Aliens and Zombies have been staple characters in video games almost since they first began. Space Invaders taught us to kill anything we saw that we didn't understand, and countless zombie games like House of the Dead taught us that as long as we didn't know the people before they were zombies, we had no problem shooting them in the face. Zombies and Aliens both appear in the new title Teenage Zombies: Attack of the Alien Brain Thingys (TZ:AotABT) for the Nintendo DS, but you play as a trio of zombies trying to destroy the evil brain... thingys.

Story
In TZ:AotABT, you play as three teenage zombies that are trying to save the world from aliens. Actually, the teenage zombies may not even realize they're saving the world, as the aliens are large brains, and the teenage zombies are really only interested in eating them. It's a convenient plot device, but it works well, and at least makes some sense in the world the game has created.

The story is told in comic book style, where you hold the DS sideways to read and listen as the story unfolds. After unlocking a new part of the story, you can easily go back and watch it from the main menu. The story is fairly clever, and has a lot of real humor in it, which can be hard to find in new franchises.

Gameplay
The actual game takes place in only 7 major levels, but each one contains "chapters" that provide save points and break the areas into smaller parts. You can replay any level you've completed, but you can't jump to a specific chapter within the level. You play as one of the three teenage zombies, but can switch between them at anytime in the level. Each of the zombies has different abilities, so there is a small puzzle aspect to figure out which zombie is needed to make progress.

Teenage Zombies: Attack of the Alien Brain Thingys is a pretty decent platformer, but occasionally I had to jump several times to get a hold on the ledge above me. The levels become larger and less linear as you progress, with the final areas being fairly complex. None of them have any annoying tricks that frustrate for hours, but they do require you to keep track of where you need to go.

One nice thing about TZ:AotABT is that it doesn't use the touchscreen or microphone in real crazy ways. There are a few mini-games that you unlock as you play through the main game, but they are all simple, and control well. I'm happy to report there is no shouting or blowing into the microphone, so you don't have to worry about looking like a fool in public when you play.

Graphics & Sound
2D Platformers usually look great on the DS, and the comic book style of Teenage Zombies: Attack of the Alien Brain Thingys works very well. The animation of the characters is good, with nice backgrounds and detailed characters.

The cutscenes have great comic book graphics, and top notch voice acting, although it doesn't exist for every cutscene. The game's soundtrack is fairly forgettable, but it's not distracting or annoying, so there's no way to fault it.

Conclusion
Overall, Teenage Zombies: Attack of the Alien Brain Thingys is a simple platformer that does everything it needs to, and does it all pretty well. It's fun to play, and the multiple difficulty levels provide some amount of replay value. It's not an extremely long game, and there's no multiplayer, but if you're looking for a fun title that will keep you occupied, you could do a lot worse than Teenage Zombies: Attack of the Alien Brain Thingys.