Zombies Ate My Video Game Trivia Quiz

Answer: Zombie Zombie

For those too young to remember, the ZX Spectrum was an early computer sold primarily in the UK during the 1980s. The ZX Spectrum competed with and had much the same capabilities as the Commodore 64 system. Software developers produced several thousand games for use on the ZX Spectrum and the platform spurred creative graphic design development.

"Zombie Zombie" was designed by British programmer Sandy White and featured then revolutionary 3D graphics. The game was released by Quicksilva in 1984 and is often cited as the first "zombie" themed video game. "Zombie Zombie" dropped players in the middle of a city overrun by slow moving animated dead people. The zombies could be killed when players pushed them over the edge of buildings using bursts of air from a rifle. Sandy White had previously developed the innovative computer game "Ant Attack" and much of the same software and graphics were used in developing "Zombie Zombie".

Answer: Zombies Ate My Neighbors

That was not very nice of the zombies to eat the neighbors, but eat them they did in this run and gun style shooting game. Players are asked to step into the shoes of characters named "Zeke" and "Julie" and move through the various game landscapes rescuing the locals. The game can be played as a single player or cooperatively with two players each attacking the pesky undead. The zombies are assisted by other movie-style monsters including werewolves, vampires, giant ants, blobs and my personal favorite, giant baby dolls. Players can find various weapons along their journey common to the suburban setting of the game. Examples of the fun items you can get include weed-whackers, silverware, popsicles, and the always handy Uzi water gun.

"Zombies Ate My Neighbors" caused some controversy when it was first released in 1993 as the violent graphics were considered overly gory for some markets. Nintendo of America ordered changes to the game that included making all blood become purple goo. In addition, throughout much of Europe, censors required that the game's name be changed to simply "Zombies" to reduce the game title's shock value.

Answer: Resident Evil

"Resident Evil" is a mega-popular multi-format brand that encompasses books, games, movies, restaurants and various other merchandise. The "Resident Evil" universe was started in the 1990s by Japanese game designer Shinji Mikami and was released in 1996 by game publisher Capcom. "Resident Evil" was loosely based on Capcom's earlier horror based game "Sweet Home" as well as Infogrames 1992 game "Alone in the Dark". "Resident Evil" upped the ante for horror based video games with increased focus on a detailed storyline and improved graphics. Upon its release, "Resident Evil" was an immense success selling in excess of five million units in North America alone in its first year.

While "Resident Evil" was initially released only for the Sony PlayStation, ports of the game soon were licensed for Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, and Windows. The game has spawned numerous sequels, reboots and variations and is now played on nearly all platforms. The first "Resident Evil" film was released in 2002 and is considered noncanonical and only loosely based on the gaming storyline. Nonetheless, the popularity of the various "Resident Evil" movies has helped propel sales of newer "Resident Evil" games. If you are so inclined, you can eat at the Biohazard Cafe & Grill S.T.A.R., a "Resident Evil" themed restaurant that opened in Tokyo, Japan in 2012.

Answer: Lollipop Chainsaw

I must admit if I saw "Lollipop Chainsaw" in a game catalog I would be intrigued by the name alone. The game is a "hack and slash" game where the player animates the character of Juliet Starling. As the game begins we learn Juliet is celebrating her 18th birthday. She is an attractive, blonde, chainsaw wielding cheerleader, at the fictional (You mean this isn't based on an actual school or person?) San Romero High School. Juliet carries the severed head of her boyfriend Nick at her waist and periodically uses Nick's head to "take over" headless zombies. The game requires Juliet to save her classmates and teachers. If she is successful, she gets to celebrate her birthday and is surprised by having Nick returned in a new fully live body bearing expensive lollipops (Now the title makes sense!) as a present. However, if Juliet does not save enough people her birthday ends in horror as her mother is revealed to be a zombie.

Lollipop Chainsaw was the collaboration of Japanese game designer Suda51 and American screenwriter James Gunn. Gunn wrote the 2002 live action film "Scooby-Doo" and was the co-writer for the hugely successful 2014 "Guardians of the Galaxy".

Answer: Dragon's breath

"Burn Zombie Burn" is reminiscent of classic arcade shooters, where a lone gunman must kill as many "bad guys" as possible before being overrun by the undead hordes. The game counts your kills and depending on how you kill the zombies, rewards the player with increased health or weapons. Sadly no dragons are available for use against the attacking undead.

The Dance ray, however, is real and when activated forces the zombies to break out in a boogie set to pop music. In case you were wondering, one of the dance tunes is of course Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

In 2010, Doublesix released a downloadable expansion pack for "Burn Zombie Burn" with the logical name of "Burn Zombie Burn: In Space".

