Zero Tolerance

From Sega Retro

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Zero Tolerance Title.png

Zero Tolerance
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Accolade
Developer:
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Shoot-'em-up

















Release Date RRP Code

Zero Tolerance is a first person shooter developed by Technopop and Accolade and published by Accolade for the Sega Mega Drive in 1994. It is notable for being one of the few first person shooters available for the system, a demanding genre seen by many to be outside the capabilities of the Mega Drive's hardware.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Zero Tolerance is similar to other first person shooters of the era, with the player controlling one of several characters navigating map from a third-person perspective, shooting enemies while trying to find an exit. In terms of technology, Zero Tolerance lies somewhere between 1992's Wolfenstein 3D and 1993's Doom - rooms two dimensional as the height never changes (although the player's height can change slightly), and maps are "boxy", with walls are rendered as textured, flat surfaces positioned at 90 (or, unlike Wolfenstein 3D, 45 degree) angles.

Floors and ceilings are not textured, but primitive skyboxes are introduced and if the player shoots a wall, the texture will change to a "damaged" variant, in effect creating primitive interactive scenery. Enemies are rendered as sprites, and, also impressive for Mega Drive standards, are scaled in real-time. Shooting enemies will also create "gibs" similar to more modern shooters.

The consequence of all this is that the 3D view is constrained to a small portion of the screen, with the rest being taken by the game's HUD. The frame rate and draw distances are also lower than in both Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.

History

Legacy

Zero Tolerance and its unfinished sequel, Beyond Zero Tolerance, were released by the developers as freeware.

Production credits

Technopop, Inc.
  • Producer: Randel Reiss
  • Assistant Producer: Desmond Crisis
  • Design: Thomas Gjørup
  • Art Direction: Scott Haile
  • Programming: Justin Wolf, Thomas Gjørup
  • Lead Artwork: Sheryl Knowles
  • Level Designs: Tony Ramos
  • Music: Dezso Molnar
  • SFX: Dezso Molnar
  • Voice Over: Maya Daniels
  • Conceptual Art: Curtis E. A. Karnow
  • Additional Support: Lasse Faabeng, Satoe Ishii, Jo Ellen Reiss, Patrick McEnvoy, Paul Puey
  • Special Thanks: Steven Ackrich, Nick Laveroff, David Bamberger, Kelly Flock
Accolade
  • Producers: James Kucera, Troy Sheets
  • Lead Tester: James A. Vitales
  • Testers: Richard Gangwish, Alex V. Cabal, Ty Johnson, Randall Hauser, Seth Friedman, Daniel P. Dunn
  • Marketing: Karen Safran, Megan Humpal, Larry Wiesler
  • Executives: Alan Miller, John A. S. Skeel, Brenden Maloof, Jim Barnett, Peter Harris
  • Art Director: Bob Busick
  • Artists: Patricia Pearson, Craig Marshall, Dale Mauk, John Xu, Shawn Monroe, Scott Burroughs, Ken Capelli, Chris Peterson, Tom Denmark
Source:
In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Zero Tolerance/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

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Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #62: "September 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
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Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #21: "October/November 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:
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Print advert in GamePro (US) #64: "November 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:
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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
80 №36, p110
85 №155, p85[4]
75
65
82 №21, p36-38[5]
80 №5, p16
80
86 №24, p84-86[6]
88 №25, p44-47
77 №51, p104
83 №9, p82/83
91 №58, p40-43
84 №38, p54/55
Sega Mega Drive
81
Based on
13 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
80
[7]
Consoles + (FR)
80
[8]
Cool Gamer (RU)
80
[9]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
85
[4]
Computer + Video Giochi (IT)
81
[10]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
75
[11]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
75
[12]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
80
[13]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2 (RU)
90
[14]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
65
[15]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
80
[16]
Gamers (DE) PAL
67
[17]
GamesMaster (UK) PAL
82
[5]
Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL
80
[18]
Joypad (FR) PAL
85
[19]
LeveL (CZ)
60
[20]
Mega (UK) PAL
88
[21]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
89
[22]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
82
[23]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
84
[24]
Megazin (SI)
79
[25]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
86
[6]
Player One (FR)
77
[26]
Play Time (DE)
85
[27]
Power Up! (UK)
83
[28]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
83
[29]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
91
[30]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
84
[31]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
74
[32]
Sega Megazone (AU)
83
[33]
Todo Sega (ES)
88
[34]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
80
[35]
Video Games (DE) PAL
70
[36]
VideoGames (US)
60
[37]
Sega Mega Drive
80
Based on
34 reviews

Zero Tolerance

Mega Drive, US
ZeroTolerance MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Zero Tolerance MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Zero Tolerance MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
Zero Tolerance MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
ZeroTolerance MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, BR
Zero Tolerance MD BR front.jpg
Cover
ZeroTolerance MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart

References

  1. Sega Visions, "February/March 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 68
  2. EGM², "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 38
  3. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "December 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 74
  4. 4.0 4.1 File:CVG UK 155.pdf, page 85 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 155.pdf_p85" defined multiple times with different content
  5. 5.0 5.1 File:GamesMaster UK 021.pdf, page 36 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamesMaster UK 021.pdf_p36" defined multiple times with different content
  6. 6.0 6.1 File:MeanMachinesSega24UK.pdf, page 84 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega24UK.pdf_p84" defined multiple times with different content
  7. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 273
  8. Consoles +, "Octobre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 110
  9. Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 244
  10. Computer + Video Giochi, "Dicembre 1994" (IT; 1994-xx-xx), page 114
  11. Electronic Games (1992-1995), "October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 88
  12. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "September 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 32
  13. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 369
  14. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2, "" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 300
  15. Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 90
  16. GamePro, "November 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 94
  17. Gamers, "Januar 1995" (DE; 1995-01-08), page 36
  18. Games World: The Magazine, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-09-29), page 16
  19. Joypad, "Octobre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 116
  20. LeveL, "Únor 1995" (CZ; 1995-02-24), page 41
  21. Mega, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-09-29), page 44
  22. Mega Force, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-12-02), page 56
  23. Mega Fun, "11/94" (DE; 1994-10-19), page 65
  24. Mega Play, "August 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 63
  25. Megazin, "Letnik 3, Številka 2, Februar 1995" (SI; 1995-xx-xx), page 31
  26. Player One, "Mars 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 104
  27. Play Time, "11/94" (DE; 1994-10-05), page 106
  28. Power Up!, "Saturday, October 29, 1994" (UK; 1994-10-29), page 1
  29. Sega Magazine, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-xx), page 82
  30. Sega Power, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-04), page 40
  31. Sega Pro, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-06), page 54
  32. Sega Mega Drive Review, "2" (RU; 1996-01-03), page 181
  33. Sega Megazone, "September 1994" (AU; 1994-0x-xx), page 22
  34. Todo Sega, "Octubre 1994" (ES; 1994-xx-xx), page 64
  35. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 28
  36. Video Games, "10/94" (DE; 1994-09-28), page 99
  37. VideoGames, "December 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 128