Send more Paramedics! Let's Play Zombies Ate My Neighbors!

Welcome boys and ghouls to the Zombies Ate My Neighbors Let's Play!



I'm your host DemoWeasel and I'll be here to guide you through this incredibly difficult horror-movie-themed-top-down-arcade-shooter! I swear I won't intentionally place any horrifying fan art in tonight's episode of Monster Movie Madness.

ZAMN was developed by LucasArts and published by Konami in 1993 for the SNES and Sega Genesis. I'll be showcasing the superior SNES version in this LP (it has more buttons available for easier inventory management, a larger screen ratio, an extra weapon, and an extra level).

ZAMN's journey to other regions of Erf came with a smidgen of bowdlerization: the PAL version of the game was released under the title Zombies with the Chainsaw Asshole enemy being replaced by an axe-wielding lumberjack.

This game is also one of those cases where the Europeans got the shaft in terms of box art quality:

US VERSION:



EURO VERSION:





D:<

That little face is my favorite thing about this cover. Nevermind the werewolves in the tree or the look on Rad Kid's face that says he just farted and is trying his hardest not to giggle.

This is one of the few games I remember that gave my older brothers a lot of trouble when we were younger. Usually they'd fight over weapons and other power-ups rather than focus on saving the neighbors, but that's kind of how they played every co-op game back then.

When they got tired of it, I tried playing it. It was a pretty breezy game for the first few levels, but then I got to Level 4 and came to the conclusion that this game wasn't kidding around and was ready and willing to kick my ass if I ever tried to beat it.

ENOUGH ABOUT HISTORY; let's meet our heroes! Will they make it through the game's 50+ levels or will they succumb to the infinitely respawning minions of EVIL?



PLAYER LEFT “Zeke”
A.K.A. Kid Vid, Bart Simpson, You
Age: 16
Blood Type: 3D

PLAYER RIGHT “Julie”
A.K.A. Tomboy, Your Friend
Age: 16
Blood Type: Purple

These two brave souls are risking their young lives to save their neighbors, some of which are probably incredibly loud at night and never give back the tools your dad lent them.

NEIGHBOR ROLL CALL



Cherry Cheerleader

Cherry is quite the peppy gal, having the cabinets to perform a cheer routine all while this zombie apocalypse is in progress. She's the first type of neighbor you meet and is aptly worth 1000 points.



Ms. Teacher

Reminding you how much of a failure you are in academics, Ms. Teacher here is the second type of neighbor you come across. It may be hard to resist temptation and let the zombies eat her, but damn it you're a good samaritan so you're going to save her anyway. She is worth 10 points because you hate her that much.



BBQ Ben

The best thing about BBQ Ben is his point value; Ben himself is worth a measly 5 points, while the sausages are worth 100 points. For some reason, Ben has a black mustache.



Tourists

These two are quite possibly the worst tourists in the world. Sure, later in the game they're seen visiting pyramids and medieval castles and such, but for most of the game they're visiting the bland-ass streets of suburban neighborhoods. Much like many of the other neighbors in the game, the tourists are completely oblivious to the zombie apocalypse occurring all around them. The tourists are worth 100 and 100 points.



Baby Herman

Where the hell are the parents in all of this? Oh, right! They're all useless. He is worth 700 points.



Rover

Rover is one of the two neighbors in the game who actually recognizes the threat posed by the various ghouls present in the game. As an enemy closes in on him, he starts to bark like mad until you save him. For some reason, a humanoid angel rises from his corpse when he is killed (apparently he's a victim of that bizarre transformation fetish). He is worth 500 points.




Billiam

It might sound crazy, but Billiam's jolly demeanor is justified regardless of the death and destruction all around him. This is because he is safe from practically every enemy in the game except for the Fishmen who appear in later levels. His death animation is also unique from the rest of the neighbors'! He is worth 100 points.



Sgt. Jimjoe

Sgt. Jimjoe is the second neighbor that recognizes the zombies as a threat to his very existence. Typically, he has a couple of bazookas lying at his feet when you find him. He starts screaming like a little girl whenever an enemy gets close enough to him (is this supposed to be some sort of commentary on the military or something? IT'S UP TO YOU TO DECIDE) but doesn't run away from some reason. Another of Jimjoe's unique traits is his ability to take two hits from an enemy before dying (all other neighbors can only take one hit). He may have weapons but the asshole doesn't help you fight the army of the undead. He is worth 100 points.




