Zombies Ate My Neighbors

LucasArts - 1993 - SNES/Genesis

I'm cheating a little bit here by labeling Zombies Ate My Neighbors as a horror game. I don't think it's truly a horror game, but it is horror themed if you can make a distinction between those two things. So remember when LucasArts was a thing? Well back in the 90s before all they were doing was milking the Star Wars license, LucasArts used to be known for quality point-and-click adventure games like Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango. It was around this time that the creative talent at LucasArts broke away from their traditional fare of PC adventure games to produce Zombies Ate My Neighbors, a co-op shoot-em-up game for the SNES and Genesis. Yes, the game can also be played single player - but find a buddy if you can. The real fun is had in multiplayer.

So you, and hopefully a friend, will play as Zeke and Julie - two teenage neighborhood kids who witness an attack on their suburb by just about every horror movie monster you can think of. There's zombies, mummies, werewolves, aliens, vampires, you name it. Zeke and Julie arm themselves with all sorts of unconventional weaponry like squirt guns, soda cans, dinner plates and fire extinguishers to combat the threat. Each weapon's effectiveness varies depending on which enemy it's used on. For instance, mummies are weak vs. soda cans. Because, you know, reasons.

The game features 55 levels, but I'm not sure I've ever even made it past the twenty something range levels in this game. It gets pretty hard pretty quick, even with co-op help. The main objective in each level is not to kill all of the enemies, but to save all of the neighbors in each level. Each level's map is a non-linear, giant block of terrain and you must rescue each and every one of the neighbors hidden in the level. You don't have a hard time limit, but the longer you take, the more likely it is that neighbors will start being killed by the infinitely respawning monsters in each level. Once neighbors die, they won't come back - even in subsequent levels - so rescuing them as quickly as possible is paramount. The game is over when all of the neighbors die or if you lose all of your lives. Ammo management is also a key mechanic as each weapon has a finite amount of ammo. You can find more ammo, different weapons, health packs and other helpful items in each level, but you'll have to look carefully as these upgrades are often well hidden.

Summary:
There's not much else that can be said about this game. It's a classic co-op shooter that still holds up very well today. It's difficult, but it's still a great game to share with a friend. Discovering the game's secrets, fighting huge mutant babies and frantically running away from chainsaw killers in a giant hedge maze is still just as fun as it was 20+ years ago.