Arcade Zombie

Pushes an arcade cabinet that spits out 8-Bit Zombies.

 (flings the Arcade Zombie away from his machine, preventing him from pushing it)
 (separates Arcade Zombie from his machine)
 (prioritizes zombie)
 (seeds prevent it from pushing arcade machine)

### First seen (China)

Neon Mixtape Tour - Day 19

When it's a choice between quarters for games and quarters for laundry, Arcade Zombie is prepared to make the ultimate stinky sacrifice.

**Arcade Zombie** is a zombie encountered in Neon Mixtape Tour in *Plants vs. Zombies 2*. It pushes an arcade machine in a manner similar to Troglobite pushing frozen blocks. During the 8-bit jam, the arcade machines will start spawning 8-Bit Zombies, which are 8-bit variants of Basic, Conehead, and Buckethead Zombies.

It was first revealed in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side B developer diary released on September 15, 2015.

## Description

The Arcade Zombie borrows the same body model, idle, moving, eating, and dying animation from Octo Zombie, Troglobite, Jurassic Bully, Jurassic Rockpuncher and Zombie Medusa, which all reuse the same animations. Its get up consists of a very messy hairstyle colored in red. In addition, it wears eyeglasses with a twist-tie. Its shirt consists of a colorful design with light blue as the primary color of the attire only to be paired up with yellow and pink designs respectively. The sleeves and bottom of the shirt are ragged. The linings on the neck and edge portion of the sleeves are all colored in dark blue, matching the gloves and jumper shorts that he wears except the suspenders of the jumper shorts are colored in magenta. It also wears a yellow belt with a green pouch. Finally, its footwear consists of white rubber shoes with blue designs and green socks.

## Almanac entry

**Arcade Zombie**

TOUGHNESS: Dense

SPEED: Hungry

Pushes an arcade cabinet that spits out 8-Bit Zombies.

Damage: crushes plants with arcade machine

When it's a choice between quarters for games and quarters for laundry, Arcade Zombie is prepared to make the ultimate stinky sacrifice.

## Encounters

### *Plants vs. Zombies 2*

Neon Mixtape Tour: Days 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, and Greatest Hits

Jurassic Marsh: Piñata Party

Modern Day: Days 17 and 34

### Chinese version (China only)

Neon Mixtape Tour: Days 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, Ultimate Challenge and Endless Challenge

## Strategies

Unlike most zombies in Neon Mixtape Tour, the Arcade Zombie can pose more of a threat than a Basic Zombie even when its jam is *not* playing - he can crush plants with his arcade machine, plus it blocks straight-shooting projectiles. The real problem, however, is when the jam *does* play, as the arcade machine is able to spawn 8-Bit Zombies in endless quantities, which pose a great threat of overwhelming your defenses. It is important to note that you should try to destroy its arcade machine as quickly as possible.

### Tips

* Try to prevent it from pushing its arcade machine close to your house by using slowing plants like Stallia and pushing plants like Chard Guard. You can also try using area-of-effect plants to kill it quickly so that the arcade machine will not be pushed further into your lawn.
* Bowling Bulbs are a good choice as they can quickly destroy multiple arcade machines and the 8-bit zombies spawned by it, due to their bouncing shots.
* Instant-use plants such as Cherry Bomb will quickly help get rid of arcade machines and 8-Bit Zombies and while should not be relied on, are very effective in a pinch.
* Using Thyme Warp is extremely effective, as it will separate the arcade machine from the Arcade Zombie as well as send all zombies to the rightmost column, leaving all arcade machines unattended and exposed. Furthermore, if you use it when the arcade machines are at the very edge of the lawn, the zombie will be warped to the first column, preventing the pushing of his machines.
* Try to destroy arcade machines quickly; otherwise, you may end up with more 8-Bit Zombies than what you can deal with.
* Using Garlic directly on the Arcade Zombie will separate it from the machine, preventing it from pushing the machine so it is vulnerable to attack.

