Which is a fine combination, for the record.

[GRAPHICS]

Okay, when it all comes down to it, Zool 2 isn't a fabulous showcase of the Jaguar. Sure, it has colour coming out of the wazoo, but that's all this game does well in terms of graphics - colour. Then again, I've come to believe that one thing the Jaguar could do ridiculously well is very colourful, still images, and it does this well in Zool 2. ..for the majority of the levels. The foregrounds are diverse and interesting, but the backgrounds are...bland. Still, you won't spend much time looking around since this game moves pretty fast, at least when gameplay doesn't slow to a crawl due to massive amounts of sprites on-screen.

There is one thing that should be noted as a visual plus, and that's the opening cinema for Zool 2. I don't have any idea as to what the hell he's doing, but it's a CG cinema, and it's on a cartridge! Granted, it's pretty terrible, but who pays attention to that shit anyway ..

[SOUND FX/MUSIC]

Zool 2 is almost a mish-mash of audibal nonsense - but that's a good thing. There's a sound for everything, pretty much, and the music is great...it fits the levels exactly the way they should. For instance, in "Tooting Common", the tunes take on a somewhat Egyptian influence.

The music tracks are fairly long, too, so you won't be driven insane by constantly repeating 10 second music clips.

[GAMEPLAY]

I guess I'll start this by saying that the control is perfect, as long as you turn off inertia and get used to the fact that up on the d-pad makes you jump...but once you adjust, you'll be sprinting around the varied, enormous levels of Zool 2 in no time flat. I haven't seen such big levels in a platformer since I first played Busby on the SNES.

The point of the game is to collect a certain amount of items in the level, and there are alot of them. The amount you need to go on depends on the difficulty setting chosen before you start. In each level, there are secret areas that require you to blast down walls, or drill through floors using either Zool of Zooz's blast or spinning jump. There are about a handful of other moves at your character's disposal, but I won't bother to list them here, because, as you may have noticed, I am very lazy.

...just read the manual or something.

[OVERALL]

I payed about $10 Canadian for a used copy of Zool 2 complete with box and instructions, and upon reflection it was a fine purchase. I personally think I got my money's worth, and you will, too, if you decide to pick it up. I'll probably spend more time playing Zool 2 then I'd care to admit.

It isn't a perfect game by any means, but no game is perfect.

[GRAPHICS] - 7.3/10

[SOUND FX/MUSIC] - 9.4/10

[GAMEPLAY] - 8.4/10

[OVERALL] - 8/10 (not an average)