teach players how to play. Though marketing wanted to change the look of The Ooze to a more cartoon-based design, the game's art director refused, fearing it would change the tone of the game. Progress was later hampered with the departure of programmer Scott Chandler and artist Marte Thompson. Sega's marketing department considered bundling The Ooze as a pack-in game with the Genesis Nomad, a handheld version of the Genesis; however, this did not occur. The Ooze was released in Japan on September 22, 1995, and in North America, with a European release in December. The game was later included as a built-in game for the Arcade Legends Sega Genesis 2 and in the compilation game Sonic Mega Collection Plus. It is also unlockable in the Japanese version of Sonic Mega Collection. Reception The Ooze received mostly negative reviews. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game 3.875 out of 10, commenting that while The Ooze is highly original, the graphics are choppy and the increasing difficulty as the ooze grows makes the game frustrating, slow-paced, and generally not fun. Next Generation similarly said, "After the originality wears off, the game becomes quite blah." Arguing that the game's attempt at an original approach should nonetheless be commended, they gave it three out of five stars. Reviewing for GamePro, Johnny Ballgame gave faint praise to the music and sound effects, but slammed the controls as poor and the gameplay as tedious. He concluded, "Oozing with mediocrity, this game never delivers anything worthwhile or worth buying." Mike Salmon of Game Players shared the same sentiments about the gameplay while appreciating the sound effects, but offered praise for the game's uniqueness. Game Informer gave the game an overall score of 6.75 out of 10, stating, “The Ooze is a game unlike any other, with unique control and story line.” In a retrospective review, Allgame gave it a score of 4 out of 5. The reviewer said the game is unique and clever, and praised the heavy techno pop music and realistic sound effects for complementing the game’s atmosphere and level themes. He criticized the graphics as dull and uninteresting and said the game does not truly stand out, yet is still worthwhile, concluding, "It's just a quietly original, unassuming little game that you'll find yourself playing more often than you may have originally intended." See also Snake (video game) References External