Review Overview
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
While Zombies Ate My Neighbors is not scary, it is a perfect Halloween all-night game with a friend. Most importantly, this is one of the few games I would give a perfect score.
If you read this site, there’s a good chance you have a deep love for 16-bit games from the ’90s.
SEGA always seemed like the definitive ’90s company with the Genesis rising in 1989 and the Dreamcast being discontinued in 2001. The company’s prominence perfectly bookends the decade of grunge music and the the Fresh Prince. But there is another company that was also at its best at that time: LucasArts.
Today, most people would think of the recently restructured LucasArts, as a factory churning out Star Wars games. However, for PC gamers during the era of the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga, the word LucasArts conjures memories of Sam and Max, Maniac Mansion, and Monkey Island. This was a very different LucasArts. This was a LucasArts focused on humor more than Sith. Zombies Ate My Neighbors (ZAMN) is a game that epitomizes this era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO7BXvX5_1s
ZAMN does remind me of a 16-bit computer game. It’s a wacky humor that came from a specific era before mainstream success. In the game you take the role of either Zeke or Julie as they save the remaining uneaten neighbors from the horde of zombies, chainsaw maniacs, body replicants, and giant babies. To aid you in this quest is the weapon lineup that would make any Earthbound fan happy. You use waterguns, blow-up clowns, and soda pop.
The visual style is a perfect mix between the 1950s and the MTV Generation. Zeke wears 3D glasses and pumped up kicks. The music is a perfect compliment of juxtaposing the creepy with the downright whimsical. In a lot of ways think about Plants VS Zombies.
The best part of the game is the couch cooperative play. This game is one of the best examples of co-op done right. The game features 55 levels that border on puzzles. The levels get much harder and if you fail to save a neighbor, you get one less neighbor the next round. This makes you desperately try to save everyone.
If you do lose someone, both players can try to work together to increase points and revive the neighbors. Where some games punish you in a way for cooperative game play (i.e. Battletoads), this game rewards you for working together (i.e. ToeJam and Earl).
While ZAMN is not scary, it is a perfect Halloween all-night game with a friend. Most importantly, this is one of the few games I would give a perfect score. The fun factor and replay value are amazing. This game is definitely in the must-have category.
Pros
- Excellent Co-op experience
- Replay Value
- LucasArts style Humor
Cons
- This game can get very difficult
