Zombie Panic in Wonderland
Describe Zombie Panic in Wonderland.
Describe Zombie Panic in Wonderland, huh? Are you sure you can handle it? CAN YOU?
Okay then.
Not long before this game, there was a little-known gem crafted for the Nintendo DS called Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ, a quirky fairytale-themed shooter game that also revolved around a Zombie Apocalypse situation. Many of the people who developed that game went on to form another group, Akaoni, who would go on and develop this Wii Ware Download game. While not a direct sequel, Zombie Panic carries everything that Zombie BBQ had from the DS to the Wii.
The game begins with Momotaro, a Japanese fairytale character, stopping by a quiet Japanese village that he appears to be abandoned. However, he is quickly attacked by zombies, and the game’s story really begins. Along the way, Momotaro discovers that his friends (The monkey, pheasant, and dog) aren’t immune to the zombie virus and have succumbed to the undead mayhem. Momotaro then sets off to find other survivors, the cause of this mess, and if he’s lucky, an antidote.
The gameplay of Zombie Panic is a fixed Third-Person Shooter, with the player (Or players) strafing along the foreground, shooting up the enemies assaulting from the rest of the scenery. By killing zombies and blowing up buildings, the player fills a “Cleanup” meter; once the meter reaches 100%, the player wins and advances to the next stage. It might sound simple in written form, but in practice, the game knows just how many zombies to throw at you; add in a timer, and each stage becomes a delightful little slice of chaos for you and a friend to enjoy.
Zombie Panic, upon its release, actually managed to impress some critics with its goofy charm, beautiful graphics (It’s easily the finest-looking Wii Ware game available), catchy music, and chaotic gameplay. The only real downsides to the game were its short length, and that two of the three featured bosses were lackluster when compared to the first. Still, this game is an enjoyable title, and we get the feeling that it’ll end up becoming obscure. Life is like that.
Roughly two years later, the game received an Updated Rerelease port for the iOS systems on March 1, 2011.
The Happy Video Game Nerd took a brief look at this game here.
The Original Wii Ware Version Provides Examples Of
- Action Girl: Snow White and Dorothy. Plus Alice and Red Riding Hood.
- Adorable Evil Minions: Well, they’re not entirely evil, but the Dwarves are still carrying out the villain’s plan, whether they realize it or not. And they’re so adorable! <3
- All There on a Website: The Japanese official site includes a reason why the playable characters aren't affected by the epidemic.
- Amazon Brigade: Nearly all playable character are gun-toting girls.
- And I Must Scream: What the fate of many Wonderlanders must be. They’re unable to control their behavior while under the influence of Prince Charming’s perfume.
- Animesque: The game was developed by a Spanish company, but one look at the artwork and presentation would give some Otaku massive hard-ons.
- Anti-Villain: Again, Prince Charming. Everything about this guy is disappointing.
- Badass Adorable: Dorothy blows away zombie hordes, only to skip happily along the Yellow Brick Road afterward.
- Bad Santa: One of the enemies in the fifth stage is a zombie Santa. Apparently, no one is safe from the outbreak.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy
- Bare Your Midriff
- Berserk Button: Snow White has zero tolerance for her husband’s shenanigans. Whoo-hoo, shenanigans!
- Big Freaking Gun
- Bindle Stick: Carried by Momotaro in the beginning of the game.
- Bullet Hell: More along the lines of “Stuff Being Thrown At You” Hell. No one in this game uses guns except for the player.Which of course, begs the question of why monsters drop ammo and missiles.
- Button Mashing: Thankfully averted. You only need to hold down the B Trigger to keep firing.
- Camp Gay: Prince Charming. Oh, so much much much.
- Clown Car Grave
- Cognizant Limbs: The first and second bosses.
- Collision Damage
- Crap Saccharine World: Aw, look at how adorable Dorothy is! And her little dog Toto rides around in her apron pocket, how cute! And she has a machine gun… which she uses to blow away zombies… including her friend the Tin Man… You know what, I’m gonna go cry now.
- The Cutie: Dorothy.
- Derelict Graveyard
- Distracted by the Sexy: Momotaro, in one scene, is enamored by the presence of Snow White. Of course, no one can really blame him…
- Do Not Drop Your Weapon: The player. Kids love their guns, dincha know?
- Everything Is Smashable Area
- Everything's Better with Princesses: Snow White. Justified in the sense that A) Snow White married Prince Charming, and B) the game’s story is based on fairy tales.
