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Living Dead House, as we previously reported, is the latest Nintendo Switch release from the ever-dependable indie publisher Flynn’s Arcade, this time, developed by Deprecated Games.
One genre in which Flynn’s Arcade has had a particularly strong track record is the single-screen arcade platformer, with the publisher releasing a plethora of great new games in the genre that all somehow look, sound, play, and feel like the arcade classics of the early 80s, albeit often with a slight modern twist on the staunchly retro genre. Previous examples have included the stealth-based antics of Super Spy Raccoon, which we previously reviewed, but has Flynn’s Arcade managed to find yet another winner in Living Dead House? As we shall see, yes, it has!
The game’s horror theme allows Living Dead House to diverge slightly from the standard single-screen platformer formula. For starters, such games usually star cutesy, cartoonish mascot characters, whereas the lead in Living Dead House is a rather buff fellow, who looks not unlike one of the Lee brothers from Double Dragon, so while still very much looking like an escapee from a retro arcade game, it’s not one from the genre you might expect. Though, with the horror theme of the game, it seems rather appropriate to be in control of a somewhat tougher lead character rather than the usual cutesy anthropomorphized animals.
Another way in which the horror theme of the game allows for a bit of a break from genre norms, is that to clear levels in Living Dead House, the aim isn’t to collect all the on-screen items, reach the top of the screen, or even to kill all your enemies. It’s simply to survive until the timer runs out. However, with the titular “living dead” wandering around all floors of the house, survival is no mean feat. Luckily for you, weapons have been scattered about the house to aid you in your quest for survival. These are all single-use items, so you’ll have to use them thoughtfully. The weapons include shotguns, axes, and bear traps, but be particularly careful when laying the traps, as they can harm you, as well as them, so be sure not to walk over them once you’ve laid them! Attacking the game’s zombies leads to some pleasingly ghoulish cartoon gore, with bouncing heads and flying limbs aplenty. But although the game has a horror setting, grisly deaths and all, it’s all in a charming, cartoonish style that wouldn’t disturb even the most sensitive of gamers, what’s more, in addition to the aforementioned weapons, you’ll also find tools with which you can board up the windows from whence the living dead are invading your house, which adds an extra element of defensive play to the game.
The game’s music, too helps to create the game’s spooky atmosphere, as does the old-school digitized speech.
So, yes, in Living Dead House, Flynn’s Arcade has, indeed, once again found yet another 80s-style single-screen platformer that’s a brand new game, but that looks, sounds, feels, and plays like it’s been plucked straight from the 1980s, and the survival focus of the game makes it feel somewhat different from most other games in the genre, leading you to play more defensively, avoiding your enemies in order to survive for as long as possible, not unlike how you might avoid the ghosts in Pac-Man.
Living Dead House is scarily good fun if you enjoy arcade-style single-screen platform games, and it’s the sort of game that’s endlessly replayable, so you’ll certainly get good value for money at its wallet-friendly budget price, with a “survival” mode in addition to the main “arcade” mode adding longevity to the game (not that it needed it), but having another way to play does mix things up a bit. In survival mode, you have to survive against the marauding zombies for as long as possible, but you now only have one life before it’s game over.
The main arcade mode also offers the chance for two players to play, as well as different difficulty levels. On easy mode, you’re given infinite continues, making it easier for you to see everything the game has to offer.
Living Dead House is out now on Nintendo Switch, priced at just $4.99 USD (or local equivalent), and its charming style, tight controls and the survival-based twist on the genre all mean that ‘sit well worth picking up, even if your Switch is already packed full of single-screen platform games, because with Living Dead House, a frightfully good time is guaranteed!
