The Zool games impressed me so much back in the day, and I have to say I liked them better than Sonic on my Megadrive. They just had a better feel to them.
Cool vid, I love zool (there is a poster on the wall for 12 years..) and it is so incredible addicting, the first my favorite game of all time since I can play it and never get bored
(In fact, i played it four hours ago), I never get why people say thats its bad other than that they are awful at playing it..
This is a really cool game Steeve, when I was a little kid over 10 years ago I used to play this on the CD32! Am I right in saying that the CD32 was a 1200 in the form of a console and was even less superior 3d games wise to the Mega Drive/SNES then the likes of the 32x and Jaguar?
@mcjakeqcool You are right that the CD32 was a CD console version of the Amiga 1200. It did/does have superior 3D capabilities to the Megadrive/SNES, but inferior to the 32X/Jaguar.
This game blew my mind back in the day. Zool was going to be the sonic killer. Its a real shame commodore made so many mistakes if just a few things had be done right they would be still here today :( it still makes me sad. Good call on Ghostbusters
What exactly was improved in the new AGA chipset? Have they added hardware sprites, andy special plafields, scrolling, hardware affects? Or is it just more memory = more colours? BTW this game is so crappy... Giana Sisters on Commodore 64 easily owns this whole serie big time.
@kimosaaaabe That, and brought out the AAA chipset they'd been working on, and if Phase 5 had completed the Chaipirina 3D graphics chipset. Now that would have been something :)
Zool was on the Genesis, SNES, Gameboy, Jaguar, virtually everything. Can we call him the Amiga mascot if he was everywhere? I'd say the Amiga mascot was the checkered bouncing ball if anything.
thank you so much for doing more amiga movies. i recently recently picked up a 15khz multisync display and loving the low resolutions. On a real amiga do you have borders? The videos i've seen on youtube have them and dont know if thats for the overscan on a real amiga monitor and LCD is not compensating for it
@Paperclown Some Amiga games have borders, some don't. In Workbench there is often a window around the screen, though I choose not to use this on mine.
There is sometimes some dead space around a screen, but this depends entirely on what screen mode you are using.
Thanks for doing the video chipset vid man! I'm really looking forward to learning about how these things were set up. I really do think I missed out on something cool when these were in their heyday.
First thing that popped into my head when I saw Zool was Ghostbusters too.
"Ray, when someone asks you if you're a God, you say YES!"
I didnt mind the first Zool game, but by the time Zool 2 came out, i was sick to death of seeing/hearing/reading about him. They really did try and force him down peoples throats when the first game was released and it was never going to work. It was the same with Superfrog (which i feel was a better game) as the character on the box was different to the one in the game!
People who owned Amigas knew that the're were 2 game genres that the Amiga would struggle in. Platformers and fighing games
I loved the Zool AGA games. Great little platformer. I liked the Chupa Chups product placement in this game probably because as a kid I did like those lollipops especially the ones coated in chocolate lol. The parallax scrolling in this game was fantastic and the game was very colourful indeed. Add a fairly decent soundtrack this was a good effort. I think this came out on the Megadrive also.
I have the PC version of Zool 2, it's okay. I really disliked that you couldn't have both music and sound effects, though, and have to choose one or the other. So stupid! It looks like the Amiga version is the same on that, too. I'd hope that the Jaguar version at least would have both.
Also, it's a somewhat long game, and it really annoyed me that it had no saving. I expected saving in any quarter-decent PC game by the mid '90s. No passwords, even.
I swear the Zool games enticed me into eating one to many chupa chups ! Wow all those sweets on the screen, well I've suffered with it, refering to RoyStory's sonic XL video !!
However, I found Zool 2 quite annoying with all the flying things attacking me, but I've always been rather bad at platforms. AGA Graphics on this are fantastic and very colourful (making all the sweets look even more real)
I never understood why they made this game to represent the Amiga, but a fantastic series of games, really nice graphically and yeah I don't know what he is either, I remember drawing a picture of him, which I still have somewhere. Could you do a Flashback video, haven't played it in ages.
@bjoran83 There was a setting in the options for either music or FX but never both. For the A1200 with all that processing headroom, there was no excuse for the programmers to not implement some kind of software mixing really.
The CD32 version had simultaneous music (redbook audio) and FX.
I never played this game back in the day. I did play its predecessor, however. VERY hard game, never got close to beating it and that's a rarity for me.
Of course, I was quite young at the time so I'd probably be able to beat it now if I had access to it. :P
In any case, it is a fun and interesting game, not one of my favourites or close but it IS a good game, just not completely to my taste.
