Zool is Making a Comeback

[RichL]

Sorry if there is a thread.

[ Show youtube player ]

Not sure how I feel about this one

[gimbal]

Looks quite alright to me actually, now lets hope they price it correctly.

"Menacing bosses". Ha ha One is a friggin' banana and another is a candy bee.

[CodyJarrett]

Requirements:

Zool on the Amiga (1992):

• 1Mb RAM
• 1.5Mb hard disk space

Zool Redimensioned (2021):

• 8Gb RAM
• 1Gb hard disk space

[Bruce Abbott]

Originally Posted by CodyJarrett

Requirements:

Zool on the Amiga (1992):

• 1Mb RAM
• 1.5Mb hard disk space

Zool Redimensioned (2021):

• 8Gb RAM
• 1Gb hard disk space

Ain't progress wonderful? I bet it plays 8 thousand times better too!

[ESC]

Seems pretty interesting but I'm cautious when it comes to remakes and the like, I've been burned too many times.

[Neil79]

Saw this yesterday and still..........Meh

[Matt_H]

Can't say that I'm sold on this.

I always felt Zool 2 was the far superior of the Zool games, from art design, level design, character design, gameplay design, and learning curve. This remake doesn't seem to offer many improvements to the Zool 1 experience other than a larger screen, which is a little disappointing. But Zool 1 redone in the Zool 2 style would be interesting to me.

Plus, the video opens with the art from Zool 2 being passed off as Zool 1, which suggests to me that the developers don't sufficiently understand or appreciate the original source material.

[Mad-Matt]

The Console versions of Zool are all pretty much Zool 1 in the Zool 2 engine. This remake kind of looks like the Mega-Drive version (with it's dithered coloring) just with a much bigger viewport. You're not meant to see all the secret hard to reach areas 2 or 3 screens away . ..

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by CodyJarrett

Requirements:

Zool on the Amiga (1992):

• 1Mb RAM
• 1.5Mb hard disk space

Zool Redimensioned (2021):

• 8Gb RAM
• 1Gb hard disk space

The requirements on the steam page can be very much B.S., they just made something up that is to be considered "low" compared to what is usual nowadays. The main limit will be mostly software due to the version of Windows and DirectX that is required to run it.

[LeChuck]

Well, Sumo Digital was started by people from Gremlin Graphics and there's a whole bunch of ex-Gremlin people working there so wouldn't surprise me if they knew the source material pretty well..

I never particularly cared for the first Zool either, the sequel was a nice improvement though. Have to see if there are some gameplay improvements and refinements in this one.

[Mad-Matt]

I never liked the Amiga music in Zool 2 and doesnt leave me with a great impression of the game. A backwards step compared to music used in their Zool and the lotus games. Too slow and fitting the manic high speed movement of the game. Almost like they wanted to recreate what was being done in games from Core. Wonderdog, bubba n stix, chuck II and the likes. I never felt the music fit those games either.

[outsiderz]

zool was a nice game... i played zool a lot in my childhood.

[amigang]

More tempted to get this than i thought i would be, I was quite a fan of Zool, and was kinda surprised he not made a come back much sooner really.

[Matt_H]

Originally Posted by LeChuck

Well, Sumo Digital was started by people from Gremlin Graphics and there's a whole bunch of ex-Gremlin people working there so wouldn't surprise me if they knew the source material pretty well..

I never particularly cared for the first Zool either, the sequel was a nice improvement though. Have to see if there are some gameplay improvements and refinements in this one.

Good to know that there are some veterans involved. Perhaps I'll take a closer look once the final version is released...

Originally Posted by Mad-Matt

I never liked the Amiga music in Zool 2 and doesnt leave me with a great impression of the game. A backwards step compared to music used in their Zool and the lotus games. Too slow and fitting the manic high speed movement of the game. Almost like they wanted to recreate what was being done in games from Core. Wonderdog, bubba n stix, chuck II and the likes. I never felt the music fit those games either.

I only ever played the CD32 version of Zool 2, and I thought the soundtrack for that version was excellent. Never heard the regular Amiga soundtrack, but I really recommend giving the CD32 version a listen.

[malko]

Originally Posted by CodyJarrett

Requirements:

Zool on the Amiga (1992):

• 1Mb RAM
• 1.5Mb hard disk space

Zool Redimensioned (2021):

• 8Gb RAM
• 1Gb hard disk space

+ .
For sure, platformers are ressources hungry

[Photon]

I wouldn't get too hung up on minimum requirements - if you have only 4GB RAM, you will have trouble running the OS properly, let alone a game. 8GB is recommended to run any game today. And a CD is 0.7GB, so...

I've wishlisted the game because it helps the devs, and it costs me nothing.

I quite liked Zool on Amiga. I'm not sure I will buy it cos I'm into other genres now, but I know you can't be "ripped off" on Steam. You can play it for a bit and see how it is.

Now, the remake doesn't compete with Zool on Amiga. It competes with our fond memories of it, and we don't have any memories for a new game. I know that's daunting, so I would cut the game some slack It looks a competent platformer.

[SunSpire]

I'm very fond of the classic Zool games and played them a lot on my A500 and later the much more colorful A1200 version, way back then. The loading times were brutal though.

The music is supberb, the various artistic styles and themes are very cute, however the level design is pretty bad IMO. A "Sonic killer", as the game was frequently advertised upon its release on posters stating "bad news for hedgehogs", it was certainly not. I dare say it is nearly impossible to beat the later levels of the game (especially in Zool II) without cheats enabled, because the jumping mechanics are so terrible they make for a lot of cheap and unfair deaths.

And .. looking at that widescreen trailer of the rehash, it appears to have the very same poor jumping controls (I hope I'm wrong with this, though). It looks interesting otherwise, the wider view to either side definitely helps spot enemies in advance.

If the price is right I might just pick this one up, and be it for the music alone

By the way, the CD32 version has an extra 3-stage intro world that is missing from both the A500 and A1200 versions. I once tried to extract and implement them in the floppy versions but interestingly, unlike all other levels which are stored as separate files, the new extra levels are hardcoded within the CD32 game's executable file, unaccessible to me. But these levels aren't particularly pretty anyhow, so floppy version players aren't missing much.

Well that's my two cents, more like 20 cents but anyway :P

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by amigang

More tempted to get this than i thought i would be, I was quite a fan of Zool, and was kinda surprised he not made a come back much sooner really.

I wasn't a big fan but this looks like a solid improvement so I am definitely getting it (IF it is priced as an indie-game). I heard the music in the trailer and I was immediately pumped

[MrDBUG]

Video looks nice !

[LongLifeA1200]

Couldn't watch more than a few minutes of the longplay. Immensely annoying remake.