I’ve really gotten into more oldschool arcade-y style games in the past few years. It probably started with Ikaruga on the Gamecube and since then I have bought and played more and more of this type of game. I never played the first Nanostray, but when I saw this trailer for the second game and got really pumped for it. So does it live up to my expectations?

Find out after the jump!

Presentation

One of the first things you’ll notice about the game is that it is absolutely gorgeous. The visuals in this game are better than what I have seen in a 3D DS game thus far. It’s not like it has super high-res textures or models though (although they both look great), it’s just that everything melds together into a great looking package. Some of the backgrounds, Daitoshi Station in particular, stand out and just look phenomenal. And, except for the last level which has some framerate issues, the game almost never drops in fps. And while the menus in the game don’t look fantastic, they have a nice, clean feel to them.

The games music doesn’t fare as well as the graphics, unfortunately. It’s not terrible by any means, but it lacks the qualities to really be memorable music. The best is the planet select screen’s music, which brings back memories of the Nintendo 64.

The game also boasts a story mode with spoken dialogue. The story, not surprisingly, is very minimal and deals with a virus called “Nanostray” and the voice acting sounds very scripted.

Controls

A game that focuses on gameplay should have good controls and Nanostray 2 does not disappoint here. The controls are basically your standard arcade shooter fare, you use d-pad to move and you have shoot and special weapon buttons. The only thing different is you use L and R to rotate through three option positions. These controls are perfectly fine, but if you want to get the full use of that touch screen, you can opt for touch screen controls. The touch screen controls work really great, with the only drawback being that your hand often gets in the way of the action.

Gameplay

Shooters like this often have some sort of hook. Some shooters have tons of power-ups or the ability to destroy bullets enemies shoot at you. In this game, it’s all about the satellites (options, or little orbs that shoot) and the very small amount of customization that the game allows. You can customize your ship in a few different ways such as choosing between three different speeds, six different special weapons, and set up three different satellite positions. The score system is another cool thing that this game does. Each time you kill an enemy, it fills up the Nanogauge which runs out in one second, but it will stay filled up as long as you kill enemies. This makes you play the game differently depending on if you want to beat it, or if you are going for a highscore.

In terms of level design and gameplay, Nanostray 2 feels more like a Gradius than a Ketsui. There is a lot of dodging and constant shooting, but the screen never fills up with bullets (a good thing in my opinion). Even if you prefer bullet hells, you cannot deny the fact that Nanostray 2 has some of the best levels in any arcade shooter ever. From flying over a large city in Daitoshi Station to zooming through the sewers in Kohai city and six other great levels, there is never a dull or unenjoyable moment. Not to mention the fact that each level has two boss fights. The first place you get to enjoy these levels is in the game’s Adventure mode.

The Adventure mode structured slightly different from most arcade shooters. You still have limited lives and continues and get to choose between three difficulty levels, but now it saves after each level, which is a welcome addition. Also something different is that the game allows you to pick which level to play out of certain sets which enables you to get some of the more difficult levels out of the way earlier. The levels in this game are fantastic though, and you really won’t mind playing them over and over. Until you realize that it only saves your highscores if you play in Arcade mode, which also allows you to upload your scores to online leaderboards.

Past the Adventure and Arcade modes, there are three more: Multiplayer, Challenge, and Simulator. You can play the game multi or single-cart. Single-cart multiplayer only allows Duel mode, where you see who can get 50,000 points first in an arena with endless waves of enemies. In addition to Duel mode, the multi-cart multiplayer also allows you to play through the Adventure mode co-operatively.

The Challenge mode is something I really like in games like this, because it gives you a distraction from the main game, but still helps you improve at the game. There are 32 challenges in all which, unfortunately, don’t take very long to beat. They are also considerably easier than, say, the challenges in Contra 4. Even though they can be completed fairly quickly, they are still a lot of fun and help you unlock the cool Simulator games.

There are four simulator games in all. They are cool, 3D, Tron-looking minigames. The first (and best) is Nanobreak, which is a cool Breakout game that uses the touch screen. Breakout clones generally aren’t something to talk about, but Nanobreak has a really cool feel to it. The fact that the ball is metal, the table is tilted rather than straight up and down, and a few other things make it feel that you are playing some sort of Breakout game on a pinball machine. Nanorush is the next game you unlock and it’s a game that’s slightly, VERY slightly, remeniscient of the tunnel parts in Star Fox, but not nearly as good. Then there’s Nanotorque which is sort of like asteroids, but instead of asteroids there are these “pills”. You have to shoot the pills to get them to spin and collide with another with the same colored side. And finally there is Nanogrid which is similar to Qix. Instead of just clearing the screen, you are trying to “capture” objects in the shapes that you draw (with the d-pad). Again, not terrible, but not great.

Summary

+Fantastic graphics and presentation.
+Spot on controls and fantastic gameplay.
+Phenomenal level design.
+Cool scoring system.
+Save feature.
+Hard, but not too hard.
+Nanobreak is awesome.
+Challenge mode is a cool addition.
+Online leaderboards.
–Music isn’t as good as the rest of the package.
–The other Simulators aren’t that great.
–The Challenges are too easy.
–You can only get highscores in Arcade mode.

Nanostray 2 is a must-buy for fans of the genre. It’s an absolutely great game with fantastic levels and perfect gameplay and you really won’t find many better arcade experiences out there.

Buy Nanostray 2