Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys

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.

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.