It didn't have music, though. Just SFX. Same amount of food, though. :P
I remember getting the Original Zool off a friend for my A500, he said it was the Amiga's answer to Sonic lol. Its no sonic and IMHO RoboCod was better.
I was never into Zool, I remember playing a lot of Ruff N Tumble Fire and Ice and Leander. At least it's not Dennis, one of the worst A1200 bundled games ever... Oscar wasn't bad though.
i never had the chance to see Zool 2 back in the day, played the 1st game even if only on mega drive and game boy, impressive graphics for the amiga, it's ironic the amiga version of Zool 2 looks better than the jag port lol(i watched jag footage just to compare the 2 after finding out bout it on wiki)
I love Zool. I don't like the crappy ripoffs that much though for the SEGA and Nintendo especially the worst one of all where it's like a Ninja Warrior Assault Course and you have to pick up all 99 sweets on the level before the end of the level even comes up let alone flashing for the Game Gear and Master System.
I've always hated Zool, since the first time I played it. Sure, the artists did a good job, but the game design and feel is really annoying and unsatisfying.
Look at any big console platformer in comparison, and Zool is really weak.
I guess the best Amiga platformer is Great Giana Sisters, even if it's not as good as the game it's imitating: Mario Bros.
When it came down to it, computer game devs hardly ever matched the console devs when it came to fun game designs.
I keep harping on about the CD32 I know, but the soundtrack on the CD32 version is awesome! Apart from that, it's the same AGA version with some odd cutscenes inbetween levels.
As a fan of platform games, Zool 2 is a gorgeous game! The choice of color and the character animation is something that the game developers should really be proud of. It is a pity that Commodore's marketing to capitalize on the this game to stay in the gaming market.
@wrestletube1 I done my reseach there isn't Zool 3. Zool 2 talks about it at the end, but they never made the game. Zool for the snes was a port only. Just like zool 2 for the Jaguar.
@SteveBenway I know I went a bit over the line there having played all of the Zool games myself and knowing the difference between all of the maps and what not and telling the novices to the game about the different versions. :P
He's a dead ninjaturtle who lost his shell when put into the ground. Now living in the afterlife full of candy. He died of anorexia which is why he is so skinny and smashes most of the candy instead of eating it. In other words he is in hell. Damn ninja.
In very short OCS/ECS chipsets offered 16 & 32 color modes in regular for Amiga games resoultion of 320x256 from 4,096 colors palette and AGA used 256 out of 262,144 colors. Obviously there were some exceptions and many A500/600 (OCS/ECS) games used 64 colors in EHB (Extra Half Bright) mode smoothly and there were even few notable exceptions that offered 256 of those but that happened only due to some clever tweaking without which theoritically the machine was not capable of that.
That said, I'd love to see the video on the subject... You may also talk a little bit about the AAA chipset that even though being in prototype late in Amiga years, never saw the light of day and never was released. I love Amiga and watch whatever I can on it - I hope you'll use some comparisons in the video of chipsets capabalities, like footage of same games on either of the chipsets. That'd be cool! ^_^
Good game but I always found it very annoying later on, much because of the very sensitive controls and the way Zool always slides a bit when stopping.
The thing I didn't like about this is how all the tiny little things that hurt you will hurt you because you run into them rather than because they have actually attacked you. Kind of like Bubsy bobcat only less annoying.
@andyukmonkey Hmm... I guess that could get a bit irritating, but it could be worse. In Smurf of the Atari 2600/Colecovision, you lose a life if you walk into a clump of grass. How lame is that?
@SteveBenway I want to say very. But actually in games like Manic miner you get killed by pratically anything and that is considered an utter classic. So i guess you can get away with it sometimes!
The Zool games impressed me so much back in the day, and I have to say I liked them better than Sonic on my Megadrive. They just had a better feel to them.
As did Superfrog. :)
auritone 2 months ago in playlist Commodore Amiga Games
You know - I never liked this game, and I really hated Sonic with a passion.
Great vid as ever though Steve!
DingKong 10 months ago
Cool vid, I love zool (there is a poster on the wall for 12 years..) and it is so incredible addicting, the first my favorite game of all time since I can play it and never get bored
(In fact, i played it four hours ago), I never get why people say thats its bad other than that they are awful at playing it..
janmansde3dede 1 year ago
This is a really cool game Steeve, when I was a little kid over 10 years ago I used to play this on the CD32! Am I right in saying that the CD32 was a 1200 in the form of a console and was even less superior 3d games wise to the Mega Drive/SNES then the likes of the 32x and Jaguar?
mcjakeqcool 1 year ago
@mcjakeqcool You are right that the CD32 was a CD console version of the Amiga 1200. It did/does have superior 3D capabilities to the Megadrive/SNES, but inferior to the 32X/Jaguar.
