Zombies (ate my neighbors) Review - SNES roms games

Zombies (ate my neighbors) Review - SNES roms games

Developed by LucasArts and published by Konami, Zombies came onto the market in 1994 and ran under the name "Zombies at my Neighbors" in the USA. The game is still quite popular even today and made it to Switch, PS4, and Windows in 2021. Popular out of nostalgia or because it's a really good game?

Atmosphere / Story

In Zombies of games SNES Roms, there is actually a lot of atmospheres, but it's not a particularly dark horror atmosphere, because the game has a strong satirical character. Zombies are somewhere between horror and comedy. Zombies are the predecessor of Ghoul Patrol.

The environment is detailed and guides you through many horror movie scenarios in more or less funny ways. The aim here is to reflect a trashy, cliche-horror atmosphere in which teenagers take over the action. Killer babies run around with knives and every now and then someone jumps out of the bushes with a chainsaw, suddenly there are aliens everywhere... Everything is exaggerated but consistent in its own way.

3.75/5

graphic

Both the characters and the environment are quite detailed. Unfortunately, the structure of the levels sometimes looks as if they were created with a random number generator, which is not the case, since every building, every area, and every map is very square.

Zombies run mostly smoothly, but can occasionally have minor performance problems, which are rarely disruptive.

3.75/5

Game Mechanics / Gameplay

In terms of gameplay  Zombies of games SNES at TechToRoms.Com is reasonably close to Chaos Engine, just without the RPG elements. It's all focused on the action. The feel of the game doesn't change depending on which girl or boy you choose.

Weapons and other strange objects can be found throughout the game. The weird Uzi you walk around with is the default weapon though, plus you can throw forks, cans, plates, and other junk. In addition, there are special weapons, such as the cold spray, which freezes opponents for a short time. At first, you might think, "ah, it's all the same shit, only the graphics have been changed" - but no. For each weapon, there is an opponent against whom it is particularly useful, such as the fork against werewolves (supposed to be made of silver), the hedge trimmer against alien plants, etc. In addition, each weapon is shot or thrown in a different way.

Additionally, there are passive items such as First Aid Kits, Mystery Potions, potions that turn the player into a rampaging Hulk, etc., which makes the whole run-and-gun affair a lot less dull as you have to ration items and use them judiciously.

Luckily there is an occasional boss fight that breaks the monotony a bit. Nevertheless, you do the same thing in most levels: look for 10 survivors and thus open the way to the next level. In the later levels, it is only 1 survivor.

4 / 5

music and sound effects

Partly dull, rarely atmospheric. Sometimes the music is quite dark and fits, then again mocking or action-packed. You couldn't decide here, it disturbs the atmosphere a bit. The songs are okay, but they don't stand out due to their complexity.

Fortunately, the sound effects are good and almost always fit. Here one should have placed much more value on creepy sounds instead of squeaky, slimy noises.

3.25/5

steering

Running and using weapons is easy. Changing the items and weapons takes some getting used to, even after several hours I still slip away in this regard. It would probably have been better if the shoulder buttons had been used for this.

Additionally, it's possible to activate a radar when you're not running around as a mutant yourself, which will present you with the locations of survivors, making completing each mission a lot easier.

However, what can be quite annoying is the hit detection, because you have to be in line with almost all opponents in order to hit them. That means if you throw or shoot something that should basically hit an opponent's head, you just don't hit. In addition, it is not possible to stand and turn while doing so in order to be able to throw or shoot better. Instead, you always take a step in the right direction, which often costs you your head and neck.

2.75/5

fun factor

Uh yeah, Zombies is fun but not overly so, at least for me. This is primarily due to the non-existent plot, plus the monotony that sets in after a few levels.

It's good that there are secret paths on some levels, but that's not enough for me. The game lacks something like "alternative routes", which could make each run different, but that's exactly what doesn't happen.

In addition, there is a lack of fine-tuning in many places, such as in the boss fights, which sometimes have very extreme plot patterns. Here and there the hit detection frustrates you, especially when the opponent is 5 times your size and you simply can't hit them because you somehow hit the wrong point.

What actually makes Zombies worth playing is the cooperative mode. Although this mode can also suffer from the fact that both players share a screen and can therefore get stuck, a split screen would have been smarter here.

3.75/5

Conclusion

Zombies offer its very own shooter concept, which works wonderfully for two. On its own, however, the combination of the high level of difficulty, not-so-good hit detection, and creative monotony will eventually bore you.

Zombies are therefore not necessarily recommended for the solo player, but it is for the cooperative two-player mode because this is the only way to counteract the level of difficulty.

I think the fact that the enemies appear endlessly is one of the sticking points that should have been changed. Cleverly placed smaller enemy crowds and a bit of storyline could have made this a solid 2D Resident Evil knockoff.