Overall 9.2 Graphics 8.7 Sound 8.3 Addictive 8.3 Story 5.5 Depth 8.7 Difficulty 7.7
7.8
Could you survive a B-grade monster movie? What if you were in ALL THE MONSTER MOVIES? endings
Ahh, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, a cult hit game for SNES (Here forth in the review called Zombies). LucasArts made a lot of funny horror-spoof games like Maniac Mansion, games that didn't take anything serious and were like computer games where you moved a mouse around. This is their version of a top-down shooter, but it still maintains humor of their other games, and this is a campy horror game. It can be played two players at the same time. You choose between 3D glasses wearing Zeke, and Julie, who looks less 'i lick light sockets' like Zeke does. Your mission is to save your neighborhood - the teachers, the tourists, the guy drinking a cold one in the inner tube, the cheerleaders from zombies! And giant ants! And killer shrubbery! And Frankenstein's monster, vampires, werewolves - wait, does this list end? Actually I could go on and on about the foes. But lets keep moving, zombies are just behind us.
You must shoot the monsters while collecting your neighbors before they are killed. And do this for 40 stages. With each neighbors death, you have less to save the next round. If you have no neighbors left, its a game over! If you get enough points, you can be rewarded with a survivor, but this is a pretty tough game. If you rescue the last one (or the last one is killed) a magic door opens up right in front of you to leave the stage immediately, if you wish. Pass it up, and it will wait for you. The game starts out pretty easy, but soon enough, you might find yourself out of survivors or losing your last life, then the blood soaked screen will complete our B monster movie marathon, and give us game over.
Fortunately, there are passwords. A bit of a mixed blessing though. You also find TONS of improvised weapons. Cola cans that act as grenades, fire extinguishes that freeze, silverware that actually kills werewolves! Finding the combination of what works to what monster is part of the game. Some items are preset and some are randomly found by opening drawers and random objects - so it has a slight feel of an RPG (The motto of RPGs 'open and take everything'). But sometimes while searching, you might meet a purple blob monster that will instantly take a hit point from you. The good news is you fight certain monsters per stage, its not often they are ALL trying to get a piece of you at the same time.
Can you survive every B movie horror monster and prevail? Will enough neighbors be left for a BBQ party in your 'hood?
Graphics: 9
The characters are a little jagged, but well animated - especially the heroes and the neighbors. The zombies fall apart when shot. A towering, 50 ton baby enemy shakes the screen a bit when it tries to walk (do not worry, the baby does not die when you fight it, it shrinks back to normal). The mermen have bubbles when they go underwater. You can even stand still and watch the grass grow - the poisonous green weed grass that kills you. Yeah, probably best you don't do that. You also see lots of different settings. While it starts out in a city, it quickly moves to Egyptian tombs, creepy castles, even a football field! The backgrounds are all well done and very lively, but not much on any animation. I also liked the mystery potion effects you can have.
Sound: 7
Sound effects get an 8, Soundtrack gets a 5. But I affect the difference because the vocal tracks can be so annoying. The evil dolls make this MWA HA HA every time they appear. And they pop out 3-4 at a time. Some recorded volume seems way higher than others (Werewolf howl, the dolls, the boss), and I found it a good recorded sound, but played so loud and often its grating.
That said, the sound effects are great overall, and most enemies and weapons have them. The neighbors scream when they die, turning into angelic ghosts for a second. Bubble guns pop, the giant monsters roar, the chainsaw maniac has a realistic chainsaw sound.. its overall above par, and really good if the sharper contrasting enemy sounds don't get on your nerves.
The background music is just kind of there, and this one of the uncommon games where sound effects are way more memorable. Music fits its theme, but it wasn't particularly catchy to me. I could definitely spot out several of the tracks though if I heard them; the high organ music for the castles and pyramids, the lumbering polka of the giant baby stages (complete with a childlike "uh oh" thrown in), they are NOT bad tracks. They do the job of conveying a whimsical menace. But to me, thats all they do. Your mileage may vary.
Addictiveness: 7
The very nature of this Zombies is a shoot em up, almost arcade style play, so it fast and easy to get into. Very fun. Great idea to have the bare-bones objective for most missions - rescue people - get out. And two player is awesome, although you might fight over who gets the better items. The game does paint itself into a few corners with some decisions they made, and unfair situations led me to get frustrated at it a few times. Despite the wacky premise and tons to do, this game has some rough spots, and when they show, its not pretty. I could find myself putting the controller down a few times and finding something else to do. Zombies is a great idea, and a fun game, but its crippled a bit by its difficulty and some bad design choices.
