Summary
Mythological reanimated dead creatures have been a pop culture staple since the 20th century. The flesh-eating foes show roots in Haitian folklore, typically a deceased person brought to life through magical practices. In the 20th century,Zombieswere popularized particularly through the 1954 novelI Am Legendand the filmNight of the Living Dead. As Zombie depictions in media grew, their origins altered with radiation, parasites, fungi, and science all being behind the rise of the undead. Come the advent of video games, Zombies were a perfect video game adversary: deadly, mindless, and applicable in any setting from fantasy to sci-fi.
WhileThe Last of Usarguably set the gold standard of Zombie video games, many of its predecessors inspired and made that masterpiece possible. Below are some of the verybest retro Zombie games.
A good 7 years before Sega would make Zombies and Light Gun gameplay a winning combination, SNK releasedBeast Bustersin 1989. Set in an ambiguous year 199X in a nameless metropolis, the player controls bounty hunters Johhny Justice, Sammy Stately, or Paul Patriot to contain an outbreak of the living dead. Originally released in the arcade with up to three players able to play co-operatively, this zombie-filled action adventure was the original undead on-rails shooter.
As anarcade title, Beast Busters would go on to be one of the most successful cabinets of 1990. The game would be available to home console gamers with ports to the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990.
A rare collaboration between LucasArts and Konami,Zombies Ate My Neighborswas released on the SNES and Sega Genesis in 1993. A familiar genre to the 16-bit era, this top-down run-and-gun game wouldtake an established formula and fill it with humor and monsters. Players control Zeke or Julie as they must save their neighbors from marauding zombies. Included in the game are numerous horror film references from Hammer horror films toFriday the 13th. As unusual as it was inspired,Zombies Ate My Neighborswould win praise for its humorous take on the genre and brilliant cooperative mode.
Re-released across numerous platforms since its release, the game was ported to modern consoles in 2021 along with its sequelGhoul Patrol.
A rarehorror RPG hybridthat would be quite influential in its own right,Sweet Homewas released on the Famicom in 1989. Based on the Kiyoshi Kurosawa film of the same name, this creative RPG would be so impactful it was considered better than the film by many critics. The player controls five playable characters as they navigate a mansion in search of valuable mural paintings within. Among the many randomly encountered enemies and traps are zombies the player must choose to fight or flee. Elements of the mansion setting and inventory management would serve as inspiration for future survival horror classics.
Not only did this game lay the foundations of survival horror to an extent, but the expansive backtracking and exploration of the mansion would prove a template forthe later Metroidvania genre.
The second game in arguably thehardest series of video games ever madeby Capcom,Ghouls ‘n Ghostsarrived in arcades in 1988. Set three years after the original, players once again control Knight Arthur as he must make his way through haunting environments filled with the undead. The run-and-gun formula was never dressed up more creatively or given a more brutal level of difficulty than in this franchise.Ghouls n Ghostsis arguably the most accessible of the series and garnered universal praise on release, winning Game of the Year awards from several publications.
This arcade classic would be re-released on numerous home consoles at the time, including the Sega Genesis, Atari ST, and ZX Spectrum.
Data East’s gory answer toFinal FightandStreets of Rage,Night Slashersis a quintessential beat ‘em up laced with a horror aesthetic. Players are given three characters to control: Jake Hunter, an American cybernetic monster hunter, Christopher Smith, an English vampire hunter, and Hong Hua Zhao, a mystic Chinese martial artist. While violence was always assured in the genre, few ever got close to the gore unfolding across the stages ofNight Slashers. Hordes of zombies are laid waste along with bosses including mad scientists, golems, and Dracula.
While briefly available on the Switch in 2020, an impendingfull remakehas been advertised for modern platforms.
A tentpole in the ’90s zombie boom that would revive their presence in the popular culture,The House of the Deadwould arrive in arcades in 1996. Sega’s golden arcade legacy would continue into 3D with consistent hits on the Model 2 arcade board.Daytona USA, Virtua Cop,andVirtua Fighter 2would all launch on the Model 2, yet none were so distinct and celebrated asThe House of the Dead. Players assume the roles of Thomas Rogan and G as they blast their way through zombie hordes at the Curien Mansion.
Animaginative and adult-aimed take on the light gun shooter,The House of the Deadwould spawn a beloved franchise filled with frenetic gameplay and some quite hideous voice acting.
Whilemany titles before would make steps and imprints on the genre, perhaps no title had a bigger impact on survival horror than the originalResident Evil. An inspired reworking of the Haunted House trope, players control Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield as they fight their way out of a zombie and monster-infested mansion.Resident Evilwould birth tension and unease in video games like never before with its atmospheric fixed camera angles and limited resources in an unforgiving environment. Deep puzzles and inventory management left players with an unforgettable experience demanding the best of them.
Birthing an entire franchise and numerous successful sequels, the original game and its hammy FMVs and voice acting remain an assured chapter of video game history.
