Zombie time!
Settings used: Use WIP1 timing, Enable Left + Right/Up + down, Volume Envelope Height Reading
This is my first SNES game that I've made a tool-assisted run for but it sure was fun making the run ;) It's also my first run where I control 2 characters simultaniously. Big thanks to my girlfriend for this. We played this at console and then I got convinced that I should do a 2-player run. This saved loads of time (more about this later).
Zombies Ate My Neighbours is a really fun and hard game. I would describe it as an action game in "zelda-view". You can play 2 players simultaniously in your quest to rescue your neighbours who are about to become lunch for legions of monsters.
There are a total of 55 levels including the 6 bonus levels and the credit level. It's a big game.
Hmm. I can start with the weapons. There are loads of different and cool weapons in the game. You start with the water pistol, which is not that good, and then you can find various weapons all over the game. I don't use that many weapons though since I don't want to kill too many enemies (more about that later). The weapon I use most though is the bazooka. It's good for blast up doors, walls or hedges to make paths through the levels.
There are also loads of useful items to collect and which you will use.
The most useful are:
- Speed shoes: Let you zoom through the levels at an incredible speed for 15 seconds. At some levels they are quite necessary in order to obtain some victims that are about to transform into werewolves. Also, swimming in water does not consume the time I can run with them.
- Skeleton keys: It's a special key which must be used on special doors. The special skeleton doors can't be shot apart with the bazooka.
- Potions: There are 3 kinds of potions in the game. Red potion, blue potion and mystery potion. The red potion transforms you into a beast who is invulnerable and can strike down doors and stuff.
- Pandora's boxes: These are smart bombs really. They attack pretty much everything on screen (I've read that they barely attack Frankenstein but I don't fight neither of them). I use them vs bosses to deal some heavy damage but also to avoid taking damage since you become invulnerable while using it.
The blue potion transform you into a ghost, who also is invulnerable but can also walk on water.
The mystery potion can do 1 of 6 things each time one drink it.
- You turn into a beast
- You turn into a ghost
- You get speed shoes
- You regain some health
- You lose some health
- You turn into a zombie (this is not good ;P)
The mystery potion is "kinda" hard to manipulate so you get the decired effect when you want it. It's harder when both players must transform into the same thing simultaniously.
Oh, when finishing the game there are a different bonus screen, counting how many monsters of each kind you've killed. Because of this it's decired to kill as few enemies as possible during the whole game. I do however kill a bunch of enemies. This is because some of them where in my way, some would have taken longer time to avoid and some I just killed for the fun. This means I lost a few frames at the end of the game because I choosed to make the run more interesting. I don't regret this. In total I lost maybe 5-10 seconds to aesthic choices. I don't really regret this either ;)
Hmm. The next thing that comes to mind is the screen. Both characters moves around on the same screen and it's sort of extendable, but only to a certain point. This means that one player can trap the other one into walls and/or corners by walking to the other end of the screen. Thus I have to wait sometimes for the other player to catch up with the first one. I don't see this as a problem though (and it's not avoidable either) because it almost always happens something.
Also, by playing 2 players at the same time I could almost always keep moving when the other player was on a detour to collect a victim or whatever. The only bad thing I can think of is that I need 2 pair of speed shoes every time I wan't to run faster. This is not a big problem either.
Hmm. A few questions I can see coming up:
Could I have got more speed shoes and skeleton keys?
The answer is yes and no. I do need most of the stuff I pick up and
if I were to skip a skeleton key somewhere it would have caused me problems later on for sure.
Same goes for the speed shoes.
Also, it is possible to manipulate cupboards, trashcans and other stuffs that drops items but you must also have a bit of luck.
Sometimes they just refuses to give me what I wan't and thus I have to get other items which are also useful.
There are loads of bonuses I have to avoid to save time. The most common one is the "You saved more victims"-bonus. This is gained
by one player rescuing more victims than the other. Thus I must collect 5 victims with each player in every stage (exception is level 48 and the credit level
but I collect 5 each there anyways). After that there are weed cutting bonus (which I got by accident first on level 11), "break many walls!"-bonus, destroy vampire bonus etc.
One bonus I can't avoid is the "Bonus victim" one. At every 40.000 points I get an extra life (which takes minor time). When I got max lives I get points instead.
