Battle of the Ports - Zool (ズール) Show

[@CastleFamilyThe]

The CD32 version has CD audio! Those quite noticeable wav files if you have downloaded the iso!

[@AmigaOmega]

Using Cracks or bad rips to represent Amiga games and calling them crap coz they are broken or incomplete ....

[@Retro_Royal]

@@AmigaOmega It´s not that the Soundtrack would have saved the game, and yes, I own a CD32..

[@enigma776]

@@AmigaOmega Probably a WHDload rip which never includes the music.

[@solarflare9078]

@@AmigaOmega He never said anything about the lack of music making the game crap, but okay Amiga fuckboy

[@jmxtoob]

@@solarflare9078 it was probably a response to when he said "it's just a shame gremlin didn't bother to include CD audio or any music at all"

[@net_news]

A bad game? Maybe it was by console standards... but It was a great platform game for computers, in fact it was a huge hit back then because there weren't too many platformers of this level of quality on the Amiga (and even less on MS-DOS and Atari ST).

[@zenitpro]

Hi there, Marc! I played Zool as a teenager who was eager to see colorful graphics on his Mega Drive, so I was quite happy to discover that Zool not only had very colorful graphics, but its soundtrack was killer! The drums samples used are so realistic and the overall composition is so cool that I'd sometimes fire up the cartridge just to listen to the sound test and enjoy the tunes. Back then, the game needed to suck roally for me to find it bad, so I kind of had great fun playing Zool. Granted, even back then my main gripe with the game was its slippery controls, as you pointed out in the video. As for the developer, Gremlin Graphics, I was already familiar with them because of the many games made by them available for the ZX Spectrum, my very first foray in the microcomputer world. Keep up the nice work!

[@RetroCore]

Thanks for the comment, Rodrigo. Glad the video could bring back some memories for you.

[@robbiewalker2831]

@@RetroCore I would like to point out that the SNES version does include the intro. You have to wait on it first.

[@Charlie-Cat.]

Zool was great. I really enjoyed him on on the Game Boy Game Gear and MS-DOS. Heck, I even had him on the Atari Jaguar on MS-DOS with Zool 2. was a contender up there with Mario and Sonic? Well, that reminds to be seen, but he surely was part of the unusual lineup peculiar mascots that were worthwhile to play for sure. Anthony..

[@forcedfeedbackclassicgamer5499]

Zool always looked and felt as if it was an amalgamation of three or four different cancelled projects...

[@andy6576]

I never clicked with this game. "Zool 2" was much improved, although still no Sonic beater. And you could play as Zooz. Phwoar eh? Am I right, lads? Lads? Hello.....?

[@RetroCore]

Hahaha, sometimes it's best to keep things to yourself 😊

[@MistaMaddog247]

There's something wrong with the ST emulation cause the colors didn't look that bad when I played it. And it needs to run in STe mode for smoother scrolling. Still a medicore game though...

[@CastleFamilyThe]

Well it wouldn’t represent an ST if they ran it in STE mode, maybe they should have split the ST section to show the differences

[@alexanderjones1265]

Yeah I don't remember it being that bad either.

[@Octamed]

@@CastleFamilyThe This was very late in the 16bit game, so the STE version would be fair to show.

[@CFalcon030]

@@CastleFamilyThe So they shouldn't include the CD32 version either?

[@CastleFamilyThe]

Octamed i disagree as the game was made to run on the ST, had the game been STE only then fair enough, but as someone said the emulation looks wrong here anyway.

[@Josephrace1991]

The Amiga CD 32 version does have a sound track composed by Neil Biggin which is much better and suits the Vibe of the game Very well in fact there is a full play through of the Amiga CD 32 version by a KZbinr called einokeino303. It is a very impressive speed run and shows how the game should really be played even though I have only seen some levels of that speed run. Overall I think zool is way better than any of the Bubsy games to date but hasn't got anything on the Mega Drive platformers like Sonic, Sparkster Earthworm Jim, Ristar, Dynamite Heady, Cool Spot and High Seas Havock.

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

SNES ZONE Magazine tore this to pieces. Saying the first 4 levels, sweet world, were the worst designed the reviewer had ever encountered, tragic lack of orientation, direction and achievement. Gameplay in later stages simply unfair.. Reviewer advised people not to buy SNES ZOOL.. Score 47%

[@RetroCore]

Now that is a reviewer who knew what he was talking about.

