Zombies: A Dusty Game Society Retro Review

This October, Zombies and its sequel, Ghoul Patrol, were this months picks for the Dusty Game Society. If you’re a fan of TechDweeb, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If not, check out his YouTube Channel or Patreon if you want to find out more. The Dusty Game Society is a gaming club where community members come together and play a select retro game each month. Come together on the internet, of course. I gotta say, these picks are pretty fitting for some spooky Halloween retro gaming. I missed the boat in time for Halloween, but I finished Zombies back in September anyway, so uh, happy September…ween? Whatever. Anyway, Zombies is such a fun little oddball gem. I say little, but it’s actually pretty extensive and borders on gratuitous towards the end. I remember my family renting this one from Blockbuster Video a bunch of times, each time walking in to that unmistakable Blockbuster smell. Buttery popcorn, warm VHS plastic and fresh, but oddly dusty carpet. Oh yeah, that takes me back. The nostalgia alone makes it good enough for number four on my Top 10 Mega Drive list. Back in the ’90s, I never got very far and usually got stomped HARD in the giant baby level. But in 2025, I’ve returned to conquer all. This time, with a Steam Deck andhandy save states!

Zombies, or Zombies Ate My Neighbours, was released in 1993 by LucasArts for the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo. It’s a pretty unique isometric run-and-gun shooter that really leans into that cheesy B-grade horror movie style. While it’s not really explained, there is a brief story to this one. The mad scientist Dr. Tongue has unleashed an army of monsters from his castle laboratory and it’s up to you to fight through the undead using a range of whacky weapons to rescue what’s left of humanity and take the evil scientist down. It’s uh, not overly deep and if I didn’t look it up I probably would have been fine not knowing the story. Zombies is one of the games on the Mega Drive which makes use of the 6-button controller, which came with my family’s original Mega Drive 2. If nothing else, it’s a nice way to cycle through the whacky weapons you’ll pickup through a heap of increasingly difficult levels, including a few bonus levels. We’ve got the classic squirt gun, soda can grenades, the bazooka, a fire extinguisher, the ancient artifact, plates and silverware, tomatoes, ice pops, footballs, the martian bubble gun and the all important weed-whacker. Not quite the arsenal that would normally spring to mind to battle the undead. This ridiculousness is wrapped in that oh-so charming early ’90s presentation that only LucasArts could pull off.

Obviously Zombies is an older game, but the 16-bit pixel art graphics are cozy as all hell. There’s something about that pixely, colourful art style that hits me right in the nostalgia. Every whacky character sprite is simple, but they’re all chock full of retro ’90s charm. The animations are exaggerated at times, but it totally fits and makes everything feel that extra bit alive. Having a zombie shuffle towards you while you’re speeding back at it with a weed-whacker is just pure fun. I’ll touch on it more later, but each level feels like it was pulled out of a daytime TV horror movie. There’s tons of visual jokes and hidden details throughout and they still hold up. It just has this warm familiarity to it that modern games just haven’t been able to replicate. I guess that’s just the charm of the 16-bit era. That’s not even mentioning the soundtrack, which is pure gold. Each track simply oozes early ’90s Saturday morning, spooky cartoon energy. It kinda balances itself between eerie and playful, without taking itself seriously in the slightest. The opening level’s tune will be burned into my brain until the end of time, along with the mall level. The nostalgia I feel playing this game is insane and it has one of those soundtracks that instantly transports me back in time the moment I start it up.

There’s a pretty solid 55 levels to rip through here, including some neat bonus levels. I don’t really want to rag on the level design of a game almost as old as I am, but they do start to feel a bit familiar after a while. Sure, each level has its own layout or twist, but you quickly get a sense of what to expect. It could be in the neighbourhood, the mall, warehouses, castles or deserts. You name it, they all start to blend together after a while. It’s not really a bad thing, LucasArts has provided us with just enough to keep it from feeling outright repetitive with a variety of enemies, weapons and items to keep us interested. I’d say it’s more of a comfortable familiarity, I guess. The weapons and items are a highlight, purely because of how ludicrous they are. We’re fighting the undead with freakin’ squirt guns and cans of soda here. The bazooka, the only actual weapon, kinda feels out of place next to the vast array of ridiculousness in our inventory. Making light of the entire situation with the silliness of the weapons plays right into its charm. How am I going to kill this horde of the undead? Of course, I’ll use the plates and silverware I swiped from my neighbours’ house!

As you make your way through the later levels, Zombies really starts to ramp up the difficulty. You’re juggling enemies, attempting to rescue the remaining humans and trying to manage your ammo while everything descends into pure chaos. It’s one of those games where you’re laughing your ass off having a great time one minute, then tossing the controller at the TV the next. That chaos plays into the game’s charm and it’s part of what makes it endlessly replayable, even decades later. Each run is a perfect cocktail of skill, luck and mild panic. It has to be said though: the password-based save system is the equivalent of a swift kick in the nuts when you’re jumping back in at a later level with just a squirt gun. It’s pretty brutal, I’m absolutely thankful for save states, but it’s very much a relic of its time and a reminder of when games didn’t really give a shit about making your experience comfortable or convenient. Despite the occasional frustrations and repetitiveness, Zombies stands as one of the most unique and entertaining titles of the 16-bit era. It’s packed full of weirdness and those pixels are simply brimming with personality. There’s really nothing else quite like it and it’s one of those games that reminds me exactly why I love retro classics. Even the sequel, Ghoul Patrol, doesn’t come close. It tries to follow it up, but it’s well and truly a swing and a miss. It’s clunky, dull and feels lifeless. Ghoul Patrol stinks, don’t waste your time: Zombies is where the magic is.

Verdict:
Zombies is as chaotic as it is hilarious. This slice of 16-bit goodness perfectly captures the charm of early ’90s gaming. Its blend of goofy weapons, pixel-perfect personality and simply infectious soundtrack make it a timeless classic worth revisiting. Even with some repetitive level design, the occasional jank and brutal save system, it’s still an absolute blast.

Deck Compatibility: 10/10
Overall Game Rating: 8/10 — Pure Retro Magic

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Originally published at https://dadwithadeck.com on November 5, 2025.