Story: 4
There's actually not much story to it, and no reason given why all these monsters are here. But, its a shoot em up, so the story is not so important, but I'm disappointed still with the fabulously wasted kooky plot left unwritten. Anyway, Spooky things show up, and you rescue the neighbors, squirt guns dripping. You might rescue all cheerleaders, but the next level will be none of them. Each stage has its own victims pre-
selected. And each is worth a different point total for some reason - which is odd considering you have to try and save all of them anyway. Its not stated, but the game does have a final boss, although what role he really plays is uncertain. A crazy scientist calling himself Dr. Tongue is apparently behind it all (You go to one of his castles early on in the game), but he will not fight you until almost near the end. I didn't even realize he was an actual person until I met him somewhere in the upper 30's of level.
Depth: 8
Zombies is already no slouch, bringing you tons of different monsters, with different attacks and vulnerabilities - and tons of practical (Bazooka! Running shoes!), to crazy weapons (Tomatoes? Ice cream pops?) to fill those weak points. From hidden weapons (Pandora's Box must be opened!), to secret levels, Zombies brings a lot to the table. 40 levels lasts a long time folks, let me tell you. These levels start out simple, but you start running into hedge mazes, big pyramids with winding paths, you'll have a sigh of relief by the glow of the exit door.
Difficulty: 8
As fun as this game is, I did get sick of it at points. You gather neighbors before they are all killed, but some feel just out of your control. There is one level with a backyard BBQ guy, any time I reach that level, impossibly he cannot be saved. Literally the half second he comes in view, he's already a ghost. Some of these people seemed designed almost impossibly to rescue - yet you must try, to get the exit door to appear. The game in general does a good job, I am just nitpicking. Its not like you are dying every second. But this is the main reason I'd have to bring down the final score.
The fact there are passwords is a double edged sword- this game borders on 9 level difficulty if you pick a password later in the game, as no weapons are saved upon continuing. You try fighting sand worms with a squirt gun! This wouldn't be so bad if you had passwords for each level, but you only get them after 3 stages. Why did the developer not make all those stages you can start on be places to stock up of health and weapons? Its almost always better to play through it at or near the beginning.
I really like foes take more damage from specific weapons, it plays into the stereotypical 'silver bullets' and 'crosses' that are part of monster legend. And, it takes advantage of the giant inventory. However, some foes, regular enemies even, are nearly impassable (first impossible, now impassable !) and really slow you down. One of those annoying foes is Jason the chainsaw hockey mask guy. He can't be killed to my knowledge, and is often one of the most frustrating foes in this game (though not the only one)
Here's a typical situation: You need a bazooka to open a path through some wall-like hedges, but you don't have one. And here comes two chainsaw guys, fortunately, they can cut holes in the hedge for you, but the areas are single file. You don't have much life left, and only the bazooka stops him it seems, so you'll likely get killed trying to get through the narrow door he makes. With the bazooka, you could stop him, but if you had it, you could have just made your own escape. It a catch 22 and lame programming. (for those that have played the game, the inflatable clown toy would still get you killed as he's swinging his chainsaw around, you might as well shoot him).
The aggressive nature of the monsters is rampant in almost every level, surrounding you and getting you off track. The evil laughing dolls and giant ants come out so often on their levels, its best to just try and run by them. When you do have to fight, the clunky interface to
select your weapons already has you at a disadvantage. Pressing the shoulder buttons to scroll through the dozens of tools and weapons while in a firefight is ridiculous. I guess it was felt adding a menu would break the immersion, but this game is hectic enough as it is!
Final Verdict : 7.8
This is a fun game, and a good way to pass time with some silly, shooting action. But its by far one of LucasArts clumsiest games, from the terrible dial-a-item interface, to the overabundant enemies. If this kooky, campy game would calm down some and remember its not so funny when you're losing unfairly, Zombies would be a lot more enjoyable. If you can play it two player, its pretty fun, but when they start stealing the health packs, you might unfriend them, or feed them to the zombies!