[@Seamus2900]

I have the Amiga CD32 version and love it, one of my favourite games ever.

[@uubrmanx]

There was also another PC release (sort of), included as a tutorial project in the sequel to "The Game Maker's Apprentice", (I forget what it's called) a book revolving around learning how to use Game Maker 6-8. I'm not sure if it includes all of the levels though. Edit: it's from "The Game Maker's Companion".

[@RetroCore]

Nice bit of information. I didn't know about that.

[@KGRAMR]

Pretty cool to see one of my suggestions popping up. Good work as always man!

[@RetroCore]

No worries. I get around to most suggestions over time.

[@MrTomFTW]

Hello! I own Zool for the CD32 and there 100% is a CD soundtrack that plays during game. Just put the disk in the drive now to confirm I wasn't imagining things! Put far too many hours into that game when I was a kid, but rose-tinted glasses aren't enough to save it for me :)

[@RetroCore]

I think I must have had a bad rip of the game.

[@Juganawt]

I think your Amiga / CD32 emulator might be failing you. The A500 version runs at a rock solid, stable 50fps on real hardware, and the AGA (not shown in your video) / CD32 version has an extra fast mode that doubles the framerate, making the game insanely (and almost unplayably) fast. The CD32 version has a full CDDA soundtrack, also.

[@RetroCore]

I'm wondering if the CDDA tracks werw not listed correctly which is why they never played?

[@Juganawt]

@@RetroCore your .cue file might be messed up, or you might have a badly ripped copy if you downloaded the files from the web. My .cue file reads as follows and matches the Europe release in the ReDump set 20180620 12-24-59: CATALOG 0000000000000 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 01).bin" BINARY TRACK 01 MODE1/2352 INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 02).bin" BINARY TRACK 02 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 03).bin" BINARY TRACK 03 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 04).bin" BINARY TRACK 04 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 05).bin" BINARY TRACK 05 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 06).bin" BINARY TRACK 06 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 07).bin" BINARY TRACK 07 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 08).bin" BINARY TRACK 08 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 09).bin" BINARY TRACK 09 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 10).bin" BINARY TRACK 10 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 11).bin" BINARY TRACK 11 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE "Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Europe) (Track 12).bin" BINARY TRACK 12 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 Hopefully you'll be able to edit yours to match. If not, re-rip your original CD, or download the ReDump version of the game.

[@turricanrocks1552]

Ugh! It's about time when Amiga CD32 gets a game that isn't 100% identical to the Amiga computer version!

[@yukatoshi]

The poor CD32 lol. Janky ass machine!

[@1xWertzui]

@@yukatoshi Not as bad as AVGN makes it out to be.

[@GlenLehane]

I had a demo of this from a PC Format cover CD-ROM, in fact, as all the cover CDs from that time had Doom and Doom 2 user created custom WADs, I probably still have it! (Doom is my jam, and I kept most if not all of my PC Format and PC Home cover CD-ROMs just for that, even though I don't have the actual magazines anymore ) I think PC Format gave this something like 81%, it was definitely no Sonic or Mario killer, but it wasn't bad, at least not to me. Those slippery controls were a problem though, I do remember that. I was pretty forgiving with platformers so that's probably why I'm a little surprised that so many people don't like it. Maybe they don't like Chupa Chups? Oh well 🤷‍♂️

[@cozyshiro]

I just discovered your channel. This video is well put together :) I love it

[@RetroCore]

Thank you so much! Welcome to the channel.

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

I remember this pos being heavily promoted by magazines. Did the reviewers get a bottle of whiskey? I could write a book about what is wrong with this game. Everything. Fullscreen Amiga game? That is the only thing it has going for it.

[@yukatoshi]

So the Amiga version DOES have music?

[@RetroCore]

I beleive so. So does the CD32. Both are off by default.

[@Maraka77i]

ST version on your video has corrupted graphics. The retail version never looked like that. It wouldn't hurt to do some research also on the lesser known systems :)

[@RetroCore]

If only I didn't have to go to work I would do. Sadly time is a real premium 😞

[@Maraka77i]

@@RetroCore Yeah that's understandable as these things are just hobby for both of us. But if you need any ST specific help in the future to check things out, let me know :)

[@daveruda]

Im surprised at how much better the Mega Drive version looks compared to the amiga original. Like a lot more polish and care into the presentation overall.

[@RetroCore]

Very true but its still a stinky turd of a game.

