A group of students at Sheffield Hallam University have formed a new development team under the guidance of Sumo Digital creative director Sean Millard, Revolution Software founder Charles Cecil and Ian Stewert, founder of Gremlin Graphics the publishers of the original Amiga title.
It is hoped that at the end of the project a new PlayStation Mini version of Zool will be released. Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, Dr. Jacob Habgood said:
“The lecture marks a new relationship between Sheffield Hallam and local developers Sumo-Digital, who have an industry heritage which dates back to the 1980s”
“It also marks a new era in gaming education provision and knowledge exchange at the University in that we are now one of the few universities in the country to have an in-house development studio for our students.”
Zool, a Ninja from the Nth Dimension, was originally conceived by Gremlin Graphics to be the Amiga’s answer to Sonic The Hedgehog, and in 1992 sales of the game almost beat those of Sonic The Hedgehog 2. The game was ported to the Atari ST, SNES, Megadrive and Gameboy and was also housed in a cabinet and turned into an arcade game.
The game gained excellent reviews but was criticised for the blatant in-game advertising of popular confectionery ‘Chupa Chups’. The first three levels of the game were based in a “sweet” world and saw Zool clambering over giant Chupa Chups lollipops.
tonyyeb
I was quite a Zool fan when the Amiga was my main system. It should be interesting to see a modern day version.
gordon_strange
This is awesome news! Love this game. The graphics were really crisp.
Grey_Ghost13
Could this be a Amiga revival and we end up with classic old games ported to Minis? Yes Please!
Tuffcub
Supercars plz!
double-o-dave
Cannon Fodder!
3shirts
War has never been so much fun
theberzerka
Excellent I want it now!
TSBonyman
Flimbos Quest and Turrican!
freezebug2
Definately the Turrican series.
Apnomis
That would be awesome, I loved my Amiga and I remember rather enjoying Zool too – probably my first experience of in-game advertising! I would probably pick this up for a few quid to have a trip down memory lane…
If this is the start of an Amiga Mini’s collection may I also suggest:
First Samurai
Gods
Magic Pockets
Kid Gloves
The Chaos Engine
To name but a few of my childhood favourites yet to make an appearance on modern consoles!
bap10
Nice picks.
The Chaos Engine was amazing looking on the Amiga.
Can I add.
Skidmarks
Project X
Silly putty
Agony
double-o-dave
Completely forgot about this game which is strange cos it was the tits. Much preferred this over sonic
3shirts
I loved Zool and actually never really found the Chupa Chups thing that much of a problem. A sweet world is not out of place for a cartoony platform game and using a brand you recognise makes sense really.
I guess it’s questionable morally though, since it was squarely aimed at kids.
cheekyMcB
I have Zool on a PC compilation…..which I bought &then never really got round to playing (no change there then)…..I wonder if it will work in Windows XP without DOSbox? I bet it plays better in these modern times than it’s disc-mates Lotus:The Ultimate Challenge (aka Lotus III) & Nigel Mansell’s World Championship.
cheekyMcB
That’ll be a NO then :-( *goes off to read about DOSbox* Interesting side note, the entire compliation on the CD is just over 3MB! Ah for the days of great games taking tiny amounts of space…
3shirts
Save yourself some time: http://www.nowares.net/Master-System-Games/144-Zool.html
deadwelsh
Supercars 2 please Gremlin/Mr Stewert.
Zool was ace
tonyyeb
Another vote for SuperCars 2… with online multiplayer! That would be a.m.a.z.i.n.g.!
dizwod
I used to love this game.
and its sequel was amazing, I miss my Amiga and the even better Maziacs on the ZX Spectrum (which is actually older than me :s).
Why are all the best games older than me? :(
3shirts
That would have to mean you were less than a month old :)
dizwod
Seriously I loved my Spectrum, was boring in 84 and I think my all time fav game was 82 or 83, :S.
Just shows that old games were amazing, and even better £2.99 a cassette :)
Squalje
I used to love playing Zool and I can confirm that the in-game advertising worked a treat. My Brother and I must have scoffed hundreds of those enamel destroyers, which I am paying the price for now.
3shirts
The Master System version is playable through java in your browser here: http://www.nowares.net/Master-System-Games/144-Zool.html
3shirts
I had just googled that but, HOLY CRAP, that whole site is amazing!