As a kid growing up in the early 2000s, video games were in a state of transition. The medium was going from 2D pixel art to a crude 3D art style with a ton of experimentation to see what would work.
While consoles such as the Nintendo 64 and Playstation had been released, many of my friends at school still had the older consoles like the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo at home. One still had a SNES and we’d often pick a game at random out of his cabinet to play on weekends.
One day while looking for something new, we found a game that neither of us had ever heard of called “Zombies Ate My Neighbors.” Made by Konami, who at the time was well-regarded for a lot of hit titles, we were on board to see what weird horrors were in store.
“Zombies Ate My Neighbors” is an angled-overhead action game where you and a friend take on zombies, chainsaw-wielding maniacs and other classic enemies from horror movies. However, instead of using traditional weaponry, the two main characters take out the undead horde with water guns, cherry bombs and fizzing soda.
Everything in the game screams 1990s, from the skull t-shirt and 3D glasses the male character is wearing to even some of the suburban life portrayed in the game. Throughout the course of 48 levels, you’ll travel through backyard hedge mazes, torn-down malls and abandoned caves to save your neighbors.
These neighbors range from cheerleaders, lost tourists, babies and dads barbecuing in their backyards –– all victims if not saved in time. Each level is designed to keep you running and shooting as you scour the area using the in-game radar for your neighbors while taking on the undead. You’ll even receive a point bonus if you rescue them all before an enemy takes them out.
Along the way, you’ll pick up items such as clowns that will act as bait for enemies to let you sneak by unnoticed and ice pops that will freeze the enemy in place. One of my favorite items is the magic potion that will either transform you into a large beast that’s invulnerable to damage or turn you into a brain-dead zombie where your controls are mostly unresponsive until it wears off.
While the game can be played single-player, it’s best enjoyed cooperatively with a friend to help ease the difficulty. “Zombies Ate My Neighbors” is a tough game, and though my friend and I spent hours as kids trying to save everyone, we never saw the ending to the game. Through passwords, it’s possible to pick up where you left off, but it brings with it harder challenges going forward.
“Zombies Ate My Neighbors” is available on Super Nintendo; Sega Genesis; and most recently, the Wii Virtual Console. Though there’s not a more current console to play the game on, it’s a highly enjoyable shooter that runs through the various horror tropes seen in movies.
