“Zombies ate my neighbors. But don’t be surprised if your friends are missing when you hear the sound of the chainsaw hissing!”
Within the dank confines of his medieval castle, mad scientist Dr. Tongue has conjured an army of movie monsters—vampires, mummies, big brain aliens, masked chainsaw killers, pod people, werewolves, spiders, ants, swamp men, killer dolls, and of course, the undead. When he unleashes this schlocky motley crew on the nearby suburbs to harass and gobble up unwary denizens, it’s up to two teenagers to save the day.
In Zombies Ate My Neighbors, a fluid and frenetic top down shooter from LucasArts embellished with superlative B movie aesthetics, players are tasked with rescuing their fellow humans and exterminating their hometown’s colorful invaders, eventually taking the fight to a smorgasbord of themed levels (ancient tombs, haunted mansions, mysterious islands, shopping malls, etc.). Nimble fingers and on-the-fly resource management are required as players utilize an absurd arsenal of weapons in order to conquer the game’s 48 stages (plus a handful of bonus levels), which bear charming names like “Chainsaw Hedgemaze Mayhem” and “Cheerleaders vs. the Monsters.” Weed-whackers, water pistols, silverware, crucifixes, soda cans, fire extinguishers, blow-up clowns, tomatoes, Martian bubble guns—each has their niche use against a particular enemy, while bazookas and flamethrowers provide more obvious utility against the endless ranks of baddies (in a pinch, the bazooka can also be used to get through a locked door in lieu of locating the key). Secret sneakers and magic potions offer temporary power-ups.
Movement and combat are surprisingly smooth, ensuring the game’s increasing difficulty is not a turnoff but rather an opportunity for improvement. Indeed, beating the game without losing a single neighbor may be a feat that only takes a couple of hours, but few have done it. Scratch that. Few have finished the game, period. Even with a co-op buddy this is a notoriously difficult, white-knuckle type of game that requires quick thinking and level memorization if one wants to vanquish the handful of bosses—the titanic toddler, the mothership, the giant spider, Dr. Tongue’s floating head—and live to tell the tale.
On top of the extremely solid arcade action are layered vibrant monster designs, diverse environments, throwback music, and an irreverent punk horror ethos encapsulated in the 3D glasses-and-high-tops look of the primary player character. This detailed attention to style gives the game an incredible tongue-in-cheek personality that settles into the background during the fast-paced gameplay but lingers in the memory something fierce. It truly is a heartfelt love letter to horror movies, from the cheesy sci-fi romps of yore to slasher flicks.
Though LucasArts has essentially turned into a Star Wars spinoff factory, Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a reminder that they used to be a fun studio that delivered games with a considerable emphasis on fundamentally engaging gameplay. Considering its rescue-oriented goals and its quirky approach to zombie combat, it feels like a spiritual predecessor to Capcom’s mall-bound Dead Rising, a personal favorite of mine. Like that game, Zombies Ate My Neighbors was followed by a less inspired sequel, Ghoul Patrol, that was paired with the original game in a recent port to current-gen consoles.