Metareview: Nanostray 2

by Alisha Karabinus { Mar 17th 2008 at 8:30PM }

Despite the incredibly varied critical reaction to Nanostray, we know the shmup was popular with many of the readers, and that means there's a lot of concern over the recently-released sequel. So how's it looking? So far, on par with the first, though we're not seeing any of the high-scoring reviews the original garnered ... at least, not yet.

Games Radar: 80% -- Sometimes, it's okay to just be what you are. "Nanostray 2 doesn't try to re-invent the genre, and that's totally fine. The no-nonsense weapons and controls are easy to get the hang of, each stage has its own unique collection of enemies and environmental gotchas, and there's rarely a moment when the screen isn't flush with bullets, ships, and explosions. Detailed 3D graphics give the two-dimensional action plenty of depth, while the soundtrack consists of a manly mix of lasers, explosions, and trippy rock-trance music."

Nintendo Power: 60% -- Nintendo Power's negatives sound like positives to us! "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 on-hit deaths is so 1985." (Feb. 08, p. 89)

GamePro: 80% -- GamePro had praise for the new controls. "What Nanostray fans won't find are the much-maligned touch controls, which Shin'en rightly decided to deep-six. The D-pad controls your ship's movement, while the A and B buttons pull main and secondary weapons duty. The L and R buttons shift the position of satellites, floating Gradius-like orbs that supplement your main blasters. The touch controls do make a cameo, however, as alternate control settings, but we'd steer clear, anyway."

Tags: majesco, nanostray, nanostray-2, shin-en, shinen, shmup

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

David D. @ Mar 17th 2008 9:39PM

The reviewers seem upset that this is not a "mainstream" game. Has the shmup genre ever been about this? :P

Feigr @ Mar 17th 2008 9:47PM

The excerpt from the Nintendo Power review does sound like praise! Haven't they played a single vert shmup since the 80s?

Alexisonfire @ Mar 18th 2008 10:07AM

Wait, wha? Nintendo Power giving a way lower score than everyone else?

Is it opposite day?

JM @ Mar 18th 2008 10:58AM

You know, NP used to be an OK magazine. Not great, but OK. Its reviews were always laughably biased, but it had alot of good info about upcoming games, and a lot of first party insider stuff from their connection with the big N.

The switch over to the new management basically turned it to crap. It used to be a good bargain @ 20 bucks because you got 12 issues and a cool T-shirt or a real strategy guide. I didn't bother renewing this year because there was no free gift (Phantom Hourglass "special" Strategy Guide does NOT count), so now its like 20 bucks for a crapload of ads and a few decent columns.