Zombie Calavera: Prologue

Zombie Calavera: Prologue is a game about the former Mexican graveyard guard Santos Gimenez. Six years earlier his wife María Fernanda was kidnapped by the narco Pellejo Martinez and his minions. Martinez was said to be the reincarnation of an old Aztec priest and used a dark ritual to bring back his ancient guard from the dead. The land cracked open and the local village Ataualtepec was burned entirely. Satisfied to have collected and bound 500 souls to him, Martinez did not kill María Fernanda, but took her along to purgatory. Gimenez has been training for six years and now he is ready to get his revenge and bring back his wife from purgatory. However, his rage has consumed him. He is no longer human, but a creature without flesh with red lights in his skull.

This 2D platform game consists of a large level composed of several single-screen rooms connected both horizontally and vertically using the flip-screen mechanic, offering an amount of freedom to explore. There are many platforming sections to complete. In order to open the gate to purgatory Gimenez needs a large amount of spiritual energy, so he travels to the graveyard and needs to collect sixteen crucifixes. When they have all been found the game ends right away.

The game has a distinct visual style where almost anything is black except for the background and a few elements highlighted in bright colour. Unusual for games by the developer Santos Gimenez is able to shoot enemies, using a shotgun with an unlimited amount of bullets, instead of just avoiding them. The game keeps track of the amount of enemies killed.

Dead enemies do not disappear, but reincarnate immediately as winged creatures that cannot be killed, so avoiding them is still a possible tactic and even encouraged. Here the blackness can be used to an advantage, as Gimenez can easily blend into the background making enemies lose track of him. They then eventually disappear from the screen, but can return in a next one. That makes it a tactical, slower-paced game where stealth is an important element. Gimenez starts with 66 health and every enemy encounter drains the meter a little.