The title says and shows it all here; zombies, guns, death, humor and giant watermelon sized breasts. The real question you are obviously asking is, "it looks funny and down right awesome, but can it in fact live up to the name and situation it gives?" To that I say first, yes and fallow it up with this game makes the DS an adult fun machine yet again.
Nintendo has been willing to step out of its Disney like room and take a few chances in the past several years and Zombie BBQ is one of those games that seems like Nintendo did it to blow some steam off and have one of helluva a time doing it. Nintendo takes chances on thrillers that for the most part, are big hits. From Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem to Resident Evil 4 Nintendo has taken big chances and made big hits. Let me tell you this, Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ is yet another one of Nintendo's triumphs out of nowhere.
Story
The story for the game is funny yet an interesting twist on the fantasy world it is presented in. After Little Red Riding Hood saved her grandmother from another wolf attack, she realized that the world of Storyland was being plagued by an upcoming zombie infection and decided to do the best thing and grab her favorite weapons and go out with her friend Momotaro to rid the world of the infection. The reason this basic story is awesome is due to the use of such well known characters like Pinocchio and the Three Little Pigs as enemy zombies.
By taking such a basic story like a zombie attack and amping it up with fairytale characters and getting to blow them to hell and this is a great entertaining game to play, somewhat similar to American McGee's Alice in warped plot. By effectively taking such a well known genre to all, they have essentially taken stories and bent them into a sinister story filled with guns, death and getting to kill those damned Three Little Pigs finally! Oh the lovely horror that ensues with this games plot!
Gameplay
Since it is the DS the gameplay has to be easy to understand and fun altogether and LRRH stepped up to the plate and hit the home run. You can scroll from left to right to fire at enemies as well as evade them. There are crates with ammo for other weapons like the flamethrower, shotgun etc. etc. and there are also explosive crates to take out enemies from afar. At the start of the game you get the tutorial which really helps you learn the game quickly and all of the ins and outs it contains.
Now, the real meat and bones of the game is in the boss fights which are as awesome as they are funny. When you have to fight the likes of Santa Claus, Granny, Sleeping Beauty, Gretel, Pinocchio, the Three Little Pigs and yes, Zombzilla. Even the likes of Godzilla couldn't overcome this. The game gives you the ability to kill everything you have ever wanted in a fairytale book and do it in style.
Sound
As for the sounds it is solid. The weapons are groovy sounding and the cutscenes are enjoyable. The game uses its sound effects properly and doesn't do anything to try to overdo it or make it extravagant. The game does the quality of the sound well and does it without making it a rough kind of cut. While sound is one of the simpliest things to do, if done improperly it can be disasterous to anything really. LRRH does the sound without forcing it and gives you some decent music to listen to durig battle and during cutscenes. Really did a good job.
Visual
While the DS is lower ended in a graphical standpoint to some, LRRH does a wonderful job of taking what it is given and doing the best it can. In part thanks to the fairy tale setting it can get away with being cartoonish, but honestly it doesn't even need it. The game is a fun one to look at and even though it is more 2D it has 3D qualities to it that are undeniable. The graphics for the zombies are pretty nice with the evil cartoon look, but the bosses are done relatively well and look extremely fresh. Wouldn't you want to see zombie Sleeping Beauty? That's what I thought.
Replay
The game is pretty long (several hours of gameplay) for a non-RPG DS game. The replay for the game is pretty good as it is fresh and something that you can easily fall into. I found myself wanting to just check it out and see how it was and then I realizied it had been about 3 hours later. The game is one you can pop in and play on a decent basis and considering the game is under $20 new, it won't even cost you a Hamilton for this wonderful time waster. The game has a awkward yet strong premise and very enjoyable gameplay coupled into that. The game has some real value to it.
Final Analysis
The game has all the necessary qualities of a good game, strong story, strong gameplay and a high fun factor. Getting to kill your oldest nursery story characters with guns and flamethrowers is entirely to fun for anybody to even think of passing up. Like I said, the game is under $20 new and with today's economy I can't stress this games value. It brings out the inner kid in all of us...the inner psycho kid who has wanted to put a bullet in between that uppty Sleeping beauty's bitch ass eyes. That's right, I said it! Um...yeah oops, so like I said, the game brings out the barbaric murderer in all of us...because in the end, we all wanted to kill Pinocchio and his fake half wooden half real self. What I am saying basically is, this game is great and really fun. It is worth every penny and I recommend it.
"Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ (DS)" is on sale October 21, 2008 and is rated T. Shooter. Developed by Enjoy Up. Published by Destineer.
