Developed by Snops Games
Released for XBLIG (9/2012)
Snops Attack! Zombie Defense is a vertically scrolling shoot-em-up (or shmup for short), a genre that dominated in the era of arcades in the 80's and saw a lot of love in the 90's as well. You can find quite a few shmup gems on the 360 if you dig enough and this is definitely one of the more overlooked shooters as it never saw release outside XBLIG.
In Snops Attack! you play as Snops, a dog pilot taking to the skies to battle the alien/zombie onslaught. The game features high-res sprites and while they typically don't have many frames of animation it all looks very nice. Your ship you has two styles of shots you can switch between on the fly; one is a powerful straight shot while the other is a weaker spread. This weapon system is very easy to learn and has an obvious balance with both being great in certain situations. You can also pick up buddies that will fly along side you and increase your firepower further. There's also your screen clearing bomb, a standard in the genre, which leaves a very satisfying giant explosion when used and can get you out of some tight spots.
The background graphics in Snops Attack! look great although lacking a bit in variety, but due to the intensity of the action you won't be able to fixate on it much. You will shoot the same enemies a lot, but they are all very well drawn and the game does a good job of adding new foes to blast on each stage. The bosses are huge and present quite a challenge, especially on the harder difficulties. The game features a total of six levels, each with their own theme and matching enemies. The creator is obviously a huge fan of shmup games and I really enjoyed the numerous homages to the Gradius games, as there's a stage with giant Moai heads and another with massive bubbles. While some of the stages are a tad bit longer than they need to be, the game as a whole is quite short and the overall design and presentation is quite a few steps ahead of what you'll normally find on XBLIG.
I'm really surprised this title didn't receive more attention honestly and I sincerely hope the developer made at least something for his effort. If your a fan of shmup games then I would highly recommend grabbing this one while the indie games marketplace is still a thing. Perhaps a re-issue for the Xbox One or even Steam is in order to spread the game around and get Snops Attack! Zombie Defense the play it deserves!
Final Verdict: If you're a fan of shmup games, you really should check out Snops Attack! It's a well programmed vertical shooter and is easily one of the best on XBLIG.
External Links:
Snoppies Attack Developer Blog
Snops Gaming YouTube Channel
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