[@daveruda]

@@RetroCore I just remember how cool I thought it looked on the amiga with the candy theme. Platformers were not its strong suit.

[@TheTurnipKing]

@@daveruda it could do platformers fairly well, but the single button joystick standard really started to hold Amiga games back when the consoles came along. You often had to face the scourge of "up to jump" which as Zool demonstrates here just feels awful.

[@DutchRetroGuy]

You know, I don't mind people's opinion. But I do want to make a small point here. Understand I mean this with the fullest respect, but I still feel it needs saying. The short version is: I'm perfectly fine with you saying "Zool is a bad game" or "Xenon 2 is a bad game". In fact, I'd agree with you on both counts. What I'm less OK with is "European games are bad in general". The latter seems to have become more and more common on the channel recently (that's how it comes across to me at any rate) and I don't feel that it's a fair statement to make. See, some of the best games ever made come from Europe and have done since pretty much the start of the industry. Sure, there's lots of crap out there too. But (and this is very relevant): there is a lot of non-European crap out there as well. It simply tends to be different games that are good and bad. I'll grant you that arcade ports tended to be quite poor in Europe. But... There's a lot of good out there as well. And conversely, there's poor Capcom, Konami, Sega and Nintendo games as well. Now, I don't begrudge you your personal opinion, but can you honestly say that the continent that has brought us games such as Lemmings, Minecraft, GTA, Wipeout, Elite, Goldeneye 007, etc (the list is far, far longer) only delivers crappy games? I think that's unreasonable. (edited to remove extra empty lines that KZbin somehow insists on adding)

[@RetroCore]

Thanks for your post, Dutch Retro Guy. You know, the games you mention are all good but all modern, somewhat. I agree that there are many excelent European games but I feel these didn't appear until the 90s besides a few exceptions such as Turrican 2 and even Jim Power. Before then many games were just awful compared to what the Japanese were putting out. That's just my opinion mind you and there were some very good games from Euro developers at the time such as 3D Stunt Car Racer on the Amiga but sadly the crap was what was promoted the most. Shadow of the Beast, Zool, Xenon 2, First Samurai, Rick Dangerous and so on were all pretty awful games IMO. These days some of the best games are from Europe where as the Japanese have fallen behind somewhat.

[@DutchRetroGuy]

@@RetroCore Well, Lemmings and Elite are not exactly new games (it was also not an exhaustive list, there were plenty more but I thought I'd limit it to some well known big hitters) ;) But don't underestimate the love for some of the better games: Stunt Car Racer was huge, everyone loved it. Same with the games I mentioned, Lemmings sold over 15 million of copies. Compare that with Shadow of the Beast's paltry couple hundred thousand and it suddenly puts things in a different perspective. Anyway, I appreciate the response!

[@AmyraCarter]

Ah, yes. The platformer of its' own caliber. Zuuru. Unlike what some of the select few fans said, most platformer enthusiasts agreed that this was a game that stood alone, and never could or did compete with any other platformer game. If it were to be the 'Sonic Killer', it would have to do a lot more than this...lol You might remember a PSX emulator disc by the name PISSTEAM. Well, this game (the SMS port) was on that disc, and let me tell ya, it was damn near unplayable. However, the majority of the issues lies in the emulator itself, and how it is hard-code configured, but it also had broken some parts of many games, Zool being one of them. (actually more than half of the games on the disc were made broken in one form or another including a few that simply would not boot up or would have broken mechanics and so on) I loved this game, for what it is and isn't. Of course, Chupa Chups are a decent lollipop too. (I don't think that was actually licensed, not sure since it wasn't really discussed-not even in mags like EGM.) I have played the SNES, SMD and SMS ports, and all three have their charms. They're also decent practice for other games that have similar slippery control mechanics, for building muscle memory at least. Have you ever heard of an RPG by the name Faria? It's actually really good.

[@thepirategamerboy12]

I just noticed that in the footage of the Master System version you showed, the music is actually a rendition of one of the songs in Lotus III.

[@RetroCore]

I never noticed that. Well spotted.

[@Midekai]

The games industry has always been trying to be "insert huge franchise name here" killer. It's always marketing bullshite.

[@nach1999]

Has anybody else apart of me noticed that the ingame music also is used the in “Lotus 3:The Ultimate Challenge” soundtrack by the same company gremlin?

