Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX – Full Review

It’s always nice to see a zombie-shooter game that doesn’t take itself too seriously and Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX is exactly that. It’s an arcade-style shooter with a whacky style and an odd sense of humour; one moment I was shooting zombie sumo wrestlers and bikers, the next I was fighting off shuriken-wielding zombie ninjas at a Japanese feudal castle, and then exploding chickens and zombie farmers caught in a tornado in the countryside.

The game plays from a third-person perspective ; you control your character by moving left and right on the screen and aiming where his or her gun fires. There are two control layouts, button and stylus mode. I initially played the game using buttons and found myself struggling since you cannot move and shoot at the same time, so soon switched to the stylus control method and found myself enjoying the game a lot more.

The game has an irresistible animé style!

There are four weapons at your disposal at all times ; your standard submachine gun (complete with unlimited bullets), a close-range flamethrower, a more powerful minigun (which eats through ammo at a rapid pace), and your typical, powerful grenade launcher. In true arcade style knowing when to switch between weapons is essential to survival since your character can only take so many hits before falling and there’s a very limited amount of health pick-ups.

Aside from your usual move-and-shoot gameplay style, your character also has the ability to perform a dodge roll to avoid incoming attacks. Again this is crucial in your survival since some attacks are extremely difficult if not impossible to avoid without it.

Watch out for falling objects, as the screen can get quite crowded at times!

While defeating the hordes of the undead, you have the option of shooting down destructible parts of the environment (which constitutes most of it in in fairness!). Often this will uncover hidden items for you to pick up, such as ammo and health, as well as sometimes giving you extra room to manoeuvre side to side. It’s always ideal to clear up as much of the environment as possible as your destruction rating is added to your end of level score…

As mentioned earlier the game has a very whacky cartoony visual style. The story scenes are presented like panels of a cartoon, and the environmental visuals also look consistently cartoony during gameplay. However a small problem I found myself encountering during gameplay is that the screen can get rather busy and cluttered at times ; in the heat of battle it can be difficult to determine what’s flying around in the air at you (whether it’s just some rose petals, part of some debris of an environment you just destroyed, a falling item, or an enemy’s attack hurtling towards you). This definitely adds to the game’s challenge.

Take part in the cutest zombie cull ever!

Sound used in this game is very simple and it works ; the enemy grunts and gun noises, for example, are good and consistent throughout. This is despite the fact that each stage has its own theme that fits the particular nature of the area, which the musical score also reflects. Despite being on a handheld the game is actually very reminiscent to the feel of playing an arcade game, which is what I strongly believe the developers were going for.

If you’re after a classic, arcade-style game for your 3DS, I say you should definitely pick this up. Like every good arcade it’s quite a challenging game ; you’ll find that avoiding every last hit and conserving your weapons for the tougher enemies are all a crucial part of the game. There’s nothing too complex or advanced in terms of variation, it is what it is and it does a damn good job at what it does. It certainly makes a good, quick pick-up-and-play game when you’re in the mood to gun down some cartoon zombies.

7.5/10

Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX supplied for review courtesy of Akaoni Studio

• Official site : http://www.akaonistudio.com/zombie_panic_in_wonderland_dx/en/
• Our EGX preview : http://3dsblessed.com/?p=2215

Categories: Articles, Home, Uncategorized

Tags: 3ds, Akaoni Studio, arcade game, button, cartoony visual style, challenging game, chickens, close-range, complex, control layouts, crucial part, debris, dx, enemy grunts, environment, falling item, feudal castle, flamethrower, GAME, grenade launcher, health pick-ups, humour, incoming attacks, Japanese, level score, manoeuvre, musical score, review, rose petals, shuriken-wielding, stylus mode, submachine gun, survival, third-person perspective, tougher enemies, unlimited bullets, weapons, whacky style, Wonderland, zombie farmers, Zombie Panic, Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX, zombie-shooter

This post was written by Cyrus, posted on November 5, 2014 Wednesday at 9:05 am