Nanostray Nintendo DS - News, Reviews, Videos & Screens

Okey Dokey, review number 5 now then. Been recently enjoying this title, so I thought that I might as well review it for you guys, and hopefully persuade you to hunt it down, as it's a cracker.
Anyway, a little more detail below.
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When the Nintendo DS was first unveiled, many were impressed with its unique capabilities; two screens, one of them containing touch technology, and a microphone, all of which hadn't been seen on a Handheld from a pioneering games company before. One feature of the DS that didn't impress many, especially in the light of the PSP, was the graphics capability. The demo and eventual release titles didn't showcase the unit well, and it would be a while before any would. Nanostray was among the first batch to truly show off the DS graphics chip.

Nanostray itself is an old-school vertical scrolling shooter title, that packs quite a punch.
Typical of games in this genre, Nanostray doesn't contain much of a storyline, bar the inevitable 'shoot through enemies and obstacles to get to the Boss', but this a game that does well on its own merits.

As mentioned before, the graphics of this title are quite impressive, throwing explosions and bullets at every square-inch of the screen. The game works on a 2D plane, but every-now-and-then the ship will zoom through 3D structures of varying type and element, providing even more eye-candy.

Another area this game excels at is the track listings. Nanostray has some truly superb level backings, coupled with the all the turret sounds and boom effects you could hope for. Music for the Boss stages adds that extra layer of menace.

True to its genre, Nanostray offers a very strong challenge, and even on the easiest difficulty setting, newbies will only just scrape through.
Your ship has four primary weapons; a long straight-firing Turret Gun, another turret that follows enemies, an electric beam that locks onto the opponents,and a sideways firing scattershot. Also for each of these, a secondary weapon can be used, and a powerful screen-clearing meg-abomb is also available, although these are few and far between. Most of these weapons are utilized via the touch screen, while all the action happens on the top.
...Which is a bit of a fiddle unfortunately, as the distraction of choosing a weapon means you lose concentration on the action. It is a minor problem, but one that irritates from the start, possibly making you stick with one gun-type for the whole of a level.

Aside from the difficulty level, Nanostray provides a challenge mode for added longevity, and a small but fun two-player co-op mode, so for those that enjoy old-fashioned shooter games, this is right up your alley.

A clip of what you would expect is just below, so if you can get this game for cheap, I'd highly advise doing so.