[@barry-allenthe-flash8396]

"You play as a Gremlin called Zool" OHHHHHHHH!! I literally didn't get that this was supposed to be the mascot _for Gremlin Interactive_ until you said that :P I remembered seeing this back in the day and being like, "That's a weird cartoon ninja character. Huh" and moving on. Ah, jeez, I feel dumb now, lol. I mean, granted, I don't think I even heard about Gremlin until the Playstation days a little later on, and I don't think I associated Zool with them. It was just one of those games that you saw in Nintendo Power or whatever and forgot about. Later on, with Zool 2 though, I kinda thought it was made by Atari since that was so heavily associated with the Jaguar... at least here in the 'States. Btw, what did 'Intertia' do? That's a weird option to see, but there it was at 4:45, during the Acorn Archimedes segment. Did any other version have that in the menu? You kept mentioning the slippery controls, and I'm just curious, would turning that off cause Zool to stop instantly or _at all_ address that stuff? I know it wouldn't make the game good since so much of its issues are tied to core problems like level designs that don't work well with the character controller, or the fact that (with the exception of the seemingly much more playable 8-bit versions, oddly enough) the camera doesn't give nearly enough lead space on Zool to see far enough ahead to react to things, but still. 'Inertia' is such a bizarre thing to see as an option, I don't know what it would do! :P

[@ribenasquash]

Mark needs to buy an Acorn. It's the coolest and most powerful computer of the 90's. Even more badass than the X68000. Gremlin just do not know what they are doing with a platform game. They should stick to racing. They became Sumo digital and made the Sonic Team Racing Trasformed series so they did learn that lesson.

[@InglebardGaming]

Ah, Zool. I'm from the US but I have family in Scotland and every time my mother went home or my brothers flew out, they'd come back with two things: loads of local candy and a bunch of UK gaming magazines both of which I always looked forward to. I saw first hand the way this game was being talked about, that it was a "Sonic Killer" for the Amiga. I ended up, uh, coming by a copy of the game here in the US a bit after it was released, tried to play it maybe three times before I literally put it down forever. I hated it that much, lol. The game those magazines should have been promoting the hell out of (that was released a bit earlier) was Turrican II. That one has really stood the test of time and easily remains my favorite Amiga game (and favorite Amiga OST) by a mile.

[@johns6265]

Once you're used to controls built around multiple action buttons you just can't go back to up being jump, Zool was coming off almost a decade of Euro home computer games where all sorts of workarounds had been ingrained. Up to jump, various combinations of direction presses plus fire or even waggling required to trigger actions. Some even required specific timings , direction first then fire etc. All to get around the fact that no platform had made multiple buttons on controllers a standard. By the time Zool had come out they were making massive strides forward actually, five years earlier you'd often be expected to memorise various keyboard commands to play a game because they expected that the majority of players were playing on a keyboard. Because there were plenty of keys to spare, controls could be incredibly specific which meant you'd be all over the keyboard just to do basic things.

[@RetroCore]

The sad thing is that Japanese computers were using two or three buttons back in 1985. Just look at the MSX for example.

[@1xWertzui]

The music in the SNES version reminds me of something, but I can't remember what. EDIT: Patrick Phelan? Of course, Lotus 3 music! No wonder the PC Speaker version sounds so good too.

[@solarflare9078]

On Amiga CD32: WARNING: DO NOT PLAY TRACK 1 ON ANY CD PLAYER

[@hababacon]

I think the Genesis is heads and shoulders above the rest followed by the SNES, and Amiga 32.

[@brugges]

Yup, the megadrive was good for releasing the best versions of crappy games ;-)

[@WrightOffsGaming]

I hate to admit that I didn't want to watch this and is the reason why it's taken a while for a slightly muted thank you 😋 Hats off to you for the pain endured emulating and capturing these Euro turds.

[@RetroCore]

Thank you 😁

[@StompySan]

I hate that I am so blinded by nostalgia for this game. I have so many memories of it, but going back to it just hurts now.

[@AmigaVR]

Love this game 👍🏻 I thought it only existed on the Amiga. Nice surprise ✌️

[@Frikinautas]

Ahhhh, Zool, the totally rad and X-treme Chupa-Chups-doped (much like Theo Kojak) ninja elf, one of the last hurrahs of Gremlin Graphics. I liked this back then on the Mega Drive, because of my fascination on Euro-platformers, but "Sonic-killer", it was not. Good for a casual go now and then, but that's it.

