Long have top down 2D shooters been a staple of every console, even including the latest batch with the wonderful Ikaruga, so it's no surprise the DS has received it's first attempt. Although I'm not really that good at them, lacking the hand to eye co-ordination of the gifted action fanatic, I do enjoy anything with bright flashy lights, big explosions and destruction on a large scale. It was with this in mind that I parted with my hard earned cash, hoping to play something that doesn't involve sitting in a dark room with my DS for hours on end but would offer some instant laser death gratification.

It most certainly does that, as foes come thick and fast, but it's not without its drawbacks. There are several modes, the main one being the Story Mode. As you progress through a series of galactic maps, destroying things on each planet therein, more options are opened in the Arcade Mode and Challenge Mode. There is also a neat Multiplayer mode that I'll discuss a little later. The Story Mode both introduces you to your ship and its main weapons and hones your skills at flying it. The view you are presented with when you choose your planet is a kind of faux 3D. It really is a 2D shooter, but it's presented as if from the top and slightly to the rear. This means that the ships you encounter start off slightly smaller in the distance and get larger as they zoom towards you. Not only this, but as there is a 3D landscape scrolling under and around you, many adversaries pop up from below too. There is a slight problem with this perspective, in that you're never quite sure when enemies hit the 2D plane within which you go up, down and side to side, so quite often you find yourself firing at something that seems level with you but isn't quite. Considering the myriad foes onscreen with you at the time, this can be a little irritating, as you're never 100% sure what you should try and blow out of the sky first.

However, your ship does have four interesting armaments that help you out a bit. First of all there is the bog-standard big laser shooting straight in front of you, coupled with a secondary weapon that shoots an even bigger laser straight in front of you. Due to the problems with perspective this title has, I tend to ignore this weapon and go for one of the others. These include a bolt of electricity with a secondary weapon that surrounds the hull of your ship with a destructive barrier and one that fires lethal bolts from the side of the ship instead of from the front. However, my favourite, the one I rely on the most, is a nice stream of semi-guided missiles. They don't so much head straight for the target as kind of veer off to one side or another, depending on where the AI thinks there's something to destroy. Not only does this mean you can shoot things in a curve, but it also is a good indication of what is on the 2D plane with you, ready to be shot. The missiles don't go for things coming from below until they are level with you. The secondary weapon is equally useful in that it fires a large, completely guided missile and often takes out the larger opponents in one shot.

However, both your secondary weapon and your shield can run out very quickly, so it's just as well that you get bonuses for achieving particular objectives, such as wiping out a whole wave of enemies. This leaves behind a blue coin, which if you're quick enough to pick it up replenishes energy in your secondary weapon banks. You can't rejuvenate your smart bombs though, unless your ship is destroyed. That is a shame, as in some of the later levels it seems impossible to get past the enemies without the smart bombs.

Another gripe is that switching between the weapons means touching a button showing on the bottom screen. You have a few seconds at the start of each level to select a weapon but trying to change it mid-fight means instant death, as having to glance down to the touch screen to find where to put your thumb is completely distracting. It's a fundamental flaw in the gameplay and seems to be cobbled on just for the sake of using the touch screen. A shoulder button would have been more effective to cycle through the weapons, as your eyes would never have to leave the action. The only other things you use the touch screen for are to select the planet within the galaxy upon which you wish to battle and also to scan the end of level baddies for their weak points. Again, these appear to have been thrown in just for the novelty value of touching the screen rather than having any positive effect on the gameplay. Added to this, you're probably going to be a little frustrated at how short the story mode is, consisting of only about 10-12 battles to wage war through.

That's not to say there aren't other good things about the overall playability. Besides the story mode you also have Arcade and Challenge modes. The Arcade mode allows you to replay the levels you have unlocked, and if you get through it in one piece (no continues!) you can take a Nanocode provided to www.Nanostray.com where your high score is entered and compared to other players around the world! That's a nice bit of score-boarding without having to wait for Nintendo's Internet wi-fi plans for the DS.

The Challenge mode is most certainly that; it sets you certain objectives to play on particular levels and again there are no continues. One example would be to wipe out all of the waves that come at you, while another might be to get no less than 35,000 points on completion of the level. For the arcade shooter purists out there, both these options will add quite a few hours of gameplay to the package, whilst pick-up-and-play instant gratification freaks such as myself are happy to visit a single level for when we have 10 minutes to spare on the bus, during our lunch breaks or while our kids have their afternoon power nap.

