Zombies ate my neighbors was released in Europe in 1994, showing it's face on platforms like Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo.
The idea of the game was to navagate your charcter around a series of levels, looking for survivors and dispacthing foes from famous horror movies with crazy weapons. Whats not to love already.
Collecting and saving the survivors is you're main aim in the game, and they need saving. Why? Because our b-movie monsters like to chomp on them, effecting your score at the end of each level, and if at no one survives the completion of the level.The main bread and butter of this game is the weapons. The weapons vary from bazookas to soda cans. Each weapon works better against different types of monsters. My favorite example is the the silver cutlery set that kills werewolves when thrown.
But not everything you pick up are weapons. Some are keys, need to get to the last survivor, shoes that make you faster, blow up clowns that stop enemies advancing and another favorite, the mystery potion that will ether kill you or turn you into a indestructible Mr Hyde like monster. All these weapons and items give the game more strategy and is refreshing to see.
The levels design are very interesting, all the levels take into account the different movies that have inspired it. from urban terrains, egyptian pyramids, haunted castles and the one that i'll always remember the hedge maze level. This level uses a combination of tight walkways and dead ends to add a sense of urgently to the game play, espically as you have a number of chainsaw wearing maniacs chasing you. As you go further in the game, the levels begin to become larger , start featuring traps, and are puzzle orientated ,adding to the excitement of the gameplay and keeping each level fresh.
what about the monsters? Well the monsters are what makes this game in my opinion, and there are a large number of them. Each monster has been beautifuly designed to fit in with the games look but without losing it's identity. Examples include the evil dolls which take there inspiration from the horror Child's Play and the snakenoids reminding me of the movie Tremors. And of course enemies like vampires, Frankensteins monster etc appear as sub bosses which is a nice touch as these are all the old horror favorites. Each monster has its own attack, movement and death spite which shows the care thats gone into the game.
Zombie Ate My Neighbors is not just a single player experience. The game also features a co-op multiplayer, which my fondest memories of this game come from. Battling the horrors with a friend is always a joy, Some levels were easier but one problem was that items didn't double up, making you alot more likely to run out of items and weapons on harder levels. Also the lack of a split screen option means that you normally hit the dreaded invisible wall screen boundary, or get stuck in the bottom of the screen until your partner backtracks.
All in all Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a game that is very enjoyable to play and to look at. A game that plays a nice homage to the horror and b movie films that has inspired it.
