extra life.
	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 Computer & Video Games (UK) #145: "December 1993" (1993-11-15)

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #146: "January 1994" (1993-12-15)

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

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source GamesMaster (UK) 70 №12, p78/79 Joypad (FR) 78 №26 SuperGamePower (BR) 70

	73
Based on 3 reviews

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 83 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 55 Console Mania (IT) 86 Consoles + (FR) 93 Computer & Video Games (UK) 82 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 58 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 60 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 10 (RU) 80 Freak (IL) 80 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 85 Gamers (DE) 53 Hyper (AU) 79 Joker (SI) 87 Joypad (FR) PAL 78 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 83 Mega (UK) PAL 74 Mega Action (UK) PAL 80 Mega Force (FR) 84 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 74 MegaTech (UK) PAL 71 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 67 Player One (FR) 65 Play Time (DE) 64 Power Up! (UK) 76 Power Unlimited (NL) 81 Sega Power (UK) PAL 78 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 84 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 86 Sega Force Mega (UK) PAL 80 Sega Force (SE) 72 Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL 83 Todo Sega (ES) PAL 85 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 71 Video Games (DE) PAL 74 VideoGames (US) NTSC-U 50

	75
Based on 36 reviews

Zool

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

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Zool

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart

Game Gear version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Zool

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
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)