Good
luck to all those looking for a copy of Nanostray.
Due to Majesco's internal problems (Carl Yankowski
CEO resigned recently due to lower than forecasted
net revenues), it might be a hard game to find. Might
I suggest looking hard for it though because it will
be worth the trouble: Nanostray is a worthwhile shooter.
One
of my contemporaries whom shall remain nameless was
whining in his review that there wasn't any storyline
in Nanostray. I'm not sure where he's been hiding
out over the last 20 years but here's a little secret
I'd like to share with him: It's a shooter!! There
is NO story. You shoot things! DUH! Back to game school
buddy.
Nanostray
is first and foremost an old school space shooter.
I was surprised to see that developer Shin'en left
all of the action on the top screen, rather than allowing
the game to vertically scroll much farther with both
screens going simultaneously. Instead, the touch screen
is completely dedicated to weapon selection and a
useless radar while movement is mapped to the face
buttons. The unintuitive usage of buttons and touch
screen is Nanostrays achilles heel which some players
will detest while others will get used to. I managed
to get used to it simply by never looking at the radar.
There is simply too much going on above on the top
screen to screw around with keeping an eye on the
bottom. Certain death will be the reward of the A.D.D.
player who can't get his or her eyes to focus on the
task at hand.
Certainly
Nanostray won't win any awards for its depth nor its
replay value. Depending on your twitch gaming skills,
Nanostray might be over within a few hours. The three
difficulty levels will provide a decent challenge
by limiting your available lives, continues and how
many direct hits you can withstand, but once you've
blown past the game you've seen all Nanostray has
to offer. If you're looking for more of an asskicking,
then by all means check out the aptly titled "Challenge
Mode". The multiplayer levels aren't fully realized
(offering nothing more than a Challenge Score mode)
and require that you upload one of four levels to
your friends DS - certainly a bonus when you consider
the chances of them finding a Nanostray cart too.
You won't want to buy this for the multiplayer gaming
as most gamers will get bored with it quickly.
The
flashy graphics and rocking tunes will bring you right
back to when shooters were king of the hill. If memories
of Gradius or R-Type fill your heart with goodness,
Nanostray will slap a smile on your face for a few
hours. It's definitely a trip down memory lane, but
I wouldn't pack an overnight bag. This trip is a short
one.
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