SteveBenway 1 year ago
This game blew my mind back in the day. Zool was going to be the sonic killer. Its a real shame commodore made so many mistakes if just a few things had be done right they would be still here today :( it still makes me sad. Good call on Ghostbusters
Rockythefishman 1 year ago
1:56 LOSING MY VIRGINITY FLASHBACK LOL
blaizevincent 1 year ago 2
@blaizevincent Hahahahaha! I laughed my head off at that for several minutes :D
SteveBenway 1 year ago
Hey.. It's "Fonic"!!
Fake sonic.
AfroedNinja 1 year ago
@AfroedNinja Well that is that it is better than sonic >:)
But I don't get it that people say that it is a sonic wanna be but I don't see that since
he is longer and doens't run 1000 KM (europe) per hour in loops
janmansde3dede 1 year ago
What exactly was improved in the new AGA chipset? Have they added hardware sprites, andy special plafields, scrolling, hardware affects? Or is it just more memory = more colours? BTW this game is so crappy... Giana Sisters on Commodore 64 easily owns this whole serie big time.
maiki60fps 1 year ago
@maiki60fps Why is it crappy ? its rock solid and addicting, I think you mean thats its hard ?
janmansde3dede 1 year ago
if only they'd brought out AGA a few years before...
kimosaaaabe 1 year ago
@kimosaaaabe That, and brought out the AAA chipset they'd been working on, and if Phase 5 had completed the Chaipirina 3D graphics chipset. Now that would have been something :)
SteveBenway 1 year ago
@SteveBenway What is this Chaipirina 3D graphics chipset ? never heard of it !
janmansde3dede 1 year ago
@kimosaaaabe And if only Atari had included the Jaguars Tom and Jerry chipset in the ST or the Falcon.
10p6 11 months ago
Zool was on the Genesis, SNES, Gameboy, Jaguar, virtually everything. Can we call him the Amiga mascot if he was everywhere? I'd say the Amiga mascot was the checkered bouncing ball if anything.
nuclearjong 1 year ago
@nuclearjong It's true that Zool appeared on numerous other systems, but he appeared first on the Amiga by quite some margin.
SteveBenway 1 year ago
hmm, nothing like Sonic the hedgehog then? looks pretty good as a clone:=)
hewey999 1 year ago
When this came out the local Chupa Chup factory actually came round the school with free samples and demo disks for it.
Lorfarius 1 year ago
thank you so much for doing more amiga movies. i recently recently picked up a 15khz multisync display and loving the low resolutions. On a real amiga do you have borders? The videos i've seen on youtube have them and dont know if thats for the overscan on a real amiga monitor and LCD is not compensating for it
Paperclown 1 year ago
@Paperclown Some Amiga games have borders, some don't. In Workbench there is often a window around the screen, though I choose not to use this on mine.
There is sometimes some dead space around a screen, but this depends entirely on what screen mode you are using.
SteveBenway 1 year ago
Thanks for doing the video chipset vid man! I'm really looking forward to learning about how these things were set up. I really do think I missed out on something cool when these were in their heyday.
First thing that popped into my head when I saw Zool was Ghostbusters too.
"Ray, when someone asks you if you're a God, you say YES!"
lettersfromtheleft 1 year ago
Zool 2 was the 2nd or 3rd game i remember playing on my friend's Amiga in years gone by i thought it was pretty cool back then.
jboypacman 1 year ago
I didnt mind the first Zool game, but by the time Zool 2 came out, i was sick to death of seeing/hearing/reading about him. They really did try and force him down peoples throats when the first game was released and it was never going to work. It was the same with Superfrog (which i feel was a better game) as the character on the box was different to the one in the game!
People who owned Amigas knew that the're were 2 game genres that the Amiga would struggle in. Platformers and fighing games
spiderchoc 1 year ago
I loved the Zool AGA games. Great little platformer. I liked the Chupa Chups product placement in this game probably because as a kid I did like those lollipops especially the ones coated in chocolate lol. The parallax scrolling in this game was fantastic and the game was very colourful indeed. Add a fairly decent soundtrack this was a good effort. I think this came out on the Megadrive also.