[@kirbyplier]

Does The Ms Dos version have screen tearing?

[@RetroCore]

depends on how fast your PC is. I'm using the middle recommended specs here and yep, it does have screen tearing.

[@PardoItalo]

The slowdown is pretty shocking too...

[@ravagingwolverine]

One nice thing about this particular episode is that it was quite obvious to me within about five seconds that the Amiga version's level design is terrible. The Mega Drive version looks quite a bit better as well, just from the footage. It's not always obvious without playing, but here I can tell.

[@RetroCore]

You are absolutely right.

[@Jamesfo8rf]

Great video thank you. I like zool the character and smooth game engine. But like you said the game level design was a bit samey.

[@RetroCore]

True. The character isn't all that bad and the game engine is quite nice. If only a developer with more of a sense of level design was behind the game.

[@20windfisch11]

The problem with European jump'n'runs like this is "cultural differences". European jump'n'runs are often collect-a-thons, and quite popular in Europe, however, there are many people from the US or Japan who don't like the style. I never very actively played Zool, just once or twice on a friend's CD32, but I actually liked it. Around the same time, there was "Superfrog" which had a similar style (albeit IMO better than Zool), I also remember some Americans stating the game not having much "substance" and just being a "collect as much as you can" thing where in Europe, that game was a huge success. Same thing with the "James Pond" games. They were mostly successful in Europe. Zool is not the best jump'n'run on the Amiga, but one of the better ones you can get some enjoyment out of. IMO, it is far away from "horrid" as stated in this video.

[@RetroCore]

I'm British and even I think euro platformer and Shoot'em ups are mostly a load of crap.

[@20windfisch11]

@@RetroCore There are without any doubt many bad games among them, and Zool isn't the very best either (although, as I said, I didn't find it too bad), and in the end, you can't really argue about taste ;) but I just wanted to point out that a lot of people from outside of Europe dislike European-style jump'n'runs and shmups because of their indistinctive tropes they often use (like collect-a-thons) whereas over here, some of them are considered legends, like for example, Superfrog, Commander Keen or Jazz Jackrabbit.

[@querpmuerp]

The PC version had a code wheel as copy protection. I borrowed it from a friend, figured out how to calculate the numbers, wrote a small list and could play it for free...as a 12 year old boy with only Ds and Es in maths :) makes me proud everytime I think about it.

[@googleboughtmee]

Sounds like doing that was more satisfying than playing Zool

[@shinkuhadooken]

The SNES version doesn't have larger sprites. Its resolution is lower, so the image get stretched to fulfill the screen. The larger sprites are just an illusion, because the screen is actually cropped. The blind jumps are worst in the SNES because of that. The Mega Drive/Genesis version is the better version by far.

[@adamphillip5305]

This game was so hyped up back then i actually fell for it as a kid & got the MD version. I soon realised it was an absolute clusterfuck piece of shit. I cant believe people to this day still hold it as a classic. Its a bottom of the barrel platformer alongside Bubsy, Awesome Possum ect.

[@stunthumb]

The ST version was a travesty, the STE version was a bit more like the Amiga, still a horrible game tho.

[@enigma776]

Yeah its the same when you compare the Amiga 500 version to the A1200 AGA version its night and day.

[@adamKa27]

You forgot the Atari STE version (not ST but STE). In fact this is the same version of the game, but ZOOL for the Atari ST can make use of the Atari STE enchanced hardware. So when game detect that is running on Atari STE it uses smooth hardware scrolling, and blitter chip for smooth gameplay. It also make use of bigger color palette of Atari STE. This make a huuuge diference. Game running on Atari STE will like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGGZeZqsftJsqas

[@CarBitGTSaxen]

I do like Zool ! The game has it's charm

[@Dean4471]

I always preferred the Mega Drive Version, especially over the Amiga version. At least in the console versions you can actually have in-game music as well as sound effects. On the Amiga it was one or the other. Those that say they hate Zool are usually those that can't do it. Yeah it's stupidly fast and has seemingly unavoidable enemies at times, but the same could be said for other games such as R-Type. At the end of the day, it's just a hard game. I will say that you get a real sense of achievement once you complete it.

[@magicvampirelver1321]

Cool battle of the ports 🎮🕹🖱

[@RetroCore]

Thanks.

[@geoserenity]

Ooh, now the countdown begins...ep 300, can't wait to find out what the game is

[@RetroCore]

I hope people like my choice. It's a Japanese game but it's a very highly ranked game too.

