Nanostray 2

Nanostray 2 has shattered my ego and destroyed my confidence as a gamer, at least on the DS and in this genre. The staggering difficulty and blazing visuals may overwhelm the casual gamer, but anyone who takes the time to master the frantic gameplay model and memorize every level and every enemy wave and boss pattern will find a deep, strategic, and somewhat oppressive shooter.

If you're a DS-owning shooter fan, Nanostray 2 is a must buy. Not only is it a perfectly able shmup, it's also the only game in town. It's not inventive enough to catch the attention of the rest of the world, though.

Nanostray 2 is great follow-up to the original DS title.

Nanostray 2 will definitely please hardcore arcade shooter fans, but the increased difficulty may narrow the game's mainstream appeal. [Mar 2008, p.86]

Unrelenting difficulty aside, Nanostray 2 for the Nintendo DS is a top-notch shoot-'em-up that will give you your money's worth.

Just make sure you bring lots of patience along with your trigger finger.

Traditionally, games that needed to carve out a niche for themselves within the crowded shooter genre have done so by introducing a new gimmick. Nanostray 2 relies instead on pure polish.

Nanostray 2 is a dyed-in-the-wool shoot-'em-up that offers great action in a shiny, proficient package.

The game simply delivers some no-nonsense, hardcore space shooter fun that's decidedly tough to beat but easy to pick up and jump right into.

Ultimately, Nanostray 2 caters to the hardcore, traditional shooter fan.

If you enjoy this type of game, you won't find a much better example of it in the portable world.

This game is targeted at hardcore shooter fans who like a good challenge. Its unforgiving difficulty, even on the easiest setting, makes Nanostray 2 hard to recommend for anyone else. Even so, its production values are apparent and its mechanics are solid (if a bit dated), making it a good selection for fans of the genre.

It's incredibly slick. [Dec 2008, p.80]

The challenges and online leaderboards are a plus for competitive players, and the high-adrenaline experience is a great fit for quick handheld sessions.

This one's for shmup fans only. With no competition on DS, N2 scratches the itch for portable shooting.

Nanostray 2 is a great portable shooter-game. A fresh and fast title, perfect for long or short play sessions. But mind that if you don't exactly like this kind of game, it's high difficulty may get you to frustration very soon.

For a by-the-numbers space shooter, you can't go wrong with the second installment of this DS franchise. [Jan 2008, p.102]

Aside from the occasional hiccup with collision detection, and some uninspired boss battles, Nanostray 2 does enough to gain an honourable mention in the genre. [May 2008, p.98]

Nanostray 2 is an odd mix of old and new; it looks and plays better than any of those old games, and it has the polish of a fresh title, but its brand of twitchy, frenetic action and one-hit deaths is so 1985. [Feb 2008, p.89]

Nanostray 2 looks gorgeous and is eminently playable, but sadly it lacks imagination and becomes disappointingly repetitive all too quickly.

You could quite easily mistake Nanostray 2 for a game in any other shooter series, but it lacks the focus and polish that make series like "Gradius" and"R-Type" great. [Feb 2008, p.84]