Zombies Ate My Neighbors

One or two players take control of the protagonists, Zeke and Julie, in order to rescue the titular neighbors from monsters often seen in horror movies. Aiding them in this task are a variety of weapons and power-ups that can be used to battle the numerous enemies in each level. Various elements and aspects of horror movies are referenced in the game with some of its more violent content being censored in various territories such as Europe and Australia, where it is known only as Zombies.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

The mad scientist Dr. Tongue has created a wide variety of monsters within the bowels of his castle and has unleashed them on nearby suburban areas, terrorizing its inhabitants. Two teenage friends, Zeke and Julie, having witnessed the attack of said monsters, arm themselves with a great deal of unconventional weaponry and items to combat them and save their neighbors from certain death. Ultimately, they will come face to face with Dr. Tongue himself and defeat him to put an end to his plans.

The player can choose between Zeke and Julie, or play both in a two-player mode. They navigate suburban neighborhoods, shopping malls, pyramids, haunted castles, and other areas, destroying a variety of horror-movie monsters, including vampires, werewolves, huge demonic babies, spiders, squidmen, evil dolls, aliens, UFOs, giant ants, blobs, giant worms, mummies, chainsaw-wielding maniacs, "pod people" (aggressive alien clones of the players), and the game's namesake, zombies. In each of the 48 stages, which includes seven optional bonus levels, the players must rescue numerous types of neighbors, including barbecue chefs, teachers, babies, tourists, archeologists, soldiers, dogs, and cheerleaders. Once all neighbors on a level have been killed by zombies or saved by the players touching them, a door opens that will take the player to the next stage.[3]

All types of neighbors will be killed if an enemy touches them, preventing them from being saved for the remainder of the game or until an "Extra Bonus Victim" is awarded. On some levels, daytime gradually turns to night. Upon nightfall, tourists transform into werewolves and cannot be saved; the game counts it as if they had been killed. At least one neighbor must be saved from each level to progress to the next. The game is lost if the players lose all of their lives or if all of the neighbors are killed. Scoring points earns players neighbors to save and extra lives. Each level has at most ten neighbors, and each neighbor type is worth a different number of points.

In Zombies Ate My Neighbors, the player takes the role of a male or female protagonist (Zeke or Julia), fighting vampires, mummies, zombies, and other horrifying creatures. The goal is to destroy these monsters, survive the 50+ levels (not including secret ones), and rescue the neighbors that have survived the onslaught.

There is a defined number of neighbors who can be saved on every level. When they are all rescued, an "Exit" door opens, and the player advances to the next level. The levels range from mall and grocery store to beaches and football fields. Using different weapons such as bazooka or water gun, Zeke and Julia have to kill regular enemies and bosses (huge babies, dragons, ants, and others) at the end of the levels. Despite the horror theme, the game's setting contains humorous elements as well. A two-player cooperative mode is available.

In Zombies, players navigate more than 40 top-down levels in pursuit of various neighbors who must be saved before they are turned into mince meat by werewolves, chainsaw-wielding maniacs, or tiny dolls of death. Boss stages pop up every so often, and almost every level has a new theme and set of enemies to destroy with your arsenal of weapons or sprint past. Your default water pistol takes down the basic zombies with a single squirt, but other creatures, like a green one from a certain lagoon, are weak to other tools, like a six pack of soda that explodes upon hitting the ground. Moving and shooting are quick and still feel really good, even 28 years after originally launching on the SNES and Sega Genesis. The cool, cartoonish monster designs remain a standout, and without question this is the better game of the two.

The "ate my neighbors" part of the title screen was chopped off, resulting in a noticably stretched logo. According to the game's designer, Michael Ebert, this was due to the European publisher wanting a simpler name for the game.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors is your classic Zombie game created by LucasArts and published by Konami. Scores of B-movie monsters, from the eponymous zombies to stock werewolves, mummies, chainsaw maniacs, and even weirder and more obscure beasties, have overrun suburbia, and two ordinary teens must race through maze-like levels to rescue all the neighbors before the monsters catch them. Huge levels, lots and lots of enemies, creative weapons, and tons of B-movie references abound.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a run and gun video game developed by LucasArts and originally published by Konami for the Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis consoles in 1993. One or two players take control of protagonists Zeke and Julie in order to rescue the titular neighbors from monsters often seen in horror movies. Aiding them in this task are a variety of weapons and power-ups that can be used to battle the numerous enemies in each level. Various elements and aspects of horror movies are referenced in the game with some of its more violent content being censored in various territories such as Europe and Australia, where it is known only as Zombies.

