|
You Really Should Be Playing This Game: Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman Though you’ve probably never heard of this DS title, you really should look into it because this game is amazing. Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ is not just a game with a clever title; it’s also a very clever game.
Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ (Little Red’s/Zombie BBQ from here on out) plays much like a linear shooting gallery video game, such as Cabal, Blood Brothers, Nam ’76, and Sin and Punishment. However, this game uses a top view angle as opposed to the classic behind the character view. The bird’s eye view perspective works really well in the game, especially since the controls are almost exclusively stylus based. You either play as a hyper sexualized version of Little Red Riding Hood or a teenaged Momotaro (the “Peach Boy” of Japanese folklore) who looks more like a mix between a B movie ninja and Son Wukong (Goku). The story is pretty generic, a horde of zombies are attacking “Storybook Land” and it’s up to Little Red and Momotaro to stop the zombies at the source. The story feel forced and often times I’ll admit that I just skip through a lot of the skits so I can get to blasting zombies even sooner. While the story is laughable and almost non-existent; the gameplay quality and “charm” of Zombie BBQ is through the roof. Though the henchmen and lesser baddies are pretty much the same character model with 7 different skins, the bosses and mini-bosses are amazing in their design. Only in Zombie BBQ can you fight a gigantic zombified Gretel or semi-demonic Pinocchio, the game is so bizarre in a very delightful way. Zombie BBQ has that Japanese quirkiness, which we like; however, I was surprised to find that the game was actually developed by a Spanish game company.
As I mentioned before the controls are almost totally stylus based, aside from strafing which can be done with either the D-Pad or face buttons (in case, you’re left handed). Using the DS touchscreen technology you’re to blast the advancing zombies and ghouls by touching them with the stylus. Generally, holding the stylus on a zombie will unleash a stream of bullets from your machine gun with unlimited ammo. However, as the game progresses you’re given the opportunity to wreak havoc with various weapons that use different touch commands (ie: you tap a target twice to throw a grenade at it). The gameplay is fun and addictive. Levels are about 10 minutes long (maybe a bit more, if you have trouble taking those zombies out effectively), so it’s a very fun pick up and play game. One thing you must know, this game will not go easy on you. These zombies want your blood. While the game isn’t cheap, expect playing the later levels through numerous times to learn boss patterns and the best order to shoot things in. I’d go as far to say that the game has a very classic feel, despite its pseudo 3-D interface.
The game’s design is very pleasing, yet incredibly grotesque. Not only is it grotesque in its theme, but also in its art style. I’d compare the art style in Zombie BBQ to that of old Garbage Pail Kids; they’re nasty, but you can’t help loving the stylization. My only gripe about the graphics is the variety of the maps. When you play the game it seems as if the only locales in “Storybook Land” are either old timey European towns or cemeteries. However, I’m not playing this game to look at the scenery; I’m out for zombie blood. The audio is fair, yet can easily get annoying. The music is reminiscent of the generic spooky music you hear in old cartoons and doesn’t stand out much. However, I never did play the game too loud, since Little Red’s “ouch” sounds so wrong in an erotic way and I never wanted to garner weird stares from the public. If you’re into classic shooting gallery type video games, I highly suggest this game to you. At $20 you can’t go wrong picking this little gem up from your local game store. Even if you don’t like it, I can almost guarantee you’ll have one title in your DS collection that none of friends have (unless they run a gaming site). However, if you are going to pick this game up; I suggest getting this game from an online vendor. I had to drive to several different game stores before I found this one in stock (and they only had one copy in house).
|
