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Post by derboo on Oct 14, 2012 4:55:08 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/zamn/zamn1.htmKicking off our Halloween special proper with this fun co-op monster mash from LucasArts. The article contains interviews with both ZAMN creator Mike Ebert and Ghoul Patrol director Kalani Streicher and also digs into the series origins as well as its legacy.
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Post by mainpatr on Oct 15, 2012 0:52:46 GMT -5
Rareware's Grabbed by the Ghoulies should have a mention in the article. Rareware had to be a fan of ZAMN.
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Post by steven on Oct 15, 2012 2:13:27 GMT -5
AWESOME! Thanks for the article; I'll have to sit down and read through it later. Only able to skim now as it's midnight and I need to get up at 6 AM! But yeah, good memories with ZAMN. GP was decent, but should have been bigger and badder (er, I mean badder as in a good way). Awesome seeing the various magazine scans (Super Play <3!)
I just wish ZAMN had two extra options:
1. End a level by killing ALL monsters (making it more action-oriented)
or
2. You can still lose all neighbors, but can you find the exit? (feel a bit like Doom)
Also, a strafe and lock button would have done wonders. Other than that, great game.
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Post by Resident Tsundere on Oct 20, 2012 15:21:41 GMT -5
We had offices that were very far from management and the heart of LucasArts. We worked and slept in the offices a lot, and people left us alone. I think they were scared of us, because we didn't always shave. This part made me laugh. ;D |
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Post by apachacha on Oct 22, 2012 16:37:23 GMT -5
I agree ending the game when your victims die feels cheap. More often than not, you can't avoid it if the enemy runs faster than you. You were forced to restart levels just so you could know in advance where to run before the enemies killed who you need rescue. Let's not forget the levels where the victims turn into werewolves unless you haul ass to them in like a minute. |
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Post by splatter on Oct 23, 2012 11:12:11 GMT -5
I played this game a ton when I was younger! I had Ghoul Patrol as well, but that was pretty disappointing compared to its predecessor.
Nice discovery about Kyros. Another arcade game with similar mechanics is Alien Syndrome.
So what creature features and such did Ebert and company draw the monsters from? The ones I'm pretty sure of are...
zombies - Night of the Living Dead
evil dolls - Child's Play
jelly blobs - The Blob
squidmen - Creature from the Black Lagoon
Frankenstein's monsters - Frankenstein
vampires - Dracula
snakeoids - Tremors
tentacles - Maniac Mansion
pod plants and pod people - Invasion of the Body Snatchers
chainsaw maniacs - a mashup of Jason from the Friday the 13th series and Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
As for the mummies and werewolves, I don't know if they're based on the creatures in general, or films like The Mummy and The Wolf Man (or even An American Werewolf in London). Same with the ants and spiders; aggressive bugs are in lots of things, though Them! and Arachnophobia come to mind as possible inspirations. The "son" of Dr. Tongue seems like The Fly. The style of the martians in the game reminds me of Mars Attacks, but there were lots of '50s movies with martians. There were also a few different movies with mushroom men, like The Day of the Triffids and Matango, and I'm not sure which their portrayal in the game is most like. The big babies... well, there was a giant baby in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, but the idea might have come from something like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman instead.
The purple monsters that come out of cupboards, I have no idea.
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Post by Weasel on Oct 23, 2012 15:21:25 GMT -5
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Post by Gendo Ikari on Dec 11, 2012 10:03:10 GMT -5
ZAMN also had a fun commercial.
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Post by opt2not on Dec 13, 2012 14:24:51 GMT -5
I just wanted to say, this article and interview was really well written. ZAMN is one of my all time favourite games, and I think you nailed the synopsis as well as given me some info I haven't heard about the game before.
Great job! Looking forward to more!
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Post by steven on Dec 31, 2012 2:06:22 GMT -5
I agree ending the game when your victims die feels cheap. More often than not, you can't avoid it if the enemy runs faster than you. You were forced to restart levels just so you could know in advance where to run before the enemies killed who you need rescue. Let's not forget the levels where the victims turn into werewolves unless you haul ass to them in like a minute. Yup, I think it's a borderline great game (certainly a great "experience") that is slightly spoiled by its cheapness and difficulty. If they had more options, or made it not as cheap, I would not hesitate to call it a top 15-ish SNES game. I still like ZAMN a lot, but drool at what it could have been. It's mildly disappointing yet awesome all at once IMHO |
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Post by Scylla on Jan 2, 2013 0:43:54 GMT -5
Let's not forget the levels where the victims turn into werewolves unless you haul ass to them in like a minute. Heh, you're giving the game too much credit. It's more like 20 seconds, and there are some stages where it's literally IMPOSSIBLE to save all the tourists before they turn into werewolves. This is only a problem if you have 10 victims to begin with and want to save them all, but it's still really, really stupid and unfair to punish the player like that for absolutely no reason, forcing him/her to save up points to get that 10th victim back. The only other option is to take advantage of a glitch/quirk. The tourists don't turn into werewolves until they're on screen, so if you have a conga line of enemies following you, to the point where the game is at its sprite limit and won't spawn new enemies, the tourists won't be able to turn into the werewolf enemies, allowing you to nab them even if the time limit has well since expired. |
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