GameZine.co.uk Logo

Review

Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys (DS)

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 09:01
Teenage Zombies bears a striking resemblance, gameplay-wise, to Interplay's classic Lost Vikings
Like wow, some alien-type things have invaded the earth and it’s up to three zombies to save it!

While this may sound like the dream game for pre-pubescent, Hadouken!-loving, social networking site-addicted teenagers, it appears some grown-ups are also digging this cockamamie idea, as platformer Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys (TZ) makes its way onto the Nintendo DS.

Brought to you by Ignition Entertainment, the company behind the Metal Slug series and Top Trumps-esque SNK v Capcom Card Fighters on the DS, TZ depicts Earth under attack by bizarre aliens, led by the all-powerful Big Brain (Ed – Futurama, anyone?), whose megalomaniacal rants and cunning plans for global destruction brings back memories of Saturday morning cartoon villains.

Starting off promisingly, the game sets the scene with a comic strip-style interlude (turn your DS sideways here, kiddies) which is full of humour, wit and certainly makes a refreshing change to the typical "start game" screen.
You take simultaneous control of three main characters throughout, switching between them in order to use their different abilities for traversing platforms, killing aliens and generally just wreaking a bit of mayhem.

Lori is a one-armed zombie who can leap great distances, swatting the majority of enemies with a single blow. Fins is more powerful but far less agile, and the trio is rounded out nicely by Zack, who can crawl through tunnels and bash baddies with his trusty skateboard.

Throughout the game, you'll be required to swap through the characters to make use of their varying abilities (for example, Lori can jump to reach high ledges, while Fins' tentacles should be used to crawl up walls). It should be pretty obvious when and where you'll need a certain player.

Should you need a helping hand, there are a number of power-ups, which include Fins' rather pleasing range of vomit projectiles. In fact, the creators seem rather content on filling the game with as many gross features as possible - eating brains and body parts are required to top up your un-health bar.

The game is not without its faults, however. Consisting of 33 levels (although, in keeping in with the comic book theme of the game, they are known as chapters) split across seven worlds, you would have thought TZ might provide a relative challenge and offer quite a few hours of gameplay. Well, not exactly. I found myself getting to the halfway point of the second world in less than 45 minute, without overly taxing my abilities.

A number of mini-games are randomly interspersed throughout the game and, once unlocked, can be replayed as many times as you like. Although the use of the DS's stylus and microphone capabilities offer a break from the button-pounding main adventure, the games are generally frustrating and lack on-screen instructions (although there is plenty of help when making your way through the start of the main game).

In the first mini-game, for example, you have to tap the touchscreen to dig up enough earth to allow brain enemies to escape where they will be gobbled up by our heroes. Here, however, the action is hampered by an annoyingly unresponsive touchscreen, making things more of a chore than anything else.

Those who have a perverse love of mini-games might wish to persist, with others involving, to name but one, a strange mash-up of Bomberman and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

Teenage Zombies ends up being a mildly diverting affair. It can offer fun in places, but after a while you get the feeling that there is something missing. Although there are some nice touches (particularly the comic book style cut scenes), with platform game veterans such as Sonic, Spyro and Mario already showing their mettle on the DS across, Teenage Zombies doesn't really justify splashing out the readies.

6/10

Ashley King

More Reviews 

  • Quirky beat-'em-up action for the DS

    Draglade

    Dance-mat inspired, brilliantly soundtracked 2D fighters involving rhythm-based combos rarely come on the market these days, but when they do, it’s worth paying attention. Full Story

News 

Releases 

Previews 

  • She wouldn't be doing that if she was pregnant, which is possible in Fable II

    First Look: Fable II

    While Fable was a very good game, it was a little too ambitious for its own good, and many of the promises that Peter Molyneux made for the game ended up being nixed (Funny how that happens with all of his games – cynical Ed). Full Story

Reviews 

  • Supreme Ruler 2020 offers a hardcore experience for even hardened strategy veterans

    Supreme Ruler 2020 review (PC)

    As if life in the modern world wasn’t a depressing enough experience already, we now have Battlegoat Studios to thank for making it seem that much more futile with Supreme Ruler 2020. Full Story
  • You spend most of your time in Wall-E collecting tubes, something that never happens once in the film

    Wall-E review (Xbox 360)

    I guess you’ve probably already got an opinion about this game, perhaps along the lines of ‘tie-in games of movies are rarely good, and as for Disney film tie-in games. Full Story
  • Purple is all the rage in 40th Century, it seems

    Perry Rhodan: Myth of the Illochim (PC)

    I’m willing to bet there are a substantial number of people out there who have never heard of Perry Rhodan, myself being one of them before this game landed on my desk. Full Story

Charts 

Features and Blogs