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Zombies Ate My Wii Points 25 Mar, 2007 / Comments: 7

By Jason


A month or so ago gaming sites reported that Zombies Ate My Neighbors received a rating on the ESRB web site, which is usually a dead giveaway that a game will be appearing on Nintendo's Virtual Console service in the near (or not so near) future. (Mojo of course knew about this news at the time but consciously chose to break it now because we prefer being fashionably late.)

For those who don't remember or who have never played this LucasArts gem from 1993, it was a top-down two player game for SNES and Genesis that had you ridding suburban neighborhoods, malls, Egyptian tombs, etc. of the living dead with water guns and weedeaters. The game was a hoot and a half (and even featured an unlockable Day of the Tentacle stage!) and I suggest all Wii owners give it a whirl once it shows up for download. There's a reason it still has a loyal fanbase, you know.

Also, while the game was published by Konami, I hope this is a sign that future LucasArts developed titles might show up on the service at some point. There was a rather cool NES port of Maniac Mansion and the not-half-bad Shadows of the Empire for N64 among others that would make nice additions to the VC library. Fingers futilely crossed!

Update: Tragically, it would seem that the intel was mistaken, as Zombies Ate My Neighbors is no longer listed on the ESRB site. For those who need something to hope for though, know that Konami (the game's publisher) and Jaleco (the NES Maniac Mansion publisher) have previously had their games added to the Virtual Console, so it's not 100% impossible. Just don't hold your breath.
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7 Comments

  • clone2727 on 26 Mar, 2007, 12:13…
    not-half-bad SotE? I loved that game. Especially the Skyhook battle! One of the very good Star Wars games from LucasArts
  • maclaine on 26 Mar, 2007, 08:14…
    Shadows of the Empire was a nice N64 game, but LucasArts only understood the system with Rogue Squadron and Battle for Naboo. These two game are more worthwhile additions to the virtual console.
  • The Tingler on 25 Mar, 2007, 21:36…
    I thought Maniac Mansion was one of the worst ports ever made? Shadows of the Empire is fairly cool though, although Rogue Squadron might be more fun. Here's hoping.
  • Udvarnoky on 25 Mar, 2007, 21:50…
    No, the NES Maniac Mansion was quite awesome.
  • CaptainDread on 25 Mar, 2007, 22:44…
    I'd have to agree. Maniac Mansion for the NES was my first taste at adventure gaming - and it's still a blast to play today (try it in ScummVM some time - you even get mouse support!)

    It actually used a scaled down version of the SCUMM engine (in order to fit in the restrictions of the NES hardware), making it a very faithful port.

    Nintendo standards and practices required some changes to the wording and art, but the game stayed happily in tact.

    Now, the Japanese Maniac Mansion port by Jaleco was one of the worst ports ever made.
  • The Tingler on 26 Mar, 2007, 12:49…
    Ah, that may have been the one I was thinking of.
  • Udvarnoky on 25 Mar, 2007, 22:50…
    Yeah, that version was notoriously weird and bad. The NES version was actually done by the Lucasfilm Games team, which is probably the reason for its high quality.