Video games have come a long way since I played my Mattel electronic hockey in the 1980s. My son John received a Nintendo DS for Christmas and I have found that technology can be a beautiful thing. He enjoys gaming, especially when he has trouble falling asleep at night. I enjoy gaming when he is at school and I should be writing stories.

The newest game we "share" is "Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys," and we both find it fun and challenging. I have trouble getting past chapter 3, John is stuck on chapter 6: Concrete Jungle. Maybe it's because my finger nails are too long (or I'm too old) and I can't press the right buttons in time before my zombie is destroyed and then have to start the level over.

The premise of the game, according to the instruction manual, is that Earth is under invasion by alien brain thingys and humans have failed to defend the planet and let it fall into the clutches of the Big Brain and his "henchbrains."

The only hope lies with three teenage zombies that arise from a graveyard. Each zombie tries to get to the "top" of the world and eliminate the Big Brain, but big mutant rats foil their attempts. To eliminate the vermin, the zombies feed them spicy food – everyone knows that spicy food sets them on fire.

So along the journey to freedom, the zombies battle the Big Brain, a host of other brains, mutant crocodiles, controlled human, and of course the mutant rats. It sounds more confusing than it actually is.

You can swap between zombies to do the defending. They are Zack "Half-Pipe" Boyd, a skateboard kid from the 1980s; Lori "Lefty" Lopez, a former basketball star from th 1990s; and Finnigan "Finns" Magee, an avid swimmer from the 1950s.

Finn has an upset tummy through the game and is prone to "puking" to relieve his upset stomach. Lefty is missing her left arm (go figure) and spends her time attaching a variety of devises to replace her appendage. Half-Pipe is constantly looking for items to "trick out' his skateboard. They are quite the bunch of cool zombies.

The idea is to get to the last chapter (since we haven't gone past chapter 6, we don't know how many chapters there are) and save the world. The game is rated E and there is some mild violence, but nothing a passive mother like myself would find inappropriate for my son.

When John first played the game, his comments were:

"Hey, this is fun!"

"I like to get the rats."

I asked him to write a review, but being in elementary school, it is short and sweet.

"This is a great game, Teenage Zombies. I recommend it to people who like some violence and some blood and some really, really scary things."

I don't know if it's that scary, but maybe a little bit. All I know is when he's at school and I'm stuck while writing a story, a few minutes in zombie land is where I want to be.

Game: "Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys"

For: Nintendo DS

Score: 5 out of 5

Why: Because choosy moms choose Teenage Zombies, and their kids love it too.

Rated: "E for Everyone" – animated blood, crude humor, mild cartoon violence

BY JOAN D. and JOHN M. WARREN

jwarren@eastbaynewspapers.com