Professor Doctor

I bet this jerk was the one who started all this zombie nonsense. Everyone knows archaeologists/scientists are always to blame for the bad things that happen in horror movies! He is worth 100 points but should be worth -3.

Lucy the Trampoline Girl

Lucy is the only neighbor in the game who cannot be killed. As such, she only appears in a handful of levels, bouncing up and down on her trampoline. After saving her, you get to use the trampoline she was on! BOING! The higher up she goes, the uglier she gets! She is worth 300 points.

Enough about pointless neighboring! It's time to moiderize some brain-eating scum!



I wonder what this game is about you guys.



The game wastes no time dropping Zeke right into the middle of the action; the HUD is comprised of a health bar, a weapons slot, an items slot, and a neighbor-locating radar that can be turned on and off with the press of the R button (the Genesis version has it on all time within a black border that houses the rest of the HUD as well). The first enemy type we encounter that also happens to be the only enemy type in the entire level; yep, you guessed it: ZOMBIES. Zombies are just as brainless here as they are in any other game. They wander around aimlessly, speeding up and homing in on Zeke only when they catch sight of him. When up against one, Zeke can easily annihilate it in a puddle of molten goo and bones with the aid of his Water Gun, a basic pistol-like weapon that kills zombies in one hit but is practically useless against most other enemies. Here, we find five neighbors practically right away: Ms. Teacher, Cherry, Baby Herman, Ben, and the Tourists. Zombies will also home in on neighbors if they wander close enough to them.



The first screen here showcases a breakable wall in the hedges; Zeke can't access this now, but once the game is finished he'll return to this spot to find a super-neat secret! Wandering away from the secret spot, Zeke finds another weapon to add to his arsenal: Soda! Rather than killing zombies slowly with high levels of high fructose corn syrup, the sodas act as grenades, exploding upon impact with an enemy or the ground. They are useful for taking out small groups of enemie- A PUPPY! He is very happy to see Zeke!



Moving further along, Zeke finds two more Cherries cheering in front of a shed or something. To get through doors, Zeke needs to find Keys, which do exactly what you expect them to do. Keys become a necessity the more you go through the game, with some neighbors in a level being kept locked behind doors. Zeke runs from a hungry zombie and then explodes a soda into his face. People in these suburbs seem to have a lot of trampolines, so Zeke takes advantage of them to hop over walls and into areas otherwise inaccessible through any other means.




Here, Zeke tries out a weapon he found back in the shed: the Fire Extinguisher. This weapon is more defensive than anything else, actually, because it does no damage at all and only freezes enemies in place for a set number of seconds. Some enemies stay stunned longer than others! Jumping into a pool, Zeke discovers that while he's in water, he can't use any items or weapons. Lame! He saves the last neighbor in the level and hops out of the pool to have a door leading to the next level magically appear out of nowhere.

After every level, Zeke gets a results screen detailing how many lives he has left, his current score, and how many neighbors out of ten he managed to save in the level. When a neighbor gets eaten, the total count of neighbors to save drops by one. Once all the neighbors are eaten, the game's over. By racking up a high score, Zeke gets various bonuses, including score bonuses, extra lives, and even an extra neighbor to save if some have been previously eaten.

That concludes our broadcast day. Please tune in next week to Monster Movie Madness for a double feature: EVENING OF THE UNDEAD and TERROR IN AISLE FIVE.

Oh! Before I forget, here are some tunes to accompany your reading:

Title Screen

Zombie Panic

It's because Rover's secretly the victim of a transformation fetishist. The last ten years were spent part of a living hell crafted by someone else's (probably Billiam's) horrible, twisted desires.

Also: D:<

Nope! That would have actually made for a very interesting or very frustrating experience considering how difficult this game already is.

D:< Is plainly the best zombie.

Plainly.

I just rented Zombies Ate My Neighbors once or twice back in the day, but I'll definitely be watching this LP. This looks a lot more intriguing to me than it did back when I was more of an SNES platformer/RPG nut.

