When Plants vs. Zombies was released in 2009, it was a continuation of what PopCap had proven to be so good at with games like Bejeweled and Peggle: mechanically straightforward games with enticing graphics that everyone enjoyed. Plants vs. Zombies was probably the biggest twist as it explored tower defense, a niche genre typically played by strategy fans. However, the risk paid off, and Plants vs. Zombies has been successfully ported to multiple platforms and remains the developer’s most popular franchise. Younger fans today may call it a multiplayer shooter, but the original strategy game has always (easily) been my favorite operate of the Plants and Zombie characters. The remake is faithful to the original game, sometimes to a fault.
If you’re only familiar with shooting games, the original Plants vs. Zombies is a simplified tower defense game in which the player defends against encroaching zombies on the right side of the screen by placing a series of offensive and defensive plants on the left side. The grid is diminutive, the choices are confined but impactful, and the tone is comedic. In the case of Replanted, the game hasn’t been radically redesigned, and I appreciate that. The original game was always thoughtful, straightforward and well-balanced, and that remains true here.
In fact, the biggest and most welcome change to the gameplay is the ability to speed up the action up to 2.5x with the press of a button at any time. I really like this option and I can’t imagine playing Plants vs. now. Zombies without her. This makes the wait at the beginning of each match much quicker, and when you get to the behind schedule stages of each level where a dozen or more plants are firing at full power, it’s incredibly satisfying to sit back and watch the action heat up. I also appreciate how effortless it is to adjust the speed. I usually started at a high pace, slowed down to normal halfway through, and then picked it up towards the end. This makes an already silky game even smoother.
However, Replanted’s respect for the original sometimes reminds us that it is based on a game that is over 15 years venerable and originally intended for mobile devices. Many UI elements are old-fashioned and look a bit affordable. Selecting units isn’t very fun and sometimes I lose sight of what I’m selecting. I also encountered a few visual bugs, such as my wallet not showing up when shopping at Dave’s store or misaligned layers while playing. These are bugs that ultimately don’t disrupt performance, but distract from it.
I had a lot of fun replaying the base campaign, but there’s also an impressive number of fresh, highly challenging modes for those who have mastered the game. There are also plenty of minigames and puzzle modes from various versions of the game over the years, leading to a full complement of offerings if you breeze through the main game (which you probably will, as it’s good and strenuous to put down).
Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is a great and faithful remake of an excellent, straightforward, and now classic game. The fresh animations and character designs are also great, without changing what made them so memorable in the first place. It’s all a nice reminder of a different era in PopCap Games and mobile gaming in general, where monetization rarely went beyond the premium price of purchasing the game, allowing the developers to focus on the core of the gameplay while keeping it featherlight and straightforward. Replanted makes me miss those days, but I’m also grateful that this revisitation of the original game was treated with such respect and care.
Switch Edge 2
Plants vs. game Zombies runs quite well on a controller (although I highly recommend increasing your cursor speed), but it’s strenuous not to recognize that the game was originally built with mouse or touch controls in mind. With the release of the game on the Switch platform, the Switch 2 version offers all three control options without having to enter the menu. You can play with a controller, operate the touchscreen in handheld mode, or operate Joy-Con 2 as a mouse. It looks and plays great, making the Switch 2 version likely the definitive version of the game.
