Ah, Ed Wood, how
you took two science fiction elements in “Plan 9 From Outerspace” and melded
them together in sweet harmony much like the tasty discovery that peanut butter
and jelly go together famously. I, for one, love seeing the campy meeting of
aliens from planets beyond mingling with reanimated humans brought to life by
otherworldly means. It’s the stuff 1950s B-movies were made of as well as campy
comic books of old. In Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys for
the Nintendo DS, campy sci-fi comic books meets video games to make a pretty
decent platform game that’s actually funny.
Told through a
series of comic book panels read by a narrator channeling a cheesy radio
melodrama, the game’s story tells of the sudden invasion of an alien race ruled
by The Big Brain … that is actually an alien that resembles a floating, um, big
brain. The Big Brain brought his brain army to rule over our planet only he
didn’t count on three feisty teenagers that have arisen from the grave to combat
the alien hordes. The fact that these three teens are zombies just adds to the
zaniness and soon these three undead teens become humanity’s last hope.
From a nearby
graveyard, a once female basketball player named “Lefty” Lopez rises from her
coffin along with a decapitated skateboarder named Zack “Half-Pipe” Boyd and the
chubby Finnegan “Fins” Magee. These three teens work their way out of the
graveyard and into the human-versus-alien battleground as they go up against the
aliens to get to their leader. The good news is that these zombie teens love the
taste of brains, which makes going up against the alien brain forces so
deliciously appealing to them.
The trio has
their own individual skill and abilities and the best part is that you can
switch between them on the fly. Zack, for example, brings speed to the table
since he rides a skateboard and since he’s missing his legs, he can fit into
tight spaces. Lefty Lopez, on the other hand, has height on her side and she can
jump and reach higher than the others. Finally, there’s Fins who might be slow
but packs a mean blow and can use mutated tentacles to scale flat surfaces.
Aside from their specific abilities, zombie Fins can puke acid, fire or bubbles
to get through closed off areas. There are also power ups for Lefty (an umbrella
to float down) and Zack (a hover board to hover over wider gaps).
One of the most
interesting aspects of the game is that it plays quite like a living comic book.
You can even climb or jump on top of informative caption boxes. The levels, over
30 of them, offer some variety but rarely does it show us anything new. After
awhile the game can get slightly repetitive so it’s best to play this game in
short bursts. The enemies don’t offer much of a challenge, however, and is one
of the weakest aspects of the game. Even the gun turret brains are easy to
defeat without much trouble.
There are also a
number of touch screen mini-games scattered throughout the game. One mini-game,
for example, brings to mind the classic Dig Dug while there are a number of
other puzzles that range from good to just decent. Thankfully, the controls are
handled beautifully enough and the story can actually be quite funny.
Visually, Teenage
Zombies could have been better even for a game that went for a comic book
appearance. Somehow, the environments and the character models could have looked
better and the textures a lot less flat than is seen here. Even the visual
effects leave a lot to be desired but at least the comic book cut scenes are
nicely colorful.
As far as the
sound is concerned, the soundtrack possesses a suitably campy sci-fi B-movie
quality that plays over and over again yet won’t get on your nerves. The sound
effects are limited to just a few effects throughout the game but there’s just
enough voice acting to fill in the void. Speaking of the voice acting, the
delivery is handled well enough that they do justice to the funny lines
scattered throughout the game.
The thing about
Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys is that it has its heart in
the right place and is actually very fun in places but it barely has the
platforming goods to hold your attention in lengthy spurts. This is the type of
game that is best enjoyed a chapter at a time seeing as you’ll see everything
the game as too offer rather quickly. It’s a fun game to be sure but we’ve
played a lot better than this on the Nintendo DS.
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Gameplay: 6.9
As a platformer,
Teenage Zombies offers puzzles and platform-jumping action but what is featured
here isn’t challenging. The story is funny and engaging and the quirky
characters add some diversity to the gameplay. It’s just too bad that the
mini-games aren’t all winners.
Graphics: 6.0
The Nintendo DS
is capable of displaying some lovely visuals but this game just doesn’t take
advantage of the handheld’s graphical capabilities. The game’s comic book cut
scenes are handled wonderfully, though, and the characters are actually quite
charming.
Sound: 6.5
The soundtrack
and sound effects can be very limited but at least it sounds good through the DS
speakers. The voice acting is a real highlight, making the quirky dialogue
actually very funny.
Difficulty:
Easy
If only the Big
Brain’s army was smart enough to provide a real challenge or the environments
enough platform challenges to offer experienced platform gaming veterans. The
game is actually a tad too easy as are the touch-screen puzzles.
Concept: 6.5
The game’s
story and titular undead teenagers are actually charming and the fact that the
story is like a comic book come to life is another endearing quality. The levels
are fun in short bursts and some of the puzzles are actually good. Still, the
replay value on this game is rather low.
Overall: 6.9
While it is an
engaging and often funny Nintendo DS platform game, Teenage Zombies rarely
shuffles its way to new and clever heights. It’s a virtual comic book with
plenty of brain-devouring action that could have been a lot better. Still, it’s
a fun game for those that like their platform games with an interesting and
comical twist.
