AKA: “Zombies” (EUR), “ZAMN” (Informal)
Summary: It’s fright-night as the dead awaken to terrorise your hometown.
Review
One of the finest 2-player games ever.
Zombies excels with great level design, a sense of humour and a fantastic B-movie inspired soundtrack.
The presentation and art direction of the game is beautiful, from the hypnotic title screen to the individually designed title cards that crash forcably onto the screen before each level, the characters dripping with blood.
A diverse range of enemies accost you at every stage of the way; from your bog-standard shambling zombie to Martians and Hallowe’en-style Jason-alikes, who chase you unmercifully through winding hedge mazes, destroying scenery as they go (replete with genuinely frightening chainsaw sound effects). Some levels house a set-piece monster, generally of the freak-feauture variety. Every notable horror movie in existence is spoofed, from Frankenstein to the great Alucard himself.
On your travels between settings as diverse as shopping centres, egyptian crypts and mad scientist’s castles, you will pick up all manner of weird and wonderful weaponry, ranging from scenery-destroying bazookas to kitchen cutlery and popsicles.
The game is even more fun when you get together with a friend to take on the horde. A good team will have to split the pickups and cover eachother’s back. For instance, one player could be firing a bazooka to open a door, which leaves you temporarily vulnerable. Your team mate will have to hold off the zombies in this time. That was some poor writing, Ross.
- Trivia Point
- The reason the game had to be renamed in Europe was that there was an old John Romero film called “Zombies Ate My Family And Dog,” and the game’s original title was thought to infringe on it.
I wanna get “textified” — Ow! We’re not using paintballs — we’re using “placentae”, cha-mon!
—Ross, 2004-10-27
Download the ROM
Original Soundtrack