## Gallery

HD Arcade ZombieAlmanac entryAlmanac iconArcade Zombie's sprites and assetsArcade Zombie pushing a damaged arcade machineDead Arcade ZombieArmless Arcade Zombie affected by Glitter Zombie's trailArcade Zombie features in an advertisement for Neon Mixtape Tour Side BArcade Zombie, along with Breakdancer Zombie, Boombox Zombie, and 8-Bit ZombiesBurnt Arcade ZombieAn Arcade Zombie ate the players brains!A glitched Arcade Zombie that has stopped walking. Notice the lack of an Arcade Machine to pushA fainted Arcade ZombieA shrunken Arcade ZombieA poisoned Arcade ZombieHypnotized Arcade ZombieA glowing Arcade ZombieA headless Arcade Zombie
## Videos

Plants vs. Zombies 2 New Arcade Zombie, 8-Bit Zombie - Neon Mixtape Tour Day 22 (Ep.329)By Alex5432000
## Trivia

* Similar to Imp Porter, it can summon the basic trio, the Basic, Conehead, and Buckethead Zombies.
* It has a 1980's video-game geek-like appearance, with the hair and general attire.
* It has tape at the middle of its glasses like Computer Scientist, this is a common stereotype for nerds.
* While the player must still rid the lawn of all 8-Bit Zombies, the player does not have to destroy all of the arcade machines at the end of the level, even when the 8-bit jam is playing.
* It does not actually react to its jam, instead its arcade machine is the one that reacts to the jam.
* A glitch may occur when two Arcade Zombies start pushing the same arcade machine. When two Arcade Zombies push the same machine, one of them will freeze in its animation and will remain so for the remainder of the level. Meanwhile, the other Arcade Zombie continues to push the arcade machine normally.
* Another glitch may occur when an Arcade Zombie appears without an arcade machine. When the Arcade Zombie then starts pushing, the arcade machine will spawn literally out of thin air in the wrong position in the same row where the glitched Arcade Zombie is, without producing any 8-Bit Zombies even if the right jam is played. This glitch tends to happen quite often in Neon Mixtape Tour - Day 32 and Modern Day - Day 34 during the fourth phase of the level.
* There is another glitch where the Arcade Zombie will stop moving entirely. If the Arcade Machine is destroyed just when the Arcade Zombie is about to push it, it will freeze and continue to play its idle animation for the rest of the level or until it is killed.
* The arcade machines in Neon Mixtape Tour's lawn allude to it being encountered.
* Sometimes, when timed right, its arcade machine may still spawn an 8-Bit Zombie right after being destroyed.
	+ The arcade machine can also occasionally still be pushed and crush plants after being destroyed.
* With the 4.1.1 version, it (along with Troglobite, Jurassic Bully/Rockpuncher, and Octo Zombie) now has a unique burnt and zapped animation.
* For some reason, it cannot summon 8-Bit Zombies in Modern Day - Day 17. This is most likely a glitch in the code.
* In the Chinese version, it is possible to plant freely on its machine.
* It cannot push the arcade machine past the speakers that are dropped in by the Zombot Multi-stage Masher.
* It will summon 8-Bit Zombies in Arena despite its jam not playing, but not in Piñata Party or Modern Day.
	+ This is diffrent from the other special Neon Mixtape Tour zombies, whose abilties will activate in Piñata Party and Modern Day as well as Arena.
* In the trailer for Part 2 of Neon Mixtape Tour, it is seen nodding its head along with the music. This also happens during the Modern Day trailer for both Part 1 and Part 2.
	+ It's unknown if this was supposed to be the animation that plays during the 8-bit jam which is left unused.

## See also

* 8-Bit Zombie
* Arcade machine
* Troglobite
* Frozen block
* Zombie Medusa

ru:Пещерный укус
fr:Zombie d'Arcade