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Zoo Keeper

Zoo Keeper - Japanese Title

Zoo Keeper - marquee

Manufacturer: Taito
Year: 1982
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Platform
Type: Videogame

Monitor:

  • Orientation: Horizontal
  • Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
  • CRT: Color
  • 19-inch Wells-Gardner 19K4902
Conversion Class: unique
Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Maximum number of Players: 2
Gameplay: Alternating
Control Panel Layout: Single Player
Controls:
  • Joystick: 4-way (up, down, left, right)
  • Buttons: 1 [Jump]

Sound: Amplified Mono (one channel)

Zoo Keeper


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Zoo Keeper Control Panel Image


Zoo Keeper Description

You control Zeke the zookeeper who must rescue his girlfriend Zelda from the Zoo. There are four levels or "adventures". Each level has its own task such as trapping the animals in the zoo, jumping ledges up the screen and jumping animals to earn a bonus keeper.

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Cabinet Information

The game comes in the same shape cabinet as most of Taito's other games, but has sideart instead of the generic "Taito" lettering and pattern. The most common art features zoo animals in monochrome blue on an orange background. Color side art does exist although this is far less common.

Conversion

The game uses the same boardset as Qix but has the addition of a coin processor board to prevent ROM swaps as well as an additional daughterboard with extra ROMs. A ROM hack exists to make the game run without the coin processor board, so there is a possibility that a conversion could be a straight ROM swap with some hackery for the additional ROMs. Other games that run on nearly identical hardware are Space Dungeon, The Electric Yo-Yo and Kram.

Game Play

During the first part of the game, you move Zeke around to build a wall around the Zoo. He must jump to avoid any of the wild animals that are loose. Special items will appear on this level when the fuse-like timer at the top of the screen reaches that part. If the timer makes it to the word "End", the current level ends and the game proceeds on to the next. The bonus items that occasionally appear on the screen include mugs of root beer, ice cream sundaes, clover clubs, watermelons, etc.

When the timer reaches a net, one will appear at a certain location on the wall and if Zeke picks it up, he will be able to capture the animals on the loose and put them back into the Zoo. The net will eventually disappear and the captured animals will try to escape from the Zoo by eating through the wall. Zeke will have to continue building the wall around the Zoo until time is up. At the end of that level, bonus points are awarded for every animal captured. The animals found on this level are snakes, moose, camels, rhinos, elephants and a lion.

On the second level, Zelda is tied to a palm tree and Zeke must rescue her by jumping upwards from level to level while dodging coconuts thrown by a mischievous little monkey. On each of the ledges there are various foods and drinks that Zeke can collect for extra points. Sometimes, one of the ledges will even have a "Free Game" sign that will grant you a free credit. While Zelda is tied up, she says "Save Me!" and whenever Zeke gets knocked out by one of the deadly coconuts, she says "Oh, No!" If Zeke makes it all the way to the top and rescues her, she says "My Hero!" and a bonus of 5,000 points is awarded.

The third level is the same as the first, but on the fourth level, Zeke must constantly jump over herds of charging animals that come out of the cages at the end of each escallator. Zeke then rides the escallator to get to the next floor. Zeke must get to second escallator to reach the top floor where Zelda is, to rescue her. After Zeke has rescued Zelda on the fourth level, the game begins again with an increased difficulty.

VAPS Arcade Census

GAMES OWNED, WANTED, or FOR SALE BY MEMBERS OF THE VIDEO ARCADE PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Common - There are 49 known instances of Zoo Keeper owned by one of our 900 members. Of these, 44 of them are original dedicated machines, it is a conversion in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet, and 4 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

Of the 56,610 video games (3,411 unique) tracked by the Video Game Preservation Society, this game ranks a 29 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on ownership records.

Wanted - Very Popular - There are 18 VAPS members currently looking for Zoo Keeper. There is one VAPS member looking for a Zoo Keeper circuit board set.

For Sale - There is one VAPS member with a Zoo Keeper machine for sale. VAPS members are totally independent of VAPS and the International Arcade Museum, and we are unable to recommend, endorce, or guarantee any person or company selling games or game parts.

Rarity is NOT necessarily an indication of value. Some common games show up as very rare here because collectors don't want them (they are common because arcade operators might be sitting on tons of them in warehouses), while some fairly scarce games are grabbed by collectors every time they show up. Additionally, some games made in the last 5 years are still making money for operators and are thus not yet affordable to the typical collector. For a clue to value, compare how many people have this game vs. how many people want this game and then click on the eBay links to help determine an accurate price range.

Fixes

If the original NiCad battery is still on the PCB, remove it and replace it with a 3.6v rechargable, mounted away the board. The 4116 video RAM ICs often fail and since they are becoming hard to find, they can be replaced with modified 4164's.

eBay Listings

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COMPARE PRICES ON:

Zoo Keeper

1. ZOO KEEPER ARCADE MACHINE ORIGINAL BEZEL *VERY RARE*

Auction ends in: 3 days, 7 hours

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$45.00
 
2. Taito ZOO KEEPER video arcade game manual Original

Auction ends in: 2 days, 3 hours

 eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
 
$24.99
 
3. Zoo Keeper Coin-op Arcade Manual

Auction ends in: 2 days, 21 hours

 eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
 
$6.99
 
4. TAITO ZOO KEEPER OPERATORS MANUAL FOR ARCADE

Auction ends in: 1 week, 3 days

 eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
 
$10.00
 
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Manuals

  1. Operation, Maintenance and Service Manual  61 Pages, 7750 KB File.

Foto-Finder™

  1. The Encyclpedia of Arcade Video Games, Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256): Page: 166; Color photo;


Zoo Keeper - Title screen image


Zoo Keeper - Title screen image

Zoo Keeper - Title screen image

Zoo Keeper - Title screen image


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