Zombie Tsunami Review: Cliché Bonanza!

One of the worst part of being an Android user is the painstakingly late release of highly anticipated games. Temple Run 1, 2Fuse and Tap the Frog are just one of the few games which Android’s archrival Apple has had for a long time before being released to the former platform.

Now, Zombie Tsunami, one of Apple’s more famous runner games has finally found its way onto the Android System. With the overwhelming number of Runners on the PlayStore, does Zombie Tsunami offer anything different than its counterpart? Read on and find out!

Another Runner!

As said earlier, there are tons of Runner Games available on the PlayStore, Temple Run 1, 2, Minion Rush and Subway Surfers, are those who belong to the top-tier level. Still, with the staggering amount of those games, Zombie Tsunami feels peculiarly different. I have to be honest, before, the only reason I wanted to try an Apple product was to play this game, and now, I was actually very happy and excited it got released on Android!

Cluster of Clichés

Zombies today, oddly, seem to be one of the most famous undead creatures as it has found its way to tons of games, series and movies (Plants VS Zombies, Walking Dead, Resident Evil) partnering it with an overused genre theoretically sounds over-clichéd but in the weird and wonderful world of Zombie Tsunami, it actually works fantastically!

The main menu is as simple as it gets as you have Trophies, Options, Missions, Markets, Friends, Play and Social Media. It’s a very simple interface that does not look appealing. But the Moment you play the Game, it starts to get interesting!

Being a runner, there is but one Objective: Run until you run out of Zombies. Unlike most runners, this has a side-scrolling view, like Mario, Sonic and Contra. You run and eat civilians to increase your horde, collect coins and power-ups to last as long as possible.

What separate runners from each other are their Power-ups, and Zombie Tsunami offers a lot of quirky ones that are so non-sense, it actually makes sense! Power-ups include:

• Tsunami – Finally, the Tsunami from the name comes up! This Power-up creates a Giant Tidal wave and wipes out everything you pass through! This is one of the most useful Power-up as it collects all it passes through including civilians regardless of the vehicle type and the number of Zombies from your horde.
• Ninja – This power-up gives you the ability to double jump and slice through object at level Two! Upgrade it as soon as possible as the Double Jump feature can sometimes turn into an annoying disadvantage!
• Dragon – This transforms you into a Chinese New Year Dragon with the ability of slow descent after a jump.
• Giant Zombie – Giant Zombie turns your horde into a Single Multi-eyed Alien like creature which shoots laser from its eye to eliminate threat, beware though, getting hurt in this form decreases the number of Zombies from your horde.
• Quarterback – as the name implies, your horde is transformed into indestructible Quarterbacks which obliterates everything in its path, their weakness? Jumping.
• UFO – This is one of the more senseless power-up, a UFO flies and spawns Zombies. Yup, apparently in this world, Zombies come from outer space not from the Grave.
• Gold – Another peculiar power-up, it turns your Zombie into a creature like Midas, a Greek figure which turns everything to Gold with a single touch, this is a personal favorite as you have the indestructibility of the Quarterback without the Jump weakness and still provide you with challenge while playing, unlike Tsunami which is virtually a Free Ride to the next tunnel
• Balloon – My most hated power-up; it inflates your Zombie’s heads which give them the power of flight. This maybe useful for parts where there are lots of jumping but it just feels wrong.

Upgrading Power-ups in Zombie Tsunami is different from the conventional Collect Coins upgrade what you want; instead it’s a Pyramid-like scheme.

Time to Play the Game!

After reading through the intro, what do you think? Still not convinced? The game starts you off with a Zombie, the number of starting Zombies maybe upgraded, and then you run endlessly. You eat Civilians to increase your horde, avoid obstacles such as vehicles, holes and bombs; you can devour civilian infested vehicles and complete subsequent missions to gain coins. Everytime you die, the number of brains you consumed is tallied, and when you fill the box, you get a ticket which grants you different bonuses.

The market is the place to be as it offers you tons of additional power-ups like Revives, transforming coins into obstacles, backgrounds and Accessories. You can also buy ‘Skip Mission’ but it’s relatively steep.

1.    Graphics 

Zombie Tsunami is a quirky looking game with quirky cute visuals. The background are colorful continuously change and the Zombies actually look more like aliens than undead creatures. It’s easy and pleasing to the eyes.

2.    Gameplay 

Zombie Tsunami is another runner, which means tons of it are already out there, and unless you’ve been living in a cave, it’s impossible not to know how to play this genre. Amidst its overused genre, it is presented on a different view and its aforementioned quirks are enough to distinctly separate it from other runners.

3.    Sound

Sound maybe one of its weak points, sure its simplistic and catchy, it’s also very repetitive, unlike Minion Rush, and I play this game muted most, if not all the time.

 4.    Replayability

There are tons of missions to do, if you are the competitive type, you will appreciate its Facebook and Twitter connectivity. The missions are also simple and easy you would find yourself playing until you reach a goal.

Tips and Cheats

• Do not buy anything from the market unless you have to. Items from the market are ridiculously overpriced.
• Tickets are your ticket to Market Items as they provide you with Free Background, if you have to get a background, play the game and get a ticket, I was able to complete all the background in six hours of play.
• Always leave about 10k coins, there are missions where you need to use ‘Last Chance + Two additional Power-up’ which is exorbitantly priced at 5k coins
• Buy an Accessory ONLY When a Mission requires you to do so. It is incredibly frustrating to have missions like ‘Have Top Hat in Paris’  Zombies with hats rarely appear and the probability of summoning a Zombie with a Particular Hat on a Particular site is very slim, you will only lessen that probability if you already have many hats

Conclusion

The first question would be, after all this time, do you still like runners? Regardless of your answer, I recommend trying it out! Cute, quirky and addictive, the genre might be overused but the presentation is unlike most runners out there!