Nanostray - DS Game Reviews - The Armchair Empire


	Platform DS Genre Shooter / Action Publisher Majesco Developer Shin'en ESRB E (Everyone) Released July 19, 2005

- A scrolling shooter is a good thing - Good enemy and level variety - Challenges are extremely skill taxing

- Six levels? - Changing weapons with the touchscreen

Review: Kirby Canvas Curse (DS) Classic Review: Truxton (Genesis) Review: Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
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Nanostray

Score: 7.9 / 10

More scrolling shooters, please!

With only a few exceptions, scrolling shooters – either horizontal or vertical – remind me why I fell in love with gaming in the first place. Contra (for the NES) and Truxton (Genesis) really got me hooked on 2D scrolling shooters and so powerful was the draw to the genre I hunted down the likes of Galga and Space Invaders at the arcade. Nanostray may not take the genre in a radically different direction or even make for much more than a distraction for most, but it’s an extremely playable and enjoyable game.

You pilot your trusty space-faring vessel across a variety of 3D backgrounds that are constantly shifting and rotating to create the illusion you’re playing anything but a 2D shooter. Wave after wave of deftly animated and designed enemies target your ship with a never-ending barrage of laser fire. The only chance of survival is to unleash your own roster of weapons, each with primary and secondary fire, and drop the occasional screen-clearing bomb. In short, there’s always something happening and which brings to light one of Nanostray’s shortcomings.

Switching weapons is done via the touchscreen, so during the heat of battle you may want to change to a more appropriate weapon but to do so you need to jab the screen with your right thumb, which doesn’t always result in the desired weapon being activated. The touchscreen didn’t necessarily need to be employed for this function, but it is. It’s not a Fun Killer but it is of annoyance when you need to change weapons.

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There are three modes of play: Adventure, Arcade, and Challenge. Adventure mode is in name only – there’s actually no discernable story involved. You select a planet, wipe out the bad guys and the boss then move onto the next planet. Once a level is completed it can be replayed in Arcade mode. Finishing levels in Adventure also unlocks Challenges. For the hardcore player, Challenge mode will provide the bulk of the gameplay because the Adventure mode is

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extremely short – eight levels! The developers put in nigh impossible scenarios, like finishing a level with one ship or playing a level without the ability to activate your secondary fire. With these restrictions in place you soon figure out where you are in terms of skill. The Challenges don’t actually change the layout or configuration of each level so those that succumb to boredom will probably feel gypped that they just spent good money on a really short game. (The last mode – multiplayer – adds very little to the overall experience.)

As scrolling shooters go, Nanostray is as bright and colorful as any game the genre has to offer, but on occasion there’s so much eye-candy and motion that the action slows. It never lasts longs and it can sometimes be useful when dodging enemy fire but it’s forgiven because Nanostray looks so good.

Nanostray also features a very good soundtrack – reminiscent of the heroic/urgent themes that are the hallmark of scrolling shooters.

Fans of the genre may enjoy Nanostray a lot, particularly with the insane Challenges. And while casual fans may be disappointed by the number of levels there’s enough play here to probably warrant further investigation.

- Omni

(August 15, 2005)