Flashback: Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Due to the lack of SEVERAL days worth of updates, I'm gonna try to shove them all into one day, because I'm an idiot. Let's start with a Flashback, back to 1993.


Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Publisher: Konami

Developer: LucasArts

Consoles: Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis


I was never a fan of zombies growing up. I never really liked ANYTHING horror themed, actually. Though when I was duped by friends into seeing how truly "scary" Thirteen Ghosts was when it hit theaters, though, I realized that the hype of being terrified was scarier than actually seeing horror movies and playing horror games. I never really got in Resident Evil and Silent Hill, and Dead Rising is probably the first game I've played involving zombies... Well, since this game.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors was the exception to my past fear of being afraid. I was horrified of seeing I Know What You Did Last Summer, but Zombies Ate My Neighbors was some fun shit. You choose between two kids, Zeke and Julie, who are on the quest to save their neighbors from the monster apocalypse that has sprung up around them.


Zeke and Julie, or "Douche with 3D glasses" and "Bitch with a hat."

The game has 55 levels of monster-killing action, and at times can be a bit difficult. The victims in need of saving are cheerleaders, babies, dog, tourists, soldiers, explorers, teachers, guys in pools, guys grilling, and girls on trampolines. Meanwhile, you'll be fighting vampires, blobs, mummies, evil dolls, werewolves, pod plants, fish monsters, mushroom men, giant ants, giant babies, chainsaw maniacs, and, of course, zombies.


Yeah, get that zombie!

Even more outlandish is the weapons. Your primary weapon is a water gun, but you'll be able to pick up rocket launchers, silverware, six-packs of soda, blow-up clown dolls, crosses, and more. What's neat about these is they try to stay true to the monster's history - silverware kills werewolves much faster, while crosses kill vampires easily, and so on. It's pretty creative and clever.


That's a big ass baby...

The game was even better with the cooperative efforts of a friend. While racing for neighbors and points made the multiplayer a bit competitive, the level cannot be completed if all the neighbors are killed, so the two had to work together, collect and use keys to open buildings and doors, and protect each other to make it easier as a team to accomplish the goal of saving your neighbors.


OH MY GOD, THEY'RE ALL OUT OF JONAS BROTHERS POSTERS!!!

As for levels, they ranged from neighborhood areas to malls, from pyramids to castles. Zombies Ate My Neighbors had a good bit of variety, in victims, enemies, weapons, and locations, which is nice for a game back in the 16-bit era. The game was a huge success, enough to warrant a sequel from LucasArts, known as Ghoul Patrol. While the sequel was a total flop, Zombies' success was so high that it was a one of the most requested content for the Wii's Virtual Console even before the console's release, and was finally released a few days before Halloween 2009. So even if you were unable to enjoy this back in the Super Nintendo era, you can download it for your Wii for only 800 Wii Points ($8.00 US). I definitely recommend this title to anyone that enjoys zombie/monster movies, or fun top-down action games.