Answer: Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

In most games, the zombie is unthinking and unfeeling, existing only to kill or be killed. But it is not all doom and gloom for those who want to walk the path of undead. There is always Stubbs the Zombie. Stubbs is the reanimated zombie corpse of the former Edward Stubblefield, who was killed in 1933 by the father of his one true love, Maggie. Stubbs and a reckless zombie horde return to undead cognizance when their final resting spots are disturbed by the building projects of Andrew the local billionaire (who is Stubbs' son from a pre-death tryst with Maggie). Stubbs and the army of undead brain hungry warriors kill most of the population of the fictional town of Punchbowl. Stubbs meets and romantically eats Maggie's brain so they can be reunited forever. Narrowly avoiding a nuclear bomb, Stubbs and Maggie sail away to "not-live" in happiness.

"Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse" is also notable because of a brief, but intense attack on the game by the US Senate and video game critics who claimed the game promoted cannibalism. Zombie advocates dismissed the criticism as just another example of the media and US government's discriminatory "anti-zombie" agenda.

Answer: Plants

"Plants vs. Zombies" was released in 2009 by PopCap Games and joined the company's mega-selling "Bejeweled" franchise as one of the best-selling games and downloaded phone apps. In "Plants vs. Zombies" you get to battle a horde of fun-loving zombies who want to take over your home. Your only defense is naturally (puns are entirely in the spirit of the game) your supply of 49 zombie-zapping plants. By cleverly deploying the plants, with names like Peashooters, Wall-nuts and Magnet-Shrooms, you can defeat the various types of zombies before they become the houseguests from hell. As if the over twenty-five different types of zombies weren't enough for your green army to contend with, you can be hampered by a loss of solar power or a nasty creeping fog.

"Plants vs. Zombies" was created by George Fan and has a soundtrack from the queen of video game soundtracks, Laura Shigihara. Ms. Shgihara's haunting end credit song "Zombies on Your Lawn" was an instant success. When you play "Plants vs. Zombies" pay close attention to the names of levels and such details as gravestone markers, as the game-makers are fond of paying tongue-in-cheek homage to such diverse pop icons as Monty Python, Led Zeppelin, and Harry Potter.

Answer: Left 4 Dead

The concept of "Left 4 Dead" is quite simple. A viral pandemic sweeps across the US causing people to morph into zombie-like flesh eating creatures. Four friends realize they are immune to, but can infect others with, the virus. In the game, players assume the role of one of the survivors and guide the team to a safe-haven and extraction point. Along the way, obstacles both human and zombie hinder the progress. The game is enhanced by an AI Director that uses advanced metrics of the players actions in the game to manipulate the pace or order of the play. See, like I said, simple.

Valve released "Left 4 Dead 2" with a new group of survivors in 2009. The company has also released a string of add-on, downloadable content to provide new scenes and scenarios for the action. Besides selling multiple million copies, "Left 4 Dead" was named the top computer game for 2008 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.

Answer: The Typing of the Dead

I am not sure that my idea of a fun game is to practice my typing, but Sega took their popular "House of the Dead 2" arcade game and substituted a keyboard for the gun to create "The Typing of the Dead". More logically, the game was ported to a Windows version in 2000 and the Sega Dreamcast home platform in 2001.

The game requires players to quickly type words matching those that appear on the screen to stop or kill the advancing (and apparently illiterate) zombie horde. Despite, or perhaps because of, the crossover educational value of the exercise, "The Typing of the Dead" has been a top selling game since the early 2000s.

Not surprisingly, key gaming magazine, "Game Informer", named "The Typing of the Dead" arcade game the weirdest video game of all-time in 2008.

Answer: Little Red Riding Hood

We can thank Gammick Entertainment and EnjoyUp for finally putting a gun into Little Red Riding Hood's hands and letting the fairytale maiden kill some serious zombies in the 2008 Nintendo DS game "Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ". The premise of the game is that Little Red's home of Storyland is infected by a plague of zombies. The zombies are attacking other famous fairytale characters, such as Pinocchio and Santa Claus, and it is up to Red and her friend Momotaro (a Japanese folk hero also known as "Peach Boy") to save Storyland. In addition to a fondness for submachine guns and rocket launchers, the graphic designers have traded in Red's riding hood for a cleavage exposing tight red dress.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of "Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ" was a media campaign launched in 2008 to promote the game at the "Destructoid" video game community website. Fans were asked to submit photos of their best cosplay version of Red. The winner was a haunting picture of a middle-aged, hairy man in a drag-perfect copy of the classic Red Riding attire of a blue and white gingham style dress with red cape and basket. After seeing that image, attacking zombies are just not as frightening.