The Wonder Years: Week 2 - Zombies Ate My Neighbours

Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 04.25.2007

Resident Evil meets 1950s schlock horror in the hardest game you never played.

Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:

ZOMBIES ATE MY NEIGHBOURS

(LucasArts / Konami, Genesis & Super NES, 1993)

Or simply Zombies as it was known in Europe, to avoid offending our delicate sensibilities. Zombies is probably the foremost example of a cult 16-bit game (with the possible exception of next week's featured game) - critically acclaimed, it's not so obscure that 99% of gamers will never have heard of it, but at the same time you won't find many who have actually played it. Those who have had that good fortune, however, will tell you that it's a fantastic little game well worthy of your attention. Just bring some caffeine, as you'll be in for the long haul. The setup is simple but effective - a suburban neighbourhood has been overrun by a vast array of horror movie monsters, and only two water-pistol-wielding teenagers, Zeke and Julie, can save the day. Battling through hordes of undead goons with weapons ranging from footballs to bazookas, the object is to save your neighbours from being eaten. By zombies!

Zombies harks back to a time when games could be incredibly uncomplicated without sacrificing an iota of gameplay. There are few puzzles to be solved outside of the occasional maze or tricky mini-boss; the emphasis is placed entirely on saving the good guys and blasting the bad guys while racking up a tidy high score, and as a result it is hugely satisfying. The game may not operate on many levels, but it certainly masters those on which it does - as a straightforward top-down blaster against ever-increasing hordes of enemies, it's unparalleled outside of more traditional spaceship-based shooters. Of course, while delivering on the ‘fun' front, this can lead to inevitable frustration.

To put it bluntly, this game is rock hard. With upwards of twenty enemies on screen at some points, limited ammunition for the better weapons, and a massive 52 levels to get through, the odds are already stacked against the player. The real kicker, however is the password system. Rather than saving the player's progress, the game instead issues a password after every fourth level. However, using this password will take you to said level sans all your carefully accumulated soda grenades, holy water, magic potions and Pandora's Boxes. If anyone can claim to have started the game from around the halfway point and made it to the end, then they deserve all the kudos they can get. What this means, then, is that if you want a decent stab at seeing the final boss, you need to play for around ten hours straight. See what I meant about the caffeine?

Of course, if things get too tough you can always team up with a friend in co-op mode, which in theory increases your chances. In practice, naturally, you end up fighting over the best weapons, and your buddy always seems to run over a cheerleader with a lawnmower at the worst possible moment. And, if you're anything like as chauvinistic as myself, you blame your poor performance on the fact that you had to play as the girl. Sadly, due to human limitations, it's even less likely that two of you will soldier through all the way to the evil Dr Tongue, so this option was always more of a high-score blast ‘em up, and doesn't stand up quite as solidly as the single player game.

But I digress slightly. Perhaps the greatest compliment that can paid to the game is that everything about it is eminently memorable, from the gloriously cheesy organ music to the perils of being ‘blobbed', to the axe-wielding evil dolls that must have contributed several hundred additions to my swear jar, the bastards. The developers' love for their game is clearly evident, a trait that marks out many of LucasArts' early 90s offerings as classics. Although I won't claim Zombies to be quite worthy of joining the true masterpieces of the 16-bit era, I have fonder memories of this title than many of the other games in my collection, and it still takes its place for a quick blast every now and again. Sadly, these days I have neither the time to make a proper run at it, nor the intestinal fortitude to start from level 23 with only a water pistol to my name.

With the recent announcement that Zombies will be making its way to the Wii's Virtual Console, hopefully the game can be brought to the attention of both a new gaming generation, and those who missed it the first time around. It's an awesome run-and-gun blaster that has a greater shelf-life than a lot of more recent releases, and plus you can really indulge your inner geek with all the in-jokes and references. And let's face it, we're all geeks at heart aren't we?

Zombies Ate My Neighbours trivia

• The game received the sequel treatment in the Super NES-only Ghoul Patrol, which was sadly nowhere near as enjoyable, and had a much worse name.
  
• Entering a special password will take you to a hidden "level 0" entitled "Day of the Tentacle", an homage to the LucasArts classic of the same name.
  
• Each of the 52 levels is named in reference to an old-school horror / sci-fi movie or novel. If you can name every one, you are officially super cool!
  
• Zombies Ate My Neighbours is number 43 in my official all-time Top 100 games.

Tangential musings

Cheers to 411 reader Jon for pointing me towards the band Rilo Kiley in the wake of last week's column, they are indeed quite cool.

So the big debate is on - which will be more harmful to society, GTA 4 or Manhunt 2? Answers on a postcard to the usual address.

It's true - the Star Wars prequels do enhance the original trilogy. As a ‘for instance', watch Alec Guinness' performance and notice how effectively he channels Obi-Wan's past without even being aware of it.

To all those who watch TNA Impact! - if you can point me to a beatdown more brutal than the one Abyss suffered last week I'd be very impressed.

And finally…

As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - the most western-influenced game ever to come out of the east. Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.