- Everything's Deader with Zombies
- Flash of Pain
- Flying Seafood Special: The favored attacks of the Goddamned Bats.
- Fractured Fairy Tale: Fractured? Try annihilated.
- Jiggle Physics: Most noticeable with Snow White's victory pose.
- Ghost Town: Where the game’s story begins.
- Girls with Guns: Roughly half the reason anyone downloads the game.
- Girly Run: Prince Charming, given his flamboyant nature. Dorothy skips along the yellow brick road (and all other paths) after clearing an area, which is adorable.
- Grotesque Cute
- Grotesque Gallery
- Hello, Nurse!: Snow White and Alice.
- Hold the Line: Slight inversion: The gameplay involves your characters filling a “Cleanup Meter” before either time runs out or you are defeated.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Even though she’s taller than the other two main characters, Snow White is dwarfed by her hubby, Prince Charming.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Strangely averted. The zombies don’t seem to want to eat you. They just wanna give you a great, big, bone-crushing hug. D’awwww!
- Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja
- If one were to watch the victory animations closely, Momo even does the Ninja Run in his.
- It Runs on Nonsensoleum: THE WHOLE GAME. The less you think about how everything works, the better.
- Jiggle Physics
- Marathon Level: The Shipyard level.
- Medieval European Fantasy: The last few levels, with some snow on top.
- Most Gamers Are Male: How else could you explain why Snow White is unashamedly SMOKING HOT?
- Mythology Gag: Toto is tiny enough to be made into a decoration for Dorothy, Snow White wears a belt made of apples, and Momotaro’s friends (The monkey, pheasant, and dog) are a Tragic Monster. Red Riding Hood carries a small wolf doll in her apron, and Alice’s sash is lined with shrink/growth potions.
- Night of the Living Mooks
- Ominous Fog
- One-Hit-Point Wonder
- Panty Shot
- Raising the Steaks
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Literally, there are Red and Blue Oni as enemies in this game. They even have Red and Blue Skeletons, so I guess Zombie Panic has the whole set.
- Don't forget, the group that made this is akaoni, and their logo is a red oni.
- Refuge in Audacity: Fairytales. Zombies. Guns. Explosions. Hugs. Sounds AWESOME!
- Rewarding Vandalism
- Ring Menu
- Scarf of Asskicking: Momotaro wears a pink one in his default outfit.
- Secret Character: Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood.
- Secret Level: The Shipyard. Well, not really a secret, since it can be found on the Arcade select screen.
- Series Mascot: Given that he also appeared in this game as well as its DS prequel/relative/spiritual predecessor, Momotaro could be considered this, although he looks different.
- Sexy Walk: Snow White.
- Small Girl, Big Gun: Dorothy’s gun is nearly as big as she is!
- Smashing Survival
- Spiritual Successor: To Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ. Not surprising, since many of the people who developed BBQ developed this game too.
- Stripperific: Take a wild guess. [dead link]
- The One Guy: Momotaro, when compared to the rest of the playable characters.
- Third-Person Seductress: Snow White AGAIN!
- Third-Person Shooter: Of the fixed variety. It plays along the same lines as Cabal, Blood Bros. or Wild Guns.
- Took a Level In Badass: When was the last time any of these characters stomped so much ass?
- Tragic Monster: The first two bosses.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Again, Prince Charming and Snow White. I’m sensing a theme here.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: If you’ve seen the Disney movie or read the original story, Snow White is a young woman of sweet, unassuming nature. In Zombie Panic, her introduction scene involves her punching out a guard because he wouldn’t allow her to enter her own castle.
- Victory Pose
- Voice Grunting
- Wicked Witch: Oddly enough, she’s missing in action. In a game featuring The Wizard of Oz and Snow White, you at least half-expected a Wicked Witch to pop up sooner or later.
- Widget Series
The iOS Port adds the following tropes
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Giant zombie caterpillars of the new Alice in Wonderland levels.
- Everything's Better with Penguins: Inverted, unless exploding zombie penguins is a good thing.
- Festival Level: The second stage has been converted into this.
- Funny Afro: The Tin Man is revealed to have a purple one when shooting off his hat.
- Gun in My Pocket: Erm, the Tin Man received a new move involving shooting rockets out from between his legs...or at least an area very very close to that.
- Hand Behind Head: Momotaro's new Victory Pose.
- Maniac Monkeys: There were some zombie monkeys in the original, but their numbers here has increased.
- Spinventory: The in-app purchase items are presented with this.