The player chooses between two characters, Zeke and Julie, or both in a two-player mode. They navigate suburban neighborhoods, shopping malls, pyramids, haunted castles and other areas, destroying a variety of horror-movie monsters, including vampires, werewolves, huge demonic babies, squidmen, evil dolls, aliens, UFOs, giant ants, blobs, giant worms, and the game's namesake, zombies. In each of the 55 stages, which includes seven optional bonus levels, the goal is to rescue the surviving neighbors by touching them, at which point a door opens that will take the player to the next stage.[1] If the player does not find a neighbor fast enough, an enemy will kill them when touched, preventing them from being saved for the remainder of the game or until an "Extra Bonus Victim" is awarded. At least one neighbor must be saved from each level to progress to the next. The game is lost if the players lose all of their lives or if all of the neighbors are killed. Scoring points earns players neighbors to save and extra lives. Each level has at most ten neighbors, and each neighbor type is worth a different amount of points.

Hey, where's that scary music coming from? Yikes! It's Zombies Ate My Neighbors, where you appear in every demented horror flick ever to make you hurl ju-jubes. What are Zeke and Julie, our two wholesome teenage stars doing in a 16-bit game like this?! Trying to save the nice neighbors, cheerleaders and babies from a fate worse than polyester! Who could put this SLICE of suburbia in such goose-pimply hysteria? Zombies, relentless Chainsaw Maniacs, Mummies, Evil Dolls that just won't die, Lizard Men, Blobs, Vampires, Giant Ants, Martians and more. Will these crazy kids survive the night?

Zombies Ate My Neighbors loosely follows a plot where Dr. Tongue creates a horde of monsters to take over the world, and it falls upon two kids, Zeke and Julie, to stop them. However, that plot only exists in the instruction manual. In-game, this is more about homages to classic monster movies and the more modern horror movies of the time. You may start off fighting against zombies, but it doesn't take long before that expands to mummies, hockey mask-wearing maniacs wielding chainsaws, blobs, and giant babies. Your arsenal is more playful than serious, as you use the power of squirt guns, tomatoes, and silverware to fend off enemies.

The game is presented as a top-down shooter, though not a twin-stick one, considering the platforms this was originally released on. Unlike many other titles of this type, you aren't here to kill the monsters and make it to the exit. Instead, the game takes a page from the likes of Alien Syndrome, as your mission is to find all of the neighbors and rescue them before making an escape. Some of the neighbors fit the tropes of old horror movies, like the hapless soldier or the cheerleader, while others are normal, like a kid on a trampoline, a guy lounging in a pool, and even a dog. Picking up the neighbors is all you need to do to rescue them, and picking up the final neighbor immediately creates an exit next to you, so you can enter the next level.

That design change transforms the focus of the game, as it becomes more of a puzzle and a race rather than a pure run-and-gun title. You'll still kill monsters because they get in your way and they can kill the neighbors. You'll spend a good chunk of your time trying to navigate the maze-like levels to rescue neighbors faster than the foes can get to them, and the enjoyment comes from being able to figure that out while also not getting killed. Conversely, the title doesn't punish you harshly if you let some neighbors die, as you can still beat the level and move on if you fail to save everyone.

There are only a few things that people might have issues with, and they're the same issues mentioned all those years ago. The password system is helpful, considering that you'll go through roughly 47 levels, not counting the seven bonus stages, which are doled out every four levels. Furthermore, the passwords don't keep track of your inventory, so you'll always start with water guns. That doesn't seem too mean until you take into account that the game gets really tough before the halfway point, so unless you go in with a friend and can manage to correctly identify where any neighbors would be, you'll have a hell of a time trying to get through this one normally. 041b061a72