[@solarflare9078]

GET HYPE RETRO CORE FANS!

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I think the Atari Jaguar version of the sequel to Zool was the first time America ever heard of Chupa Chups! Sometime afterwards they did try to enter the US market fully and I had seen Chupa Chups displays at convenience stores for a few years but then, they just kinda disappeared. America was too raised on "Dum-Dums" to switch!

[@RetroCore]

I was surprised to see Chupa Chups here in Japan. They're pretty popular with the kids.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@RetroCore They managed to score some points there I suppose, just didn't go anywhere stateside. I have found them a few years ago at a specialised candy shop, their stock comes from Mexico so that's probably the best we'll ever have, third party purchases. Incidentally I kept one of their old "magic ball" thingies that came out around the time of the Spice Girls movie.

[@RetroCore]

Magic ball? I don't think I'm familiar with those although I probably have seen them.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@RetroCore I forgot the name, these are what i was talking about... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGO5i2xmqZmMjsU This is what I still have saved away somewhere in my collection!

[@ITdudeUK]

Highly flawed platformer but reasonable fun back in the day. I remember the section where you controlled an arcade machine in-game - that was pretty cool. It looks like on the SNES version Zool is too close to the edge of the screen when moving. However, it would appear you can now actually climb walls which was a terrible oversight on the original Amiga version. At least the Amiga had Robocod which was much better designed and very decent for a computer platformer. In respect of George Allen, I really admire his previous work on Switchblade II - completely different style of platformer of course but very well designed and exceptionally polished - definitely worth checking out.

[@RetroCore]

Switchblade II was actually a good game. I did like that. Zool can climb on all the console ports 👍

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Not all the UK Press were taken in with this. Nintendo Zone Magazine : 47% SNES 57% GB

[@sloppynyuszi]

That version of Zool on the Amiga 32 did nothing to sell the system. Look at it compared to the Megadrive. The game is no where near coherent visually in comparison.

[@robbiewalker2831]

The SNES version is basically the Amiga soundtrack with the Genesis graphics.

[@VaerosTrash]

Just played the remastered version from Steam and it's surprisingly great, it fixed a lot of issues i had with the original game.

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Gremlin appear to of developed the STE version first, then done the STFM version, as it was the STE version they annouced to the press, claiming it would be indentical to the Amiga 600 version, but said nothing on the stock ST version.

[@jmbenetti]

Great video as always! I remember the game but I''m not sure I played it. Will you cover Prince of Persia and Cool Spot any time soon?

[@RetroCore]

Not any time soon but they will be covered.

[@jmbenetti]

@@RetroCore Great! I hope there's something great for the show #300 :)

[@AfroRyan]

I know it'd be a lot of work, but I'd love to see you "remaster" some of these shows where you were wrong/misinterpreted a game because of emulation issues. Sure, Zool isn't great, but the CD32 soundtrack is actually pretty good; it scratches a very particular 90's synth itch that fills me with nostalgia.

[@RetroCore]

Sorry but I never want to play Zool again.

[@AfroRyan]

​@RetroCore fair enough, lol. It got a Steam release too, that adds wide-screen support. It greatly improves the game, as wide-screen does for any 2D platformer.

[@Lightblue2222]

Nice. I was curious on this one. I'm sure I played it on Sega Channel back in the day, but never caught my attention with all the better games out there. Still.. I like giving things another chance!

[@totih144]

I had Zool on the Megadrive, I really wanted to like it but... those controls

[@RetroArcadeGuy]

Master System version... are those the tracks from Lotus Challenge?

[@RetroCore]

Possible since both games are by Gremlin Graphics.

[@dergrunepunkt]

Gee, I remember how many mag covers this was on, but even back the I thought it look horrible, and I still do

[@RetroCore]

You're not the only one 👍

[@earlduran6419]

Look how awful in Atari ST (when running on Original Atari ST) it's unpleasant mess! Rockman X8 for PlayStation 2 looks better than this!

[@naviamiga]

Control system certainly takes a bit of work to get used to, but did enjoy playing the Amiga AGA version. Zool 2 was certainly better though.

[@LuigiMario79]

What is your opinion on the Redimensioned remake?

[@RetroCore]

Sorry, I dont have one. I've never played it but in all honesty, I probably wouldnt enjoy it.