As for the covers, the EU version may get the short end of the stick, but there's something I find amusing about a bunch of Zombie Doc Browns bursting out of the ground there.

Playing by yourself?! This game is hard enough with 2-players! Good luck, I salute you.

I actually found this game to be way harder with two people; usually when I play with my brothers or something we can only get to level 13-14.

When playing solo, I can typically get up to the 40s.

I've only beaten it like two or three times.

I think the furthest I ever got in this game was to a pyramid.

The Giant Baby was the best boss ever.

Yeah. The game is awesome but brutal. The password system becomes particularly useless the farther along you go. What use is it being able to start back in the deep levels when none of your weapons are retained?

Looking forward to the rest of the LP!

Wait! This game has over 40 levels?! What the hell? Also I think this LP needs more custom art Shinji! We're holding you up to the same standards we hold Loki to!

Looking forward to this!

PS I never got past the 4th level

I never got more than a couple levels into this game. I'm looking forward to what kind of madness is coming.

Without quote marks, this is how I read this at first. Thanks.

Me too, and I assumed that would have made up for the boxart.

Dozens of Chainsaw Assholes. And giant ants.

I played this game so much with my cousins at my grandma's house, along with SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE!

top-down co-op arcade shooters are a fine thing.

This game is insane and awesome and I love it. I have no idea how you're going to manage to take screenshots of levels past 24 while playing.

I have the "take screenshot" key mapped to the other shoulder button on my joypad. It makes taking screenshots a cinch!

Hell-o again, everyone! Are you ready for another exciting entry in Monster Movie Madness? Good, because today we have a ghoulish double-feature lined up that will make all the kiddies cry home to their mummies!

AND NOW, OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION



Level 2 has some cool surprises waiting in store for Zeke, and it is also the first level in the game to incorporate a (somewhat clumsy) day-to-night transition. Will the morning sun vanquish this terrible night? Or will a bright red water gun do the trick? Let's play some more Zombies ate my Neighbors to find out!



Zeke is dropped off by unknown forces near a long row of destroyable hedges. Since he doesn't have anything that can tear those things down, he just has to ignore them for now. As he moves right of his starting point however, Zeke encounters the first neighbor in the level scouting about aimlessly while a hideous walking corpse shambles alongside some Bazookas. Bazookas are one of the most powerful ranged weapons in the game, and their power is balanced by the small amount of ammo you get from each pick-up. This is the first weapon Zeke can utilize to destroy hedges, doors, and other breakable objects. The third screen shows the first step in the transition from day to night and a rather poorly-placed pool with an ever-jovial Billiam chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool right inside it. Zeke reluctantly saves the smug bastard and moves on.



As Zeke moves past the pool, he comes across five more neighbors lounging around a house. Those cracks indicate breakable walls that can be destroyed with the bazooka. Of the five neighbors in this area, Dr. Professor and Ms. Teacher are the ones who are in the greatest amount of danger. Generally, most monsters can't kill neighbors if they're offscreen, but sometimes a zombie happens to be walking toward the Dr. as you move up to save him and can kill him if Zeke doesn't reach him quickly enough. Ms. Teacher is in danger because a zombie spawns right by her, but she can be saved pretty easily. Rather than wasting precious bazooka ammo on the breakable walls, Zeke just enters through the conveniently open back door and saves the unaccompanied toddler inside. I know that stupid babies need the most attention, but Ms. Teacher was in greater danger at the time!



Oh-ho, what's this?



Whoa, wait! Don't drink that Zeke! You don't know where that's been!



...

YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!



“RAWWWWW!!! WHO'S A BEAST AND A HALF? I'M A BEAST AND A HALF! I'LL SCARE YOUR DAD! AIN'T NO STOPPIN' THIS TRAIN, BABY!”

The chaos ends pretty quickly and Zeke returns to his 'tard self. Here, Zeke also comes across one of the few possible explanations for all the zombie-outbreak madness going on in his neighborhood. What kind of jerkass leaves drums of clearly-marked toxic waste in a suburb?