While the gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag, albeit with more highs than lows, the same can't be said for the graphics (in a good way!) I found them to be most appealing throughout, with little downturn in quality across most of the game's levels. Although, as described earlier, you fight on a 2D plane, the landscape that scrolls under and around you is far from 2D. In fact, the glorious three dimensions make it clear you are playing on the latest generation of handheld consoles. As you fly down the predetermined path it twists and turns, showing off new facets of the landscape and buildings therein. These vary from vast forests to planets made entirely of the most beautiful blue oceans, to very industrial looking space stations. Each area is dynamic, in that lighting effects bounce off objects clearly, moving parts are animated smoothly and every effort has been made to give a feeling of depth and height.

Within this you are confronted with such a wide variety of enemies. They are all metallic craft of some description but vary wildly, from one-man fighters coming at you in waves to spinning structures that spit molten death at you, alongside massive transporters with incredibly destructive firepower and vast carriers reminiscent of Star Destroyers or Klingon Birds of Prey. These all are beautifully crafted and as they turn and bank away, you're treated to glimpses of gleaming fuselages, archaic propulsion systems and hopefully a lot of damage! That's even before you meet the bosses at the end. When these big guys rove into view there's no doubt that you're in trouble. The first I came across reminded me of a cross between a scorpion and a manta ray, animated beautifully as its central torso and tail twisted independently from side to side. Next up was a hefty looking submarine, which seemed like a wet dream for the guys who dreamt up Trident. The latest one I'm battling with has a metallic spider-like carapace on one side and a smoothly contoured human face on the other. The only drawback I can see within these graphics is that amidst this polish, the explosions, particularly the bigger ones, seem to be made up of rather larger pixels than perhaps they should be. Considering the other effects, such as lasers, bombs blasts and all the other myriad forms of firepower slung at you, it's a bit of a shame the explosions lack that extra polish.

The sound effects are well thought out and unobtrusive but don't have the same appeal as the graphics. Although the laser fire and explosions are carried off well there's not much there to stretch the boundaries of in-game aural appreciation. That said, they certainly don't grate and don't interfere with the core gameplay or your appreciation of the graphics either. The music is not quite of a similar ilk; it's a nice background ambient noise as you prepare to fight, from selecting which mode to play all the way up to choosing a planet, but after that you're launched into a maelstrom of hard techno and pumping beats that can only complement the frenetic nature of the game. The techno theme is a bit tired these days, but while I found the effects a little common or garden, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the tunes. While they also may not push any boundaries I can't deny that they add a certain degree of drama and tension to the proceedings. Still, perhaps one day a producer will think of using Mars from the Planet Suite or perhaps some particularly strident blues as a way to combat the descent into techno numbness.

The graphics and tunes may keep you playing that much longer, even if the Story Mode is a little short and the Challenges a bit tough, but the game does have one last ace up its sleeve to keep you hammering those little buttons for a bit longer - multiplayer! As with all the best multiplayer games on the DS, you only need one card! You may seem a bit surprised at this; surely that was one of the factors included in the marketing of the DS, that you only ever needed one copy of a game to download the multiplayer to your DS wielding friends? Unfortunately this hasn't always been the case and a couple of titles out there insist on you having a copy each if you want to go head to head. However, Nanostray isn't one of them and thank goodness. Although it's a bit limited in that you can only play against one other person, the fights are great fun. They are based loosely around the Challenge mode, in that you have to get a higher score than the opposition within a set amount of time, or the winner is the first to get 25,000 points, depending on the mode you play. You get to choose between four levels, each unique to multiplayer and all great fun.

I think it's the multiplayer and the graphics that pushes the score up overall, as the short story mode is going to gall quite a few people. While the challenge mode will appeal to purists and the multiplayer mode to those with lots of friends lucky enough to own a DS, this lack of length in the story mode is going to put off people who enjoy the journey as much as the fight. That said, there's no denying that the action is fast and furious, the things you destroy are beautifully crafted and the visuals show off the power of the DS even if the touch screen isn't properly utilised. It has to be noted also that there aren't really any other game of this type on the DS yet, so if you're after some finger numbing action on the go, then Nanostray is definitely the title for you.

Reviewed by Dave Wynn for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).