Graphics 9 Sound 7 Addictive 7 Story 4 Depth 8 Difficulty 8
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 10-20-14
Updated: 10-20-14
Review Replies: 0
8.5
Zombies: Ate my Neighbours! Sowong
This is a review of one of my favourite games when I was a kid, and first getting used to the idea of gaming. If I had to describe Zombies ate my Neighbours in one sentence I would say that it is "every cheesy horror movie combined into one fantastic adventure" that is the best way to describe Zombies ate my neighbours. This is the Nintendo version, I played it on the SEGA so I will probably talk from that perspective. There is no actual story to the game since it was created in a time when action was more important than depth but as you run around the increasingly complicated, increasingly larger levels you start to feel deep attachment to those idiots who just stand there while the zombies nibble on them. There's a sense of thrill when you see a zombie baring down on an innocent child and, armed with only a water gun, you squirt erratically at the beast and save the baby, and a deep sense of frustration and guilt when you can see your neighbours are just one wall away and you have no chance of getting to them in time.
Every mission in this game feels unique, even if enemies and sets are reused throughout. At some points you even return to old areas but the new monsters in that area will create a whole new experience, and bigger thrills. I remember at one point running through a street I had encountered before, with only a few zombies rising out of the ground. Nothing I couldn't handle, then suddenly, I hear the growl of a chainsaw and my blood turns to ice because I know there's an psycho after me.
The basic elements of the game are not difficult to grasp, even if you have no idea what you're doing, like I did the first time I went to play, you'll soon pick up what has to be done. Walk into stationary neighbours to save them, walk into monsters to feel pain, new items are put instantly into inventory which you can switch to with a press of a button, trampolines let you jump over walls or escape enemies, pools are relatively safe to begin with and you can swim in them, walls and hedges with cracks or weaknesses can be demolished for a new entrance. Some levels have conveyor belts, others have elevators, there's toxic waste to avoid, mutant mushrooms to despise and a whole host of weaponry designed specifically to destroy the undead. Combined this makes for fluid motion in the game and gives you a great sense of control over your surroundings.
Monsters in the game have different levels of difficulty which, for me at least, leads to them being almost impossible to defeat if you are ill-prepared. Luckily the game passes collected weapons and items across the levels, so long as you haven't cheat coded to a level, and most monsters can be avoided. Zombies, surprisingly as they are mentioned in the title, are merely a nuisance compared to the other creatures you will encounter. Undead Football players. The chainsaw psychopaths are the bane of the early game and you'll need a bazooka to take them down. Werewolves jump out from nowhere and are so tough they are practically a boss by themselves and can even create new werewolves from the neighbours they kill. Voodoo dolls, while not all that tough, are one of the creepiest blighters with their scream "HooHaa" and their ability to transform into miniature fire demons makes them an environmental hazard too as they blaze trails across the floor. The pool-lurking fish men are much faster than you in the water, and rarely leave their aquatic domain. Vampires are rare, but incredibly deadly with their bat powers. The slime monsters are annoying as hell, and can even take over the minds of your neighbours and set them against you. Mushroom men will spawn at the worst of times, while on their mutant spiky mushroom patch. The body snatching pods will grow a twin of you, and this bizarre sibling will wander the world as a mirror to you. Spiders are the fastest creature in the game, killing anything in seconds. What our for the two types of giant ant. Frankenstein makes an appearance as a tough mountain of flesh. Tentacles will sprout out of the ground to give you a taste their whip. And what would a cheesy horror based game be without the mummies! So as you can see there is a great range of creatures to test your metal against.
And like I said there is a variety of weaponry available for your use. The water gun, full of holy water, is the staple of the game and should be used on all weaker monsters. Soda cans are essentially grenades and are useful for when you get into a panic and need to kill a lot of monsters all at once. Fire extinguishers do exactly as it says on the tin, extinguish fires, plus freeze some beasts you will face giving you some much needed time to find a way around, or a way to kill them. A weed cutter is an option for some monsters but is the only way to get rid of those nasty mutated mushrooms, so I would consider using them sparingly if I was you. A holy cross, for obvious reasons concerning the undead, will destroy everything in your immediate area, that is to say, anything about to have a nibble on your neck. Silverware for the werewolves is not a very common find so once more try not to use it on the weaker creatures. Flamethrower are for fighting fire with fire but they may be useful against plants creatures more than anything else. A bazooka is an essential adventurers kit, to create holes in enemies, the walls and anything in front of you. And for when you're really desperate there are; tomatoes, dishes, footballs and ice-cream bars to chuck in a wild panic at anything and hope that they somehow die, or turn vegetarian?
There are items to help you on your way as well, including the common medical kit, decoy clowns, keys, skull keys, shoes that make you run faster, a purple potion to turn yourself into a giant purple monster who says hello to everyone with his fist and can even break down walls, a blue potion that prevents damage, a random (?) potion which can heal, protect, transform, speed up, kill or turn you into a zombie. Then coins, bills and bullion to boost your score. There's a secret box as well which changes depending on the level, and an even better Pandora's box which kills everything like in raiders of the lost ark.