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Wasn't there an on par with the Amiga 1200 version, Atari Falcon version, annouced, which never arrived?

[@RetroCore]

Can't say I know about that.

[@genstarmkg5321]

Aside from the Acorn Archimedes, you are also missing the Atari STE version which is pretty similar to the original Amiga version (Though, pretty impressive that they got 50FPS scrolling on it). Still, being the same game, I guess it's still trash. Also, others are saying that the CD32 ver had music and that the no music issue could be a bad rip.

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, I knew about the STE version and there's a "Arcade" version too but that's basically an Amiga. Sadly I never had time to fit in the STE One. I think you may be right about my CD32 rip too.

[@genstarmkg5321]

@@RetroCore Despite that, I was surprised to find a version I didn't know it existed. I'm talking about the regular Atari ST version. If you actually search on internet "Atari ST Zool", you will mostly only find footage of the Atari STE version. This must be one of the most obscure Atari ST ports. In fact, this is the first time I see footage of the regular Atari ST version.

[@rodylermglez]

Apparently this game is coming back soon. Oh boy...

[@RetroCore]

Shit! Who the hell wants this crap back again?

[@Katzii]

Just a small correction - Aero the Acro-Bat is, well...a bat. You might be getting him confused for Mr Nutz the squirrel though ;) good video otherwise, I enjoy seeing all the different versions a game has to offer!

[@masterlee1988]

Or Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel.

[@RetroCore]

Ah, yeah. I was thinking of Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel.

[@pcachu]

I thought he just mashed Aero the Acro-Bat and Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel together in his head. The great '90's rush to make the next Animal With Attitude Mascot tends to blur into a large furry mess after a while.

[@masterlee1988]

@@RetroCore Ah, so I was right then.

[@RetroCore]

Haha, something like that.

[@blumcole]

Just to say that the Zool Redimensioned remaster/port/remake on Steam is excellent. Zoomed out camera, double jump, better controls… :)

[@solarflare9078]

If it controls better than even the Mega Drive port, it might be considered by me

[@blumcole]

@@solarflare9078 it’s great

[@solarflare9078]

I dislike Sonic and his games, yet I cannot say this is even close to a Sonic the Hedgehog killer. Still, I have played the Mega Drive version and I cannot believe how much better it was than any other version. It's quite average still, but it's finally not that bad anymore!

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, Euro platformers were never my thing.

[@solarflare9078]

@@RetroCore Some of them are quite nice when they're not trying to be convoluted like Mickey Mania, but games like these are a no go.

[@topofbones]

I'm shocked about how bad is the ST version, SFC one give me headache cause of the scroll and screen resolution. Sega versions are quite good, specially Mega Drive one. Thanks for this BotP Mark!

[@nattila7713]

no 60fps or it is my tablet ..?

[@RetroCore]

Must be your tablet. The 60fps option it working on my phone and PC. 720p 60 should be an option.

[@1xWertzui]

The glitched Atari ST versions looks like it's set in a storm with lighnings, hah.

[@turricanrocks1552]

I also heard that Atari ST will be smoother if played on an STE.

[@RetroCore]

It may do but it will still look worse than even the Master System.

[@turricanrocks1552]

@@RetroCore true.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

The Genesis version is definitely the most polished turd out of the bunch.

[@pepitaux13]

You should have tested the Atari STE version as well: quite a big improvement compared to the Atari ST counterpart.

[@robbiereisman8954]

I have the ST version, and it doesn't look like whatever you have here. You should get a different copy of it and re-assess. It won't be great, but it will be more accurate

[@RetroCore]

I can imagine only the colours being nicer.

[@FuzzballRenakitty]

Thank goodness we live in an age now where we can try older games like this without worry of spending 40 quid on a piece of crap :P I mean that still applies these days- but hey we have the games of our past to enjoy! :D Seen it about many times but never really had a drive to give it a go, perhaps I'll boot up the Megadrive rom and see what it's all about- there are many interesting mascot platformers from this time I still need to check out~ Oh god now I'm at the SNES part of the vid- the hell is up with that centering? You can barely see what's coming!

[@RetroCore]

It's funny that back in the day I would have thought the SNES version would be better but looking at the game now the Mega Drive is clearly the winner of the two. They're both crap games but the Mega Drive version is smoother. Looks sharper. Has cleaner audio and Zool is centered.

[@Patrick2480]

Wasnt there an Atari Jaguar version ?

