Whoosh, it's Zool!!
Our little protagonist is a rather odd, badly-disguised ant-like ninja from the "Nth Dimension". He can run, climb, leap and perform an airborne pirouette. Sounds very Sonic'ish!! His mission is to travel six worlds and prove himself worthy of earning the black belt accolade he so richly desires. Each world is split into three segments of progressive difficulty and is littered with traps and countless baddies to contend with.
Sonically, a very cool game this (ugh, sorry). Let's see the first screenshot of this ninja roadster...
The first level is excellent and has a little iddy biddy Sonic vibe to it...
Run and leap like crazy!
There are several levels; the first is "Sweet World", which could be a child's best dream: an entire planet made of candy. But these are killer sweets: like wobbly jelly and a cute, rapidly-firing dolly mixture! The second is musically themed with angry instruments like bongo drums and some that play helpful musical notes.
Sadly, that is as far as I've managed to get. Very disappointing but, that's me and my skilful gaming reactions for ya'!! Well, be disappointed no more for I am extremely grateful for a cheat I found. This allows me to play on the later levels, and the Meccano-style in Tool World is excellent. Just carry on reading for more information about this handy cheat!
Zool is simple; it's all about collecting the items (in Sweet World, that's candy). Look at the bottom/left of your screen, which shows how many are required with an arrow pointing you in the right direction to find more. Thankfully, losing a life isn't a game-buster, as there are checkpoints from which to continue. That’s no easy task. Each level features a cruel layout filled with hidden traps and a huge number of enemies.
Power-ups are also frequently available to ease your hectic adventure, like Two Zool - your doppelganger. Zool even has an energy shield that can be replenished during play, but it can survive only three hits before you're as dead as a dodo. I would have liked more to balance it against the number of nasties.
However, this isn’t just a game that demands lightning-fast reactions; you’ll need to replay it countless times. Learning the levels is essential for progression; otherwise, you’ll be caught off guard by unexpected obstacles. This inherent replay value makes Zool’s replayability massive by default.
It's screenshot time, and this one was taken with my phone when using real hardware...
Watch where you're walking! So many dangerous places in this world of weird.
Input & Output
The joystick controls are incredibly intuitive and responsive. There’s also an inertia option, which I leave disabled (yikes!). For rapid firepower, keep banging the fire button. If you tap it again during a jump, a pirouette manoeuvre activates, allowing you to kill even more colourful nasties in this crazy world.
Visually, Zool is fantastic, and I’m sure they’ve used every colour imaginable for a strangely gaudy display. The sprites are lovely, particularly the purple dolly mixture. It’s incredible that a game like this runs on the ST, given the lack of hardware scrolling. It’s far superior to other similar games I could mention.
Of course, it's best on the Atari STe, as Gremlin made use of the hardware with 50fps scrolling. It's a thrill and crushes the experience you had using the standard ST. Not only that, but there are more colours too. Weirdly, there is some slowdown, which is a shame and doesn't make sense.
The audio is superb with effects and optional chiptunes. It would have been nice to hear DMA samples, especially noticeable in World Two, with its oddly silent musical instruments. A missed opportunity?
Right, who fancies a lollipop? No? Oh! Well, don't look at this next screenshot then...
Right, hands up who wants a lollipop now? What... Just me? Darn it!!
The CryptO'pinion?
Zool is a fantastic platformer packed with speedy fun, but some frustrating mechanics spoil what would have been a perfect game. For instance, don’t expect to zip across great distances like the spiky hedgehog. Zool’s levels are designed to contradict his Ninja-like abilities, as the levels are littered with deadly objects, many of which are off-screen. Plus, enemies constantly respawn, which is incredibly annoying.
Despite these negatives, I must admit I enjoy Zool. It’s fast, crazy and bursting with personality. It’s a great platformer, especially when played on the Atari STe. Now, give me some Chupa Chups!
8BitChip has the download for those with a hard drive/Ultrasatan.
If you're stuck using floppies, Atari Legend will ease your pain!
AtariMania features Zool in their ST database (with manual & code wheel).
To cheat, type in PANDA on the menu, and you will see a flicker.
During a game press:
-> Spacebar 1 - will make you invincible.
-> Spacebar 2 - to skip forward onto the next stage.
-> Spacebar 3 - to skip forward onto the next world.
