Zombies battle army of brains

Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingeys (from Ignition Entertainment for Nintendo DS, rated E10+ for ages 10 and older, $29.99).

In this game, a single player plunges into a virtual comic book, controlling three recently awakened members of the zombie community who have an insatiable hunger for gray matter. That’s a good thing because Earth is overrun by an extraterrestrial army of brains (the leaders and their minions reside in jars with a pair of cute little eyes, no less) and it’s up to this ghoulish superhero team to save the day.

The presentation is fueled with classic B-movie and pop-art themes as players hold the DS sideways to read the colorful sequential-art story, then reposition the hand-held to play the game.

The Teenage Zombies team is a goth blend of colorful characters with a slightly high gross-out factor tweens will devour with glee.

First, Lori “Lefty” Lopez is a former basketball player who uses her only arm to swat enemies and pull herself up to platforms. Zack “Half Pipe” Boyd, a legless skateboarder, not only can squeeze under tight spots, but also can catch major air when he hits a ramp.

Finally, the best and most politically incorrect of the bunch is Finnigan “Fins” Magee. The former swimmer has mutated with sea creatures and uses tentacles to climb objects or ropes. He can turn the squishy appendages into barbs to destroy brain soldiers. His true power, however, is the ability to consume rotting garbage and regurgitate it. Different types of debris work to burn or melt an enemy or obstacle.

Each hero is awakened when his coffin is tapped using a stylus on the touch-sensitive DS screen. Heroes can be swapped on the fly to handle any of the puzzling and dangerous situations presented.

Heroes regain unhealth either by eating brains from recently broken jars or collecting body parts to assemble another zombie in one very weird jigsaw puzzle.

The story pages also contain some classic advertisements one might have seen in a 1960s comic book, offering products that can be used in the action. For example, Zack can power up with the revolutionary Hover Board and fly to unreachable locations.

Players work through more than 30 chapters of brain munching, moving from the cemetery to the Brain Thingeys’ mother ship, all delivered in side-scrolling, platform environments.

What sealed the deal for me was the addition of 15 minigames unlocked as the story progresses. Challenges include a classically presented 1980s arcade game called Zombie Hunter Man with Lefty using brains to practice her free-throw shot.

Even a bit of a WarioWare experience is found in the aptly titled Big Brain Challenge. A mixture of puzzles greets the player, such as drawing a curved line in the right spot to catch a hero, counting brains, recognizing patterns and testing spelling.

Although it’s mostly all fun with the game, an irritation will begin to grow. A player must complete a level for the automatic save to kick in. As a result, he can work really hard in a difficult level, get almost to the end and find one slip-up costs him dearly.

Write to Joseph Szadkowski, The Washington Times, 3600 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20002; or send e-mail (jszadkowski@ washingtontimes.com).