When you start the game, you can choose between various options depending on which mode you want to play, whether you want to go through a tutorial or play practice modes.
Options
In the options menu you can make adjustments to gameplay. Here you can set the difficulty level from Very Easy to Very Difficult, how many lives you start with, how many continues, what style of keyboard you have (US or EU), and various game settings like sound and graphics. Some of the options will have more versatility after you unlock bonuses in Original Mode, such as the ability to start with more lives.
Game modes
The main game mode is Arcade, which is identical to the arcade version, and consists of simply completing the game. When selecting Arcade Mode, you then have the option to play the tutorial or go straight to Story Mode. Original Mode is the other full game mode, which plays like the Arcade Mode, except there are some more things to do and your success is tracked differently allowing you to unlock in-game options and secrets by hitting certain benchmarks. Once unlocked, the bonuses are available during Original or Arcade modes.
Besides the major game modes, there is also Practice Mode, Drill Mode and Boss Mode. Drill Mode consists of minigames to test and exercise certain specific skills, such as speed, accuracy or reflexes. Boss Mode is a run through of just the bosses from the game. Each boss starts out at single-star difficulty and an each successive win against them raises their star level, making them harder to defeat the next time around.
Scoring
| Word rank | Points |
|---|---|
| A | 35 |
| B | 20 |
| C | 15 |
| D | 10 |
| E | 5 |
Scoring consists of a base score accumulated throughout the level with additional points added for people rescued, accuracy and word rankings. As you go through a chapter, every zombie you defeat or bonus item you collect has a certain value which is added to your base score. When you type in a word to kill an enemy, you are rated on how well and fast you completed the word, from E (the worst) to A (the best). Additionally, your accuracy is tracked by a bar at the top of the screen. For every word typed with no misses, your "Perfect" counter increments, and the bar begins to fill up. Your Perfect counter acts as a score multiplier, and when the bar fills up, you earn another life and, in Original Mode, attack items to use during the game.
Each Chapter also contains a certain number of humans who are being attacked by zombies. Each human you save is worth 150 points, and you are given points for accuracy with 1200 points for 100% accuracy, and 100 points less for each point of accuracy you drop, down to 88%. Once your score is calculated, you are then compared to past scores and ranked out of 100. At certain point thresholds, you may also receive an extra life or other item.
Items
There are various items scattered throughout the game which can help you accomplish the mission or add points to your base score. Some are only available in Original mode.
| Item | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Alien Dictionary | Gameplay | Makes words misspelled. |
| Balloon Head Meat | Superficial | Inflates all characters' and enemies' heads. |
| Citizen Skin Suit | Superficial | Makes your character look like a citizen. |
| Diamond | Point bonus | +100 points |
| Excitement Pill | Gameplay | Enemies' words are longer/harder. |
| Extra Life | Gameplay | Adds an additional life, up to the maximum. After that gives you 150 points. |
| Genre Dictionary | Gameplay | All enemies' words are of the same type or category. |
| Golden Hands | Gameplay | All key presses register as correct (type what you like). |
| Gold Frog | Point bonus | +400 points |
| Molotov Coctail | Gameplay | Kills all the zombies on the screen. |
| Pain Killer | Gameplay | Protects from all damage for a fixed period of time. |
| Pendant | Point bonus | +50 points |
| Sulphuric Acid | Gameplay | Kills one zombie. |
| Tranquilizer | Gameplay | Enemies' words are shorter/easier. Comes in three strengths. |
| Zombie Skin Suit | Superficial | Makes your character look like a zombie. |