Special thanks to: Nitsuju, Rick, Zurreco, Xkeeper and the rest of the guys in the Zombies-thread at the forum who helped me in various ways.
Nitsuju discovered a glitch with the radar that looks sort of cool. If the "radar" is set on autofire the game forgets to update the characters animations. I didn't use this though because I found it irritating with the blinking and noise.
The levels
Level 1. Zombie Panic
The first level. In order to obtain the bonus level I have to get a bazooka.
I figured to get one from the trashcan was the faster alternative (rather than getting one from the cupboard).
This caused some minor delay but it's nothing that disturbs that much. At the end I also get a weed killer for the next level.
Bonus level. Day of the tentacle
Not much to add. The placement of victims forces me around the level.
I do save the girl at the trampoline, even though it might not seem like it.
I don't have to pick up the extra life but I had to wait for the door to appear so I decided to take it.
Level 2. Evening of the undead.
Nothing special really. A pretty straight forward level. I open a couple of cupboards while waiting for the dude to rescue an explorer.
Level 3. Terror in aisle 5.
Nothing special here either. I unload 2 clowns at the end for the fun.
Level 4. Chainsaw Hedgemaze Mayhem
It's a maze of hedges that needs to be ripped down. I transform the lady into a beast to save time and bazooka ammo.
Level 5. Weird kids on the block
This level was a gold mine. I was able to pick up several skeleton keys for later use without much delay.
The cupboards also were sort of in my way so I got pretty much useful items here, such as pandoras boxes and keys.
I also glitched up the weed cutter in the beginning. You can hear that I pick it up but then it's still there!
I think it's a glitch.
Level 6. Pyramid of Fear.
I use speed shoes here to speed it up.
Level 7. Dr Tongues castle of terror
In this level there are tourists that are about to transform into
werewolves very soon. Thus I use speed shoes again. Other than that it's a pretty
straight forward level.
Level 8. Titanic Toddler
It's a boss level ;) I actually collect 11 victims here but it's not causing any problems in the bonus screen afterwards.
(I'm aiming for 100%)
Level 9. Toxic Terrors
I pick up another bonus level here.
Bonus level. Mushroom men
All victims are around where I start. I have to go on a small detour to save
an explorer. It's not avoidlable though.
Level 10. No assembly required.
It's one of those levels with loads of walls to break. I transform the dude into a beast
here to save ammo and time. I kill the soda machine at the end for fun. Didn't waste time.
Level 11. Weeds gone bad.
This level is filled with weed. Uhm, I just cut the necessary weed down and then move on.
Level 12. Mars need cheerleaders.
To get to the bonus level from here I need to rescue all cheerleaders (which I would have done anyways).
Bonus level. Cheerleaders vs the monsters.
The position of the victims force me to take the upper route first.
Level 13. Chopping mall
A pretty straight forward level.
Level 14. Seven Meals for seven zombies
I use speed shoes to get some tourists in time before they gets evil.
I also use a pandoras box to save an explorer. It didn't waste time because I had to
wait for the spikes anyways.
Level 15. Dinner on monster island
Not much here.
Level 16. Ants
A huge maze. I divided the dude and the lady to complete it faster.
Some waiting occurs but it's not avoidable (and it's still much faster compared to
1 player only)
Level 17. Office of the doomed
A pretty hard level actually. The tourists will transform into werewolves very soon
and they force me to run around the level.
Bonus level. Someplace very warm.
I just run through
Level 18. Squidmen of the deep
I use ghost potions here to save time (it's faster than swimming)
Level 19. Nightmare on terror street
The tourists force me around the level again. I got some useful stuff from all the
cupboards.
Level 20. Invasion of the snakeoids.
At first I inteded to fight the snakes while walking around but I figured it was a waste of time
so I just run through the level.
Level 21. The day the earth ran away
Martians again. I get my first (and only) martian bubble gun here. It's good for killing ants.
Level 22. Revenge of Dr. Tongue
A pretty long level. At the end I had to run around that yard in order to not backtrack and to save that stupid teacher.
I also pick up the flame thrower here (the only in the game).
Also, the baby I rescue behind the door (maybe the third or forth victim rescued), I go the right way to save him. This is because
the spikes would have caused me to wait on the left side and when rescuing him the time were exactly equal. Only it looks better this way.