[@earlduran6419]

299 down! 1 to go!

[@RetroCore]

Show 300 will be a good one!

[@miikasuominen3845]

Hated this and it's sequel (though it is better than first one). Don't remember graphics being so ugly on ST, I blame it on emulation. Quite sad, that ST isn't properly emulated nowadays as Amiga is...

[@vix_in_japan]

I can tell you like this one lol 😂 mind you I can't stand Zool either! The controls are so awkward.

[@matttheshadowman2790]

Played the Mega Drive version as a kid, while no classic it is a rare Western developed game for the console that sounds rather nice, so it does have that in its favour.

[@RetroCore]

I agree. The Mega Drive version sounds very good. Great sound engine used in this game. I believe Matt Furnace did the music.

[@CFalcon030]

You forgot the Atari STE version (it's wrong not to add it since Gremlin did). Also, that's not how it looks on the ST (but yeah the slowdown is there). Anyway, not a good game.

[@OldNerdPlayingOldPCGames]

Wow, great work ! Glad to meet another retro gamer in arms 🙂 Big like and subscribe for ya my friend 👍

[@BlakeIzayoi]

We're almost at 300!

[@enigma776]

I actually liked Zool/Zool 2 Compared to other platformers at the time this is a masterpiece, not saying it did not have its faults but I still enjoyed it.

[@RetroCore]

I'm sure some people did enjoy it. Sadly it isn't one for me.

[@abzhuofficial]

In the wise words of Bart Simpson: "that's craptacular"

[@massiveprogressive9488]

Aero the Acrobat is a bat. You're thinking of Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel.

[@GzegzolkaDA]

I can not understand why Atari version looks that bad. Are You sure You did not download some bad craked version? Zool it self is just another average platform game, there were better ones and worse ones. As for CD32 it actually have cd tracks, I sure You have grabbed wrong cd image.

[@RetroCore]

The ST version wasn't cracked. I had to actually hunt down the code wheel for it.

[@GzegzolkaDA]

@@RetroCore I understand that Atari ports got worse scroll or lack gradients in background but this one got wrong color palette to the point it looks like broken graphic cards.

[@omgror]

Zool 2 was a lot better, with a great soundtrack and better background graphics. Not a Sonic killer though. Not even the best platformer on the Amiga. I'd give Robocod that crown. I'd say Robocod was a much better contender to Sonic. Nothing beats Green Hill, but the quality and fun of Sonic drops pretty steeply after that, whereas Robocod is pretty consistent throughout.

[@indianagilles1722]

There is a AGA version of this game too.

[@Ratchetcomand]

I played the SNES and Genesis versions. I like the SNES version more than the Genesis version.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Maybe the Acorn Archenemies needs more memory don't know if 16Megs of ram would make it load the whole Zool game.

[@ultramaster2o1studios53]

Ah, yes. Game Title is my favorite!

[@RetroCore]

Oh no, I don't think you'll like my opinions on this game.

[@earlduran6419]

@@RetroCore, still better than Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (GameBoy Advance).

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Mega Drive version done in 9 months. Gremlin warned punters the Master System and Game Gear versions would be more puzzle based (their words) and have fewer levels than the M D version.

[@RetroCore]

Still a pretty lack luster game no matter what Gremlin wanted

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

@@RetroCore hate the game on all formats, personally 😊, but full credit to Gremlin for at least giving 8-bit owners a heads up

[@Mr.madmight266]

For some reason,i decided to play this game with the 16-bit versions. needless to say i didn't get into it. I do love some of the music though.

[@pcachu]

No mention of the odd choice of product placement? I'll admit, being an ignorant Yankee, I had no idea what Chupa Chups even were until I saw Lonely Goomba's video about this game.

[@RetroCore]

They sell Chupa Chups here in Japan too. My son likes them.

[@Angellmbrr]

Amiga needed a mascot... This wasn't. I hope I don't hear this in your video... I always comment before seeing the video. LOL!

[@RetroCore]

Hmm, not those exact words 😋

[@kaikiske7436]

Having owned back-up units for MD/PCE/SFC back in the day, I played "everything in that era. Yet I never played any versions of this game. Essentially stayed away from most Euro platformers and shmups. I do remember this game being sorta hyped up. Wasn't there a Jaguar version also?

[@RetroCore]

The second game was on the Jag. Fitting really, crap game for a crap console. It's also why Bubbsy Bobcat was on the Jag 😁