DLiberator78 1 year ago
Superfrog is way cooler than zool. Zool's a freakin' nerd next to superfrog:)
Superfrog is also a better game.
christo930 1 year ago
UP for JUMP. #BOO
17R3W 1 year ago
*puts on deep and threatening voice* "ZUUUULLL!!!"
saberblock 1 year ago
I have the PC version of Zool 2, it's okay. I really disliked that you couldn't have both music and sound effects, though, and have to choose one or the other. So stupid! It looks like the Amiga version is the same on that, too. I'd hope that the Jaguar version at least would have both.
Also, it's a somewhat long game, and it really annoyed me that it had no saving. I expected saving in any quarter-decent PC game by the mid '90s. No passwords, even.
Still, a decent game. I was fun, mostly.
ABlackFalcon 1 year ago
I can just hear that as a Amiga slogan "HEY KIDS, ZOOL IS COOL"
zeldajunkielol2 1 year ago
I swear the Zool games enticed me into eating one to many chupa chups ! Wow all those sweets on the screen, well I've suffered with it, refering to RoyStory's sonic XL video !!
However, I found Zool 2 quite annoying with all the flying things attacking me, but I've always been rather bad at platforms. AGA Graphics on this are fantastic and very colourful (making all the sweets look even more real)
Right... off for some Haribow star mix :)
zombieAndy1979 1 year ago
I did like zool 1 but was not a big fan of zool2. I prefered Fire & Ice which I think was technically better even on the humble A500 :0)
Tudave 1 year ago
I never understood why they made this game to represent the Amiga, but a fantastic series of games, really nice graphically and yeah I don't know what he is either, I remember drawing a picture of him, which I still have somewhere. Could you do a Flashback video, haven't played it in ages.
ArcadeMameMachine 1 year ago
atari jaguar version so much better I think but the amiga version is nice
but zool was on every console
dde12321 1 year ago
He's the ninja from the Nth dimension.
I have the original boxed version of this, I actually quite like it.
Agerasia 1 year ago
Comment removed
Agerasia 1 year ago
Zool = ZOrro and coOL. Look at his mask. i remember this from the 90s well put together but missing that X factor.
preydog1 1 year ago
Are there any soundeffects in the game Steve? I can only hear the music...
bjoran83 1 year ago
@bjoran83 There was a setting in the options for either music or FX but never both. For the A1200 with all that processing headroom, there was no excuse for the programmers to not implement some kind of software mixing really.
The CD32 version had simultaneous music (redbook audio) and FX.
uknortherner2000 1 year ago
@uknortherner2000 Interesting. Thanks for the info!
bjoran83 1 year ago
I never played this game back in the day. I did play its predecessor, however. VERY hard game, never got close to beating it and that's a rarity for me.
Of course, I was quite young at the time so I'd probably be able to beat it now if I had access to it. :P
In any case, it is a fun and interesting game, not one of my favourites or close but it IS a good game, just not completely to my taste.
It didn't have music, though. Just SFX. Same amount of food, though. :P
Good SWILL! :D
AtsumaKarin 1 year ago
I remember getting the Original Zool off a friend for my A500, he said it was the Amiga's answer to Sonic lol. Its no sonic and IMHO RoboCod was better.
LeShark75 1 year ago
What a cool game!!!
Dont understand it at all LOL!
Seed bags,Egg Cups,WTF??
ZOOL does look kinda like Sonic in a Ninja outfit???
Sweet graphics but it does look like there doing a last bit grab for a winning mascott!
russell56443 1 year ago
very cool vid zool 2 looks like a great game
davidhass3lh0ff 1 year ago
Zool - a game without joy. It has no soul.
telemetry9 1 year ago
I was never into Zool, I remember playing a lot of Ruff N Tumble Fire and Ice and Leander. At least it's not Dennis, one of the worst A1200 bundled games ever... Oscar wasn't bad though.
atombat 1 year ago
The game looks great. Great music too.
RPKGameVids 1 year ago
i never had the chance to see Zool 2 back in the day, played the 1st game even if only on mega drive and game boy, impressive graphics for the amiga, it's ironic the amiga version of Zool 2 looks better than the jag port lol(i watched jag footage just to compare the 2 after finding out bout it on wiki)
Jago666 1 year ago
I love Zool. I don't like the crappy ripoffs that much though for the SEGA and Nintendo especially the worst one of all where it's like a Ninja Warrior Assault Course and you have to pick up all 99 sweets on the level before the end of the level even comes up let alone flashing for the Game Gear and Master System.
wrestletube1 1 year ago
Amiga sonic!
It even looks like sonic, the character that is!
NeonGenesisPlatinum 1 year ago
I've always hated Zool, since the first time I played it. Sure, the artists did a good job, but the game design and feel is really annoying and unsatisfying.