Level 22-B. The son of Dr. Tongue.
This level has a couple of unsavable tourists. They are placed on a ledge which I can't go to.
This means I have to wait for them to transform into werewolves before I can exit the level.
They have to be on screen to transoform and thus I make a little dance while waiting for them
to become evil. If there are 2 frankenstein on screen they won't transform so I only wake 2 of them
and froze one. I didn't had time to collect items, thus the dancing ;)
Level 23. The caves of mystery
I just ran through
Level 24. Warehouse of the Evil Dolls
I transforms both the players to beasts to save time.
The positions of the victims force me to run a bit back n forth on this level.
Level 26. Where the red fern growls
A pretty straight forward level with weed cutting.
Level 27. Dances with werewolves.
A rather short level with werewolves ;P
Level 28. Mark of the vampire.
3 tourist couples forces me into rescuing them fast before they transforms into werewolves.
The last couple is "impossible" to save because they are to far from the start to
reach before they transform. I tried to save them with speed shoes but it's no use.
There is however a trick you can use to be able to save them. If there are many enemies on
the screen simultaniously they can't become werewolves. Actually, enemies has to be around
the screen to get this to work. I got the 3 vampires to do this job without delay, which was good ;)
Level 29. Zombie hous party.
The pool guy must be saved from above, or else he will be eaten by a squid man. No worries though, it didn't
waste time.
Level 30. Horror on floor thirteen
A pretty hard level as well. Those little red spiders can make life hard.
Level 31. Look whos coming for dinner.
A pretty straight forward level again.
Level 32. Giant ant farm
I use some skeleton keys and skip some. A pretty straight forward level aswell.
Level 33. Fish and crypts
Another bonus level is picked up here.
Bonus level. Curse of the pharaos
I just run through.
Level 34. I was a chainsaw maniac.
I transform the dude into a beast to save time.
Level 35. Boardwalk of terrors.
The victims force me around to "backtrack" slightly. Ghost potions are used.
Level 36. Monster Phobia.
A boss level again. The giant spider is evil as hell but I think I did a pretty good job
killing him. A glitch in this level causes the last cheerleader to not be there sometimes.
This did not happend fortunately ;)
Level 37. Labyrinth of horrors.
I just run through.
Level 38. Monsters of the blue lagoon
I use ghost potions here.
Level 39. Destroy all vampires.
I don't destroy the vampires actually but instead I outrun them.
Level 40. Pyramid of fear 2.
A pretty straight forward level again.
Level 41. Martians go home.
I spended some time here to get a couple of skeleton keys I were missing.
Level 42. Spikes!
Well, it's spikes everywhere.
Level 43. Super fund cleanup site
I use ghost potions here.
Level 44. The Curse of Dr. Tongue
This level was annoying. Because of it's design I'm forced to run up and down
pretty much. Water does not consume running time with the speed shoes.
Level 45. Danger in picninc park
I had to approach the last baby from the left to not let him be ant food. It was the fastest way.
Level 46. Day of the Chainsaw
I use monster potions.
Level 47. Gridiron terror
It might look like a detour but the cheerleader down from start must be rescued.
Level 48. Curse of the tongue
The "last" level. It's long and pretty hard. It's very straight forward actually.
For the boss: I changed tactic here compared to the spider on level 36. This is because
the flame thrower turned out to be pretty useless because I couldn't get close to the spider
because of all webs he spits out and also because he has a larger area to move on.
Thus I use the bazooka and pandoras boxes. The head is pretty easy since he's chasing one player
at the time. The water pistol is actually the best weapon here. I tried other weapons first but they
were to slow. Oh, while passing through the level I attack the vampire when I can. This is because I don't
really wan't him flying around when I fight the spider. He dies within the first seconds of the spider fight
because of this.
Credit level. Monsters among us
The ending of the game ;) The most unusual ending I've ever seen. All people that are standing everywhere
is programmers and whatever. They start to talk if you approach them and that pauses the game.
The ones I talk to are not avoidable.
- 1 player controlling 2 players
- Takes no damage
- As fast as possible
- (ab)uses programming errors in the game
- Manipulates luck
That's it. I'll hope you'll enjoy it.
/Walker Boh
Edit: I'm canceling this due to further improvement on level 48.