So yeah, Zeke comes across one of my favorite items in the game: the Potion! This red liquid turns Zeke from his boring old self into a wall-punching, zombie-exploding, cheerleader-saving machine! In his beastly state, Zeke is invulnerable and does some pretty crazy amounts of damage, but he can't use any of his weapons or items nor can he go swimming in bodies of water (attempting to do so just prompts him to shake his head and say “No”). I don't know exactly how long the potion's effects last, but it's a long enough time to cause some serious destruction. Let's finish up this level and move onto the next!



Terror in Aisle Five is the first level of ZAMN to take place in that classic zombie-horror setting we all know as the shopping mall. What sort of horrid creatures and insane bargains await Zeke within the confines of this decrepit mall-soleum? Let's tune in and find out!



Zeke spawns on the mall's ground level next to a couple of clueless soldiers and a baby on an escalator. If he's quick enough, Zeke can save the soldiers before zombies spawn on the ground floor and make his way to Baby Herman with plenty of time to spare. A nice little detail the developers incorporated into ZAMN is how running along with an escalator speeds Zeke along more quickly while running against one slows him down considerably. On the second floor, Zeke finds a cheerleader presumably cheering for outrageous back-to-school sales. The dithered meshes you can see in the first and third screens can be destroyed with a single bazooka shell.



Zeke runs up into the nearest shop to find a pair of tourists taking pictures of Fun Baby�, Mit�, and Tim� brand products. I have no idea what Tim� is supposed to be, but it's everywhere in this damn mall so it has to be some good shit. I do know about Fun Babies though, and let me tell you, these little bastards are some of the most annoying enemies in the entire game. They're persistent, tough to kill, and can DUCK BENEATH FIRED BAZOOKA SHELLS. Also, they throw axes at you from across the screen, spawn in groups all over the place, and have the audacity to randomly transform into a Fire Imp upon being killed. Seriously, look at how much of Zeke's health was drained with his first encounter with these abominations. Luckily, fire imps can be quickly disposed of with a single well-placed soda.



The next shop here contains a lone cheerleader and a pair of the ever-useful Running Shoes. These shoes let Zeke zip around a level with ease, but the effect doesn't last very long. On his way to the next shop, Zeke comes across Popsicles, which are pretty weak against most enemies but prove to be Zeke's most effective weapon against a certain enemy we'll come across later in the game. Another special item is conveniently placed right next to another of our cheerleader neighbors: the Mystery Potion. The mystery potion has 5 different randomly-occurring effects: zombification (Zeke turns green and wanders around the level on his own for a while, killing any neighbors he comes across), full health restoration, loss of one hit point, invincibility, and the same effect the red potion has. I only use these when I'm in a state of desperation!

At the very bottom of the level, Zeke finds the last two neighbors that require saving. After rescuing another baby, Zeke decides to try out a Decoy on a zombie to reach the tourists on the other side of the wall. Decoys are shaped like those inflatable clowns that are meant to be punched in the face and cause any nearby enemies to flock to it and attack. They make this awful clown laugh and burst once they take enough damage. After saving the tourists, the Exit door appears and Zeke high-tails it out of the mall, ending the level.



Sorry to say, kiddies, but this week's installment of Monster Movie Madness has come to a close. Be sure to tune in next week for another double feature of monstrous proportions: Chainsaw Hedgemaze Mayhem and Weird Kids on the Block.



THIS CONCLUDES OUR BROADCAST DAY

I recall from my one time renting this game that:

A) FUN DOLLS are THE WORST THINGS EVER

B) Being a werewolf is AWESOME!

Man, now I want to go ahead and play the game! On my Wiis Virtual Console! For only 800 Nintendo Points!

Before I forget again, here are the accompanying level tunes:

Evening of the Undead - the YouTube comments are great because it's a bunch of idiots arguing over what the zombie groans are supposed to be saying.

Terror in Aisle Five - Not one of my favorites, but it's there.

The more destruction you cause the longer the red potion lasts. Thats why its better to save it for bosses and enemies that need a lot of punching.

Man this game is weird, and I bet it gets weirder!

Actually I'm secretly really enjoying it, nice job so far Shinji.

Giiiiiiant babies,
in the mall
Makes me happy
When I have the gall

I think this is the only game that lets you punch a human baby.

To be fair, he was being kind of a dick.