Transforming into a huge purple mass of monster muscle if one of the best aspects in this game, it's a fun experience to simply put your fist through a wall and see it tumble, or put your fist straight through anything and see it collapse to the ground in a heap of bone and mutilated red stuff. Decoy clowns are very annoying, but useful if you need to distract anything for a short period of time. In the lumberjack levels you'll probably find yourself dropping a laughing boy to escape the swing of a chainsaw, more so than in any other level. Clowns are also good for pulling zombies away from your neighbours.
So lets talk a little about the people you will be saving. There's not much to say on them since they are simply static entities who wait for the touch of their savior, but a few of them are quite interesting. The people you'll spend most of your time saving are Man & Wife, a trashy tourist couple who comically stand there smiling, taking photographs of the undead horrors; cheerleaders who, you hope, are cheering you on to save them; abandoned babies who toddle around with happy giggles; explorers that seem oblivious to their surroundings; grouchy trash collectors, oblivious burger flippers and soldiers armed to the teeth with cowardice.
The music in the game is, and still is, rather good. Usually giving you a sense of optimism but with an overhanging sense of urgency. Lumberjack levels tend to have the creepiest music, the childhood rhyme of "Why are we waiting, we are suffocating" continually played in a loop at a fast pace, which really gets you fear and imagination going, especially when one of those near invincible lumberjacks is bearing down on you with his chainsaw at the ready. In other levels the music shows that it can slow down and invite mystery and awe into the mix, in some levels the music can be down right chilling. However, the soundtrack never seems out of place and usually gets across the idea of what monster type you will be facing: alien, undead or psycho.
Sound effects are a little underdeveloped but get across the general idea of what the item or weapon should be doing. The water pistol, for example, does sound like a squirt even if it's totally not like how a real water pistol sounds. Soda cans do sound like exploding soda cans, and the lawn mower does sound like a blade hitting off hard surfaces. There is nothing truly distracting from the actual game however, and while the water pistol might get a little annoying come level ten it's not the worst sound imaginable.
Monsters don't make that much noise, mummies and zombies are silent, lumberjacks only make a swinging sound which works and the voodoo dolls make loud "HOOHAA" screams which really is a horrible, frightening noise. The werewolf howl seems a little out of place, almost as if it does not belong to the creature. Otherwise the game is quite steady on the monster sounds, the quietness of some creatures actually increases their sinister appearance.
The multiplayer works well, very well in fact. The two players are pitted against one another to save as many people as possible, and work together to kill as many monsters, find ways through buildings and utilize their resources as best they can. As one person may have a bazooka while the other has all the other items, meaning that there is never a moment where you do not want to work together... unless the other person steals all the neighbours for themselves. One downside to multiplayer is that you share the same screen and therefore need to move together, or not at all, this leads to a more exciting game, in my opinion, as you need to negotiate between yourselves which direction to take, who gets what items and who saves which people, while the zombie hordes pile on the pressure at every turn.
It is difficult to compare Zombies Ate my Neighbours to any other game out there, past or modern, since it is such a unique take on a shooter. The whole game is, more or less, a escort mission without the escort. It gives you the choice to try and save everyone, or simply cut your losses and focus on just a few neighbours to get you onto the next mission. Possibly X-Com, when there are civilians to save, would be a good comparison. Kill the monsters, save the innocents but without the turn based element X-Com favours, so Zombies ate my neighbours is a much more fast paced equivalent but with puzzling, maze-like level layouts and more chances of error.
There is a total of 48 levels but it really feels like there are more, possibly because if you do really well you can get bonus levels which are more of less the same as the level you just completed but usually with an exciting twist. Boss levels give you a great challenge, such as the big baby mission, which challenges both your tactical mind and your running away from a giant baby mind. Most boss levels like this attempt to challenge you on a greater level and stand apart from the rest of the game in a unique way. Whether it's with the 1000 foot tall baby, the sand worm, or the final boss you will still find that same sense of excitement as you would in any other level, yet this time with a sense of wonder at the colossal beast the game expects you to deal with. Considering this game was created for the Sega there is a hell of a lot of content and major ingenuity going on, especially when you remember that the amount of creatures available to fight in this game is greater than most modern games out there, like Mass Effect or Skyrim.
