Teenage Zombies Q&A Feature

Due for release on Nintendo DS in Spring 2008, Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Brain Thingys is an original brand for Ignition Entertainment and developer InLight Entertainment. Following three zombies - the last hope of mankind - as they try to stop a deadly invasion by Alien Brain Thingys, the game is a platformer with plenty of nods to the B-Movies of the 1950s.

TVG recently caught up with Darren McGrath, VP of Creative Development at InLight Entertainment, to discuss their undead title...

TVG: First of all, can you give a brief overview of Teenage Zombies and the background to how the story came about?

I've always really enjoyed horror movies - even as a young kid. My grandma used to take my brother and I to all of those "creature features" on Saturday afternoons. Some of the unintentionally bad ones can be just as fun as the good ones! Applying a comic book twist to the campy B-movie and sci-fi genres really felt like a great starting point for TZ.

TVG: Three teenage zombies turn out to be unlikely saviours against an alien force threatening the planet; can you go into greater detail into each of the three characters and how their specific abilities help during gameplay?

Each of the three zombies (Fins, Lefty and Half-Pipe) have unique attributes - these are also accentuated through the use of power-ups within the game. The Player can move through the various worlds with any of the three characters but as obstacles or enemies appear it's important to use the best zombie for the task at hand. Very quickly the Player learns this tactic and swapping becomes second nature. The power-ups that are encountered are specific to each of the zombies. Fire puke, a vacuum cleaner, and HUGE skateboard wheels are a just few of the power-ups - I don't want to give too much away. ; )

TVG: The game is being developed for Nintendo DS; what was the driving force behind that decision, and how much of a stepping stone is it for further instalments on the likes of Wii, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and of course the Nintendo DS in the future?

Honestly, we really like the DS a lot and felt that the hardware features were a terrific fit for this title. We're getting so much positive feedback on the property itself that we're also looking at other platforms for future releases.

TVG: The Nintendo DS obviously has its own unique inputs, such as the touch-screen and the mic; how will these be utilised in the gameplay?

Actually, all of the DS controls are used pretty extensively. In addition to the D-pad, the buttons are also used for attacks, opening elevators, puking (yes PUKING!), gathering power-ups, etc . We're really taking advantage of the touch screen and stylus within this title between the comic Stylus Mini-games and the BBC (Big Brain Challenge). For example, one of the games lets the Player sling-shot one of the zombies, Lefty, into the air to smash alien brains and feed her cohort Fins. In another mini-game, Lefty, a former basketball player, shoots hoops using brains instead of balls! While both use the stylus the play patterns are quite different. So I'd say that it was pretty well balanced from a hardware input standpoint.

TVG: The main Story Mode appears to sit along side further mini-game options; are they for single-player use or will Ad Hoc multiplayer/DS Game Download feature?

Yeah, the mini-games will appear to the Player as a progression of the main story through line. They'll give the Player a chance to "catch his breath" between worlds on the platformer/puzzle side. Because this is a thinking man's platformer, the strategies for success really need to form in one person's head. As a result, we just didn't think that multi-player fit in a very a compelling way for this title.

TVG: Teenage Zombies has been described as enjoying a 'whimsical style' that parodies the B-movie flicks of the 1950s; what movies were the greatest influence and how have their elements been worked into the gameplay?

It's definitely a parody of the horror and sci-fi genres from that age. In terms of actual influences... I suppose movies like Dead Alive, Night of the Living Dead, Creep Show, and Howard Hawkes' The Thing from Another World are good starting points.

TVG: Teenage Zombies will be published by Ignition Entertainment; how many titles has Inlight signed to produce for them, and how different is it working with an up and coming company like Ignition compared to more established outfits such as Electronic Arts?

I can't really talk about specific deal points but I can say that we're really enjoying working with Ignition. They are extremely supportive and always bring a great deal of enthusiasm to our production meetings. They are a publisher very dedicated to the creation of great games.

TVG: Inlight has something of a background in edutainment software; how much of a leap has it been to develop something like Teenage Zombies, and is this a route that the company would like to go down from now on?

We've had a great deal of experience working with some pretty high profile characters and properties. Applying the same sensibilities to our own characters was a fairly natural progression. The attributes of the main characters that were necessary in order for the gameplay to work grew quite organically within our development cycle. We really enjoy creating our own characters and properties - but we also still enjoy working on existing properties - so I imagine that we'll continue to do both. It's really the best of both worlds!

TVG: Thank you for answering our questions and best of luck with the rest of development.

Thanks for the opportunity to talk about our game!

TVG would like to thank Darren McGrath of InLight for taking the time to answer our questions. Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys is due to invade Nintendo DS in Spring 2008.