ZOMBIES ATE MY NEIGHBORS
For the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, Unrated
Distributed by LucasArts
DESTROY ALL HUMANS
For the PC,, PS2,, PS3,, XBOX,, XBOX360, and GameCube, 
Distributed by THQ / Pandemic Studios
DESTROY ALL HUMANS 2
For the PC,, PS2,, PS3,, XBOX,, XBOX360, and GameCube,
Distributed by THQ / Pandemic Studios
Games Reviewed by Cris Blasty
Based off the content in this magazine, I was trying to think of some video games that would be fitting for you. Having 20 years of experience with the medium, I had certain ideas of what my first review would be. Then, I thought about some of my best moments with my friend Chris.
Looking back on the film festivals, conventions, comic book shows, etc. that I have attended with him, I decided that the perfect review would be for Destroy All Humans on multi-systems (PS2, XBox, 
XBox360) and Zombies Ate My Neighbors for that ancient Super Nintendo system. Both games have a lot in common. Both entail open world exploration in a fixed locale (Like "Zombies") or a fixed city (Like "Destroy").
"Zombies" requires the saving of hostages before the various B-Movie goons kill them. When a hostage is killed, it is gone forever on all preceding levels. You start the game with 10 and if 1 dies, every preceding level will have 9.
"Destroy" gives you more options with its mind reading of citizens in 1950s America (QUOTE FROM THE GAME: "That Eisenhower has a sexy bald head. I wonder if he is single!") and the collecting of DNA by blowing everyone's head open through various ridiculous guns.
But, the classic aspect of the games is the retro films that they honor. These games respect the classic old horror films of Hollywood history ("Zombies" is over a longer period of time, "Destroy" only mentions the 50s). The games are often hilarious and work extremely well as satire.
The true genius of them is that unless you are aware of the issues that these games discuss, you will not understand the concept. In the case of Zombies Ate My Neighbors, it was done by LucasArts before they made the corporate decision of EXPLAINING EVERY DETAIL of the Star Wars Universe in about 20 different games. LucasArts was ahead of its time even back then with gems like this game and Escape From Monkey 
Island. Unfortunately, all the Star Wars Games sell well so they will probably be stuck making these for the next 20 years until people finally have had enough. If no one here has played any of these games, pick up Destroy All Humans 1 or 2 at your local game store.
"Destroy 2" spoofs the 60s but is not as innovative as the first game. When you play it, the feeling that I got is that the developers just wanted to rag on hippies for 20 hours. "Zombies" may be harder to find (try eBay)but is worth every penny. It is still my favorite game for the SNES. If any of you are looking for more information, enter these game titles into your browser and you should be able to pick up anything that you are curious about. Thanks for your time and I am OUT!
(Cris Blasty is a contributing writer for No-Fi "Magazine"
and isn't hungry enough to eat your neighbors.)
