![]() The glorious couch co-op, which puts both characters, Zeke and Julie, in play. ![]() It’s the couch co-op that helps Zombies Ate My Neighbors continue to be a good time, as well. The variety of all of these weapons and items still holds up, even in an age where you can squeeze a lot more in a game than you used to be able to nearly 30 years ago. There are sprint shoes, keys you need to ration, and Pandora’s Box, which works a lot like you opened the Ark of the Covenant and closed your eyes while your enemies didn’t. The clowns, I mentioned, but you also get potions with varying effects: one turns you into a powerful beast capable of punching through both walls and enemies, one is literally a mystery that you’ll only discover the answer to after you drink it. Once you figure out what everything is best used for, though, you’ll at least manage some level of ammo efficiency, and save yourself from taking some damage, too.Īnd that’s without even getting into your secondary items. There is no shortage of weaponry in the game, but you’ll also be firing off rounds and throwing projectiles constantly, so you will run out of ammo of specific weapons and have to turn to something new. Some weapons are more effective against specific enemies, as mentioned, and some are just good for keeping your distance or making generally quick work of a foe. You will also use all of these, whether you want to or not. You start with just a squirt gun, and will pick up bazookas and crucifixes and silverware and fire extinguishers, too, but there are also tomatoes, popsicles, dishes, an alien gun that shoots out capturing bubbles, a weed whacker for taking out those pesky propagations, six packs of soda with splash damage, dishes, footballs, and flamethrowers. It’s leaving a laughing blow-up clown doll in your wake and then watching four guys with chainsaws converge on it as you make your desperate escape. It’s chasing down vampires with a crucifix, it’s putting out the little fire demons with an extinguisher. ![]() It’s not having a key to open a door, so instead you equip a bazooka and blow the thing down. Discovering that yes, throwing silverware at a werewolf will destroy them instantly, whereas normally they’d soak up quite a bit of damage, and are hard to hit in the first place given their agility. It’s the little things with this game that still make it work. It’s also just a ton of fun to mindlessly play, though, all this time later, whether your goal is to complete it or just to play for an hour here and there for the sake of having something enjoyable to do with that time. Zombies Ate My Neighbors’ box art really leaned into the B-movie creature aesthetics that are all over the game itself. There’s a password system, sure, but it doesn’t bring your inventory with you from a previous play: just the level you start at. And that’s difficult to do, because Zombies Ate My Neighbors does not save, nor does it truly let you resume your progress. So long as you’re also fine with games that are difficult: Zombies Ate My Neighbors, developed by Lucas Arts and published by Konami on the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis, is not only a classic case of the “Nintendo Hard” mentality, as almost everything can damage you, much of it by surprise, but there are also 48 levels (and seven secret bonus levels) you must complete in order to actually finish the game. If you answered yes to any of the above, then 1993’s Zombies Ate My Neighbors should be a good time for you. ![]() ĭo you like run-and-gun games? Are you satisfied with being able to shoot in just four directions instead of eight? Would you consider yourself a fan of B-movie horror tropes and creatures, whether they be zombies or vampires or mummies or plants with evil intent or possessed dolls wielding weaponry? How do you feel about being lost in a hedge maze while a number of guys with hockey masks and chainsaws chase you down? Are you willing to suspend your disbelief enough to roll with the fact that squirt guns and tomatoes could be enough to put a stop to all of these malevolent forces? Previous entries in this series can be found through this link. If you want to request a game be played and written up, leave a comment with the game (and system) in question, or let me know on Twitter. This column is “Reader request,” which should be pretty self-explanatory.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |