Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel

From Sega Retro

n/a

ZtKS Title.png

Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sunsoft
Developer:
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US
T-15176
Sega Mega Drive
EU
T-15176-50
Sega Mega Drive
AU
FZER02SMC

This teeny-tiny article needs some work. You can help us by expanding it.


Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel is a platform spin-off of the Aero the Acrobat series, starring one of Aero's enemies, Zero. It was developed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Sunsoft for the Sega Mega Drive and Super NES in 1994. It follows Zero traveling back to his forest home to stop an evil lumberjack.

Gameplay

Zero has a dizzying amount of moves on each of the three buttons. The default buttons are as follows:

  • Pressing A while standing throws shurikens. Holding Up while pressing A throws them upwards at an angle. Jumping and pressing Up or Down will fire them at those downward angles. Bizarrely, pressing Up+A as soon as possible when you jump fires at a weird curving upward angle. You can't fire shuriken while crouching.
  • Pressing B while standing jumps. Pressing it again performs an unusual double jump that carries momentum instead of having its own, so doing it early works best. While Zero is spinning, you can't do anything except the Super Slam. After the initial jump or after a double jump, pressing Down+B performs a strange swooping attack. While crouching, Zero readies his nunchaku; press B here to swing it.
  • Holding C while standing still has Zero pull out a scope; press a direction to look around. Holding C while running has Zero do very particular forward flips which can damage enemies, and he will continue to perform them as you hold the button and as he hits land (you can stop one at any point by releasing C); if a forward flip lasts long enough without Zero touching land, he will eventually attempt to dive for damage. Finally, pressing {C} in mid-air has Zero do his Super Slam, which can be controlled with Left and Right before he lands, and can be canceled out of by jumping (warning: puts him in spinning state). You can, for example, forward flip into the air, release C, then press C again to Super Slam.

When remapping buttons, you must take the variety of moves per-button into account.

Tips and tricks

Pausing the game and pressing either ACRightAB or RightUpBADownUpBDownUpB brings up a screen to select a level to start at, as well as the ending sequence and other screens. Once this cheat is used, you can return to that screen whenever you want pressing just ABC with the game paused.

Production credits

Created and Produced by: Justin Siller
Directed by: Neill Glancy, Team Iguana
Game Design: Justin Siller, Neill Glancy, Team Zero
Team Leader: Neill Glancy
Executive Producer (Iguana): Jeff Spangenberg
Executive Producer (Sunsoft): David Siller
Programming: Stephen Broumley, Craig Galley
Genesis Engine: Carl Wade
Art Director (Iguana): Matt Stubbington
Technical Director (Iguana): Craig Galley
Creative Director (Iguana): Nigel Cook
Art Director (Sunsoft): Mario Zavala
Lead Artists: Jools Watsham, Matt Stubbington
Artists: Robbie Miller, Scott Brocker, Mark Pitcher
Additional Art: William B. Yeatts, Michael McCallion
Conceptual Art: Mario Zavala, Justin Siller, Team Zero
Additional Rendered Art: Neill Glancy
Martial Arts Consultant: Ryan Siller
Music Coordinators: Jay Moon, Darrin Stubbington
Music and Sound Effects: Fox Productions
Project Manager: Jay Moon
Technical Manager: Al Artus
Consumer Products Manager: Steve Gehrke
Marketing Director: Karen Shadley
Chairman: Masami Maeda
Vice Chairman: Tad Shimamoto
International Development Coordinator: Kenji Yoshioka
Game Test Manager: Sam Patel
Game Testing: Mike Spangenberg, Steve Rizor, Daniel Rizor, Ryan Siller, Matthew Ross, Dan MacArthur, René Boutin, Kelly McCarthy, Benjon Martinez, Peter Marquez, Euclid Woo
Game Manual: Alison Quirion
Executive Assistant: Nanette Hyssong
Customer Service and Credit: Kazuko Harman, June Eckert, Julie Williams, Jamie Jorgenson, Erin Berry, Connie Perez, Jaupale Laster
Sunsoft Thanks to: Bruce Reilly, Cathy Juby, Toko Okano, Darin Horgan, John Davis, Karen Lillie, Sherry Ross, Akito Takeuchi, Kazuaki Gotou, Masato Kawai
Sunsoft Very Special Thanks to: Debra Siller
Iguana Thanks to: Carl Wade, Richard Cowie, Pete Suarez, Beth Spangenberg, Tammy Mullins, Jane Notgrass, Kate Miffitt, Lemon The Cat

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in GamePro (US) #64: "November 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
83
82
69 №14, p70
82 №33, p66/67[3]
75 №71, p54
86 №47, p62/63
Sega Mega Drive
80
Based on
6 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
60
[6]
Cool Gamer (RU)
70
[7]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
75
[8]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
83
[9]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
60
[10]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
82
[11]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
75
[12]
Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL
69
[13]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
84
[14]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
75
[15]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
81
[16]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
82
[3]
Play Time (DE) PAL
83
[17]
Sega Magazin (DE)
84
[18]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
80
[19]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
75
[20]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
86
[21]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
70
[22]
Super Juegos (ES)
90
[23]
Todo Sega (ES)
86
[24]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
79
[25]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
80
[26]
Sega Mega Drive
78
Based on
22 reviews

Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel

Mega Drive, US
ZtKS MD US Box.jpg
Cover
ZtKS MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
ZtKS MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
ZtKS MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
ZtKS MD EU Manual.jpg
Manual
Mega Drive, AU
ZtKS MD AU Box.jpg
Cover

References

  1. File:GamePlayers US 0712.pdf, page 12
  2. File:MeanMachinesSega26UK.pdf, page 36
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 File:MeanMachinesSega33UK.pdf, page 66 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega33UK.pdf_p66" defined multiple times with different content
  4. EGM², "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 149
  5. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "December 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 151
  6. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 272
  7. Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 243
  8. Electronic Games (1992-1995), "December 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 164
  9. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "December 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 42
  10. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 369
  11. Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 12 December 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 134
  12. GamePro, "December 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 114
  13. Games World: The Magazine, "August 1995" (UK; 1995-06-29), page 70
  14. Hobby Consolas, "Diciembre 1994" (ES; 1994-xx-xx), page 130
  15. MAN!AC, "01/95" (DE; 1994-12-07), page 80
  16. Mega Fun, "12/94" (DE; 1994-11-23), page 128
  17. Play Time, "1/95" (DE; 1994-12-07), page 100
  18. Sega Magazin, "Dezember 1994" (DE; 1994-11-17), page 72
  19. Sega Magazine, "July 1995" (UK; 1995-06-15), page 90
  20. Sega Power, "October 1995" (UK; 1995-08-17), page 54
  21. Sega Pro, "July 1995" (UK; 1995-06-08), page 62
  22. Sega Mega Drive Review, "2" (RU; 1996-01-03), page 177
  23. Super Juegos, "Enero 1995" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 46
  24. Todo Sega, "Febrero 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 43
  25. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 234
  26. VideoGames, "December 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 82