In my opinion this is a great game, one of the iconic moments in gaming history which stands apart from other games. Even if you're afraid of zombies and hate zombie games I suggest you play Zombies Ate my Neighbours. You will find a thrilling experience in this game, with lots to do and over 48 levels of frustration, fear and panic to explore.
Graphics 8 Sound 8 Addictive 8 Story 7 Depth 9 Difficulty 10
Review Rating: 4.8/5
Submitted: 05-13-13
Review Replies: 0
9.7
Zombies Ate My Neighbors Totts
This game got a bit of exposure when it was released, but many younger gamers might not be aware of it. It also showed up on the Sega Genesis, but the SNES port is regarded as the better version. Has a great soundtrack and really cool b-movie/horror vibe and recognizable movie villains. â€Zombies†also serves as some of the best co-op on SNES.
Your goal in Zombies Ate My Neighbors is simple: you have to locate and rescue ten of your neighbors before the zombies and other ghouls get their hands on them. Along the way, you’ll be chased by everything from tiny axe murderers to chainsaw-wielding madmen. Under normal circumstances this might seem impossible, but you have the unique distinction of being armed to the teeth, which will make it at least a little easier to accomplish your task. Your main weapon is a water pistol filled with holy water that can take down most of the weaker enemies, but you’re going to need the big guns to take down the stronger monsters. You’ll find dynamite, a bazooka, not to mention a potion that can turn you into a huge scary monster, to aid you on your quest. Once you’ve managed to rescue all of the neighbors, a door will open up that will warp you to the next area where you must start the entire process all over again.
The control in the game is rock solid and the large selection of different weapons gives the game plenty of variety. The levels start out fairly easy, but they’ll soon become much more complicated and finding the neighbors will become increasingly troublesome, not to mention the fact that the monsters become more aggressive. You’ll really have your work cut out for you in the later levels of the game when the action gets insanely intense. The good news is the game’s responsive play controls give you every chance you’ll need to be successful, although you’ll have to supply the skills of course.
Review Rating: 4.5/5
Submitted: 02-20-12
Review Replies: 0
9.6
The first zombie game I played hobomopo
Zombies Ate my Neighbors is a fun game from my childhood because there are a lot of crazy weapons and items you can use against the hoards of zombies, killer dolls, chainsaw maniacs, etc. Every level has a "scary" opening which some of them can be quite funny. The game itself is a parody of a lot of horrors movies. Some of the monsters you encounter have weapons that can kill them in one hit such as werewolves can be killed by "silver"ware and defeat the alien mother ship with soda.
The neighbor themselves are also from horror movies as well and each one worth certain amount of points:
Cheerleaders 1000 points
Babies 700 points
Explorers 500 points
Cooks 105 points (cook 5 points food 100)
Teachers 10 points
I found to be a bit funny how they determine the points for neighbors like teachers are mean and give you low scores (going by what I saw in the game).
The game rewards you for bonus points by meeting certain criteria like save all 10 neighbors in a level and weed cutter bonus just to name a few. You can also unlock bonus levels as well by finding and picking up a question mark block. These levels almost always have an extra life in them to reward you for unlocking the level.
The music is very catchy to me because it has a both a sense of seriousness and silliness at the same time. Which makes me want to find all the neighbors and kill all the monsters with everything I have in my disposal.
There is an end to this game and I want to beat it and play it again to beat my time on how far I got in the shortest amount of time. I want to kill Dracula once which I never figured out how to do because he runs away when he is heavily damaged. The farthest I got was to level 47 with 5 bonus levels under my belt and my first goal is to get to the end of the game.
There is not story in my point of view because there are no character development and no real establish plot beside rescue your.
neighbors.
The game itself can vary in difficulty in each of the level by how easy it is to rescue the neighbors like one level you can rescue all of the neighbors but in another you can only rescue 6 of them. Some neighbors are next to impossible to rescue unless you know exactly where they are and how to get them quickly. The controls themselves are easy enough to learn and function properly, but some of the items can be difficult to use or lack of usefulness can make the game challenging. When you are in the water you are vulnerable because you cannot attack and you move slower as well. You can also regain neighbors every 40000 points if you have less then 10 neighbors and an extra life for those who have ten neighbors which makes up for some of the difficulties.
For those who have not play this game give it a chance because there is a lot to offer and a lot of jokes in the game if you know some of the older horror movies.
Graphics 9 Sound 10 Addictive 10 Depth 9 Difficulty 5
Review Rating: 4.2/5
Submitted: 04-07-13
Review Replies: 3
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