What's the deal with Zoom!?

[gklinger]

I'm really confused and I'm hoping someone can clear something up for me...

Near as I can tell there are two versions of Zoom!. One difference between these two versions is the background colour. The version I remember from the 80's had a black background and all the TOSEC versions also have black backgrounds. On the other hand, the WHDLoad version has a dark blue background. Lemon has two entries for Zoom! and describes them as the Zoom! (black background) and Zoom! (US version)) (dark blue background) whereas there is only one entry at the HoL and it indicates that there were two versions, one for Australia and one for the rest of the world. To complicate things further, the SPS database (which links to the aforementioned HoL entry) describes the game as being from the U.K. Here's a couple of screenshots that show the background colours:



What's really doing my head in is that the supposed U.S. version says "Discovery Software Int'l Inc" which suggests it is an international version where as the version supposedly from the U.K. or Australia (depending on who you believe) says nothing which is odd given that Discovery was a U.S.-based company. Starting to see why I'm confused?

FWIW, I have an original copy of Zoom! (bought in North America) but I can't get it to boot properly and I also can't get the ipf version to work in E-UAE. I'm at the end of my rope here.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Belgarath]

I've no idea where this idea that there was a seperate US version came from in the first place..

The SPS version has the blue background, likewise the WHD as KG used the ipf to install it.

The WHDLoad readme doesn't mention any different versions of the game either.

The adfs that are floating about in tosec are all the ones with the black background, but I'd say this version is much more likely to be a beta version rather than an actual published release.

[gklinger]

Originally Posted by Belgarath

I've no idea where this idea that there was a seperate US version came from in the first place..

I sent Kim Lemon a PM asking where he got that info. Maybe that will reveal something.

The adfs that are floating about in tosec are all the ones with the black background, but I'd say this version is much more likely to be a beta version rather than an actual published release.

I suppose that's possible as the screenshot on the box has a dark blue background and the score table looks exactly like the second image linked to above. Funnily enough, I prefer the look of the one on the left.