Look at any big console platformer in comparison, and Zool is really weak.
I guess the best Amiga platformer is Great Giana Sisters, even if it's not as good as the game it's imitating: Mario Bros.
When it came down to it, computer game devs hardly ever matched the console devs when it came to fun game designs.
kingstonlj 1 year ago
ZoOl looks to be partly flea. Gremlin graphics - Monty Mole!!!
I thought of Ghostbusters as well ... ZUUL! : )
broken1394 1 year ago
I played a bit of the first Zool. It did remind me of Bubsy and Sonic had a strange ninja baby. Not terribly bad though. Nice vid.
TwigsInc 1 year ago
I keep harping on about the CD32 I know, but the soundtrack on the CD32 version is awesome! Apart from that, it's the same AGA version with some odd cutscenes inbetween levels.
hotdaddyhuggy 1 year ago
@hotdaddyhuggy The CD32 versions are crap the proper originals are legendary they changed the music altogether and made it shit.
wrestletube1 1 year ago
I have this on Jaguar!!
RoyStorey 1 year ago
As a fan of platform games, Zool 2 is a gorgeous game! The choice of color and the character animation is something that the game developers should really be proud of. It is a pity that Commodore's marketing to capitalize on the this game to stay in the gaming market.
segagenesis1989 1 year ago
Zool is a Ninja Ant!
ScrewAttackEurope 1 year ago
I have zool 1 for snes and Zool 2 for my Jaguar
cyrus649 1 year ago
@cyrus649 Zool 2 on the fag is the same as this only with the bad pad.
Zool 1 for the SNES is actually Zool 3 the third game in the series as it's different altogether.
wrestletube1 1 year ago
@wrestletube1 I done my reseach there isn't Zool 3. Zool 2 talks about it at the end, but they never made the game. Zool for the snes was a port only. Just like zool 2 for the Jaguar.
cyrus649 1 year ago
@cyrus649 Yeah and I've actually played it and it isn't a port but a new game in the same settings so it is Zool 3.
wrestletube1 1 year ago
@cyrus649 Actually play the AMIGA version before spouting your mouth next time.
wrestletube1 1 year ago
@wrestletube1 There is no need to take that kind of line here.
SteveBenway 1 year ago
@SteveBenway I know I went a bit over the line there having played all of the Zool games myself and knowing the difference between all of the maps and what not and telling the novices to the game about the different versions. :P
Yeah, I went a bit over the edge;there sorry.
wrestletube1 1 year ago
@wrestletube1 Okay I found video, the maps are different. But that's no uncommon for ports. Now I have to get my self a copy of AMIGA version.
cyrus649 1 year ago
He's a dead ninjaturtle who lost his shell when put into the ground. Now living in the afterlife full of candy. He died of anorexia which is why he is so skinny and smashes most of the candy instead of eating it. In other words he is in hell. Damn ninja.
revolutionactiondk 1 year ago
In very short OCS/ECS chipsets offered 16 & 32 color modes in regular for Amiga games resoultion of 320x256 from 4,096 colors palette and AGA used 256 out of 262,144 colors. Obviously there were some exceptions and many A500/600 (OCS/ECS) games used 64 colors in EHB (Extra Half Bright) mode smoothly and there were even few notable exceptions that offered 256 of those but that happened only due to some clever tweaking without which theoritically the machine was not capable of that.
kad3t 1 year ago
@kad3t
That said, I'd love to see the video on the subject... You may also talk a little bit about the AAA chipset that even though being in prototype late in Amiga years, never saw the light of day and never was released. I love Amiga and watch whatever I can on it - I hope you'll use some comparisons in the video of chipsets capabalities, like footage of same games on either of the chipsets. That'd be cool! ^_^
kad3t 1 year ago
Good game but I always found it very annoying later on, much because of the very sensitive controls and the way Zool always slides a bit when stopping.
laffer35 1 year ago
The thing I didn't like about this is how all the tiny little things that hurt you will hurt you because you run into them rather than because they have actually attacked you. Kind of like Bubsy bobcat only less annoying.
andyukmonkey 1 year ago
@andyukmonkey Hmm... I guess that could get a bit irritating, but it could be worse. In Smurf of the Atari 2600/Colecovision, you lose a life if you walk into a clump of grass. How lame is that?
SteveBenway 1 year ago
@SteveBenway I want to say very. But actually in games like Manic miner you get killed by pratically anything and that is considered an utter classic. So i guess you can get away with it sometimes!
andyukmonkey 1 year ago