Reviews// Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys!

The levels are littered with multiple platforms and tunnels, with numerous power-ups to help you through them. The emphasis is on problem-solving, although that wasn't apparent initially. There was much swapping between the different zombies to make use of their unique abilities, but the necessary course of action always seemed obvious. Ingest some garbage (yes, garbage – the game was developed in North America and 'garbage sounds sloppier than 'rubbish') with Fins and you can vomit it up and burn through a grate. Grab a hover disc with Halfpipe and you can levitate to an out-of-reach platform. Simple enough.

As things progress, however, the obstacles become more complicated and you'll need to use your noggin a bit more.

It's just as well, because the combat isn't all that entertaining. Each character has their own attack, but they're slow and sometimes feel a bit unresponsive. The enemies aren't particularly challenging, in any case. Either you can deal with them using a straightforward attack and it's easily doable, or you just plain can't and you'll need to smash a controlling brain or grab a power-up. There's no middle ground.

Once a brain enemy is dealt with you get to eat it and replenish your health. If you're too far gone for a quick brain snack to sort you out, you can bring your health back up to full using ZAPS (Zombie Assembly Pop-up Screen). This is basically a mini-game that requires you to piece together different zombie parts that you've gathered using the DS stylus and touch screen to create a whole zombie. It's entertaining and works well.

There are other mini-games littered throughout the game that involve doing things like digging out brains to eat or playing an old-school arcade machine in the mall. Again, they're diverting and enough to keep the main platforming action from getting repetitive.

My biggest complaint with Teenage Zombies is the speed. Maybe this is a result of having grown up on Sonic games, but I found it frustratingly slow at times. If you enjoy blasting through platformers, this is not for you. This was no more apparent than on stages where I had to repeat portions of the game. Shuffling through the same chunk of level again at a snail's pace proved immensely frustrating. I'm not saying it was responsible for the headache I had after hours of play, but... I had a headache after hours of play.

Graphically, Teenage Zombies does what it needs to. It won't blow your mind, but it never sets out to, either. This is, after all, a 2D platformer. It's delivered in a cartoony style that creates a gloomy, offbeat style that serves the feel of the game well. Throw in the comics-style cutscenes and the overall presentation of the game is solid, though it's unlikely to change how you look at the DS.

Don't forget to check out my interview with developer Darren McGrath, right here.

[i][b]SPOnG Score: 80%

Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys! is a solid side-scrolling platformer. If you can overlook some moments of frustration and you're not looking for speedy gameplay, it has a lot to recommend it with its varied game play and strong presentation. Plus – you get to eat brains.[/b][/i]