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WTF? Nanostray 2 is out in two days?

Nanostray_2.jpg




trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4-5NGSBVsY


looking great. According to IGN, reelease date is March 11

the first one was pretty nice, looking forward for this sequel
 

nubbe

Member
Time sure fly. Been like 2,5 years since I played Nanostray.
Took a look at the world rankings for Nanostray and i'm ranked #200... used to be higher :p
 
lame :( I've spent all of my gaming money this month already on Brawl and ZX advent. Hopefully I'll be able to get this cheap later on.
 
Nanostray_2.jpg

Is it just me or does that ship in the lower left corner look just like the Ebon Hawk from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic?
701_ebon_hawk.jpg

ok, it doesn't really.
 
Awesome, here's hoping it's a decent game. I've been waiting for a good shmup on the DS, but if this doesn't fit the bill, Bangai-O will do it quite nicely.
 
Peronthious said:
Awesome, here's hoping it's a decent game. I've been waiting for a good shmup on the DS, but if this doesn't fit the bill, Bangai-O and Space Invaders Extreme will do it quite nicely.
fixed
 

Rufus

Member
bigmakstudios said:
Is it just me or does that ship in the lower left corner look just like the Ebon Hawk from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic?
ok, it doesn't really.
More like trade federation ships:
lucrehulk.png
 

JRPereira

Member
I think the only thing that makes me hesitant to buy is whether or not the touchscreen is used.

The only problem with nanostray 1 was the touchscreen, which made have an anneurysm and toss the game.

Why can't they just do a version of gradius 5 or ikaruga or something with the graphics ds-ized?
 

Blackbird

Member
JRPereira said:
I think the only thing that makes me hesitant to buy is whether or not the touchscreen is used.

Three Control Schemes
1: Classic Control (doesn't force any touch screen usage)
2: Left Handed Touch Control (using the stylus and buttons)
3: Right Handed Touch Control (using the stylus and buttons)

The Touch Controls give a complete new feeling to an arcade game like N2. Those control schemes are very accessible for players who haven't played many arcade games before. Skilled players will enjoy the new controls as a new experience to the genre.
 
Blackbird said:
Three Control Schemes
1: Classic Control (doesn't force any touch screen usage)
2: Left Handed Touch Control (using the stylus and buttons)
3: Right Handed Touch Control (using the stylus and buttons)

The Touch Controls give a complete new feeling to an arcade game like N2. Those control schemes are very accessible for players who haven't played many arcade games before. Skilled players will enjoy the new controls as a new experience to the genre.
Is that from a press release? Or do you just write press releases in your spare time?
 

jooey

The Motorcycle That Wouldn't Slow Down
jiji said:
Is that from a press release? Or do you just write press releases in your spare time?
he wouldn't be the first one on this forum.
 

stuminus3

Member
Got it. It's awesome. Love letter to shmup fans everywhere... it's 'influenced' by just about every top-rated classic and modern shmup you can think of... scoring system is nice and straightforward, not so absurd as the first game... nice graphics and sound... fixes everything that was wrong with the first Nanostray... lots of content...

Ignore the reviews. They are irrelevant when it comes to shmups. This one's getting some positive feedback from fans of the genre. See also: point and click adventures. Reviewers these days just don't get the classic genres.
 

Model 500

Member
Definitely getting this, enjoyed the overall style and attitude of the first one. Glad to see there's a buttons only mode, that said, I'm interested to see how they've handled the touch screen controls this time.
 

Peru

Member
60
Nintendo Power
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
What?
 

Llyranor

Member
The actual shmup fans seem to be enjoying this. I'm tempting, but I'm not sure if I'd want to get 2 copies for the co-op. Awaiting further impressions.
 
stuminus3 said:
Got it. It's awesome. Love letter to shmup fans everywhere... it's 'influenced' by just about every top-rated classic and modern shmup you can think of... scoring system is nice and straightforward, not so absurd as the first game... nice graphics and sound... fixes everything that was wrong with the first Nanostray... lots of content...

Ignore the reviews. They are irrelevant when it comes to shmups. This one's getting some positive feedback from fans of the genre. See also: point and click adventures. Reviewers these days just don't get the classic genres.

thanks for the great impressions


Peru said:

they're basically saying game kicked their asses for its difficulty. Which is by no means a bad thing for those who played old-school shooters and know the feeling
 

Model 500

Member
60
Nintendo Power
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

LOLO!
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
stuminus3 said:
Ignore the reviews. They are irrelevant when it comes to shmups. This one's getting some positive feedback from fans of the genre. See also: point and click adventures. Reviewers these days just don't get the classic genres.

So true. A good example came from this other shmup review that went something like "All I did was bomb until I ran out of bombs and died, and then continued when I ran out of lives. This game sucks because I die so much." They don't seem to get that shmups are supposed to be hard to the point that you're meant to survive only by the skin of your teeth.
 

fatty

Member
Akuun said:
So true. A good example came from this other shmup review that went something like "All I did was bomb until I ran out of bombs and died, and then continued when I ran out of lives. This game sucks because I die so much." They don't seem to get that shmups are supposed to be hard to the point that you're meant to survive only by the skin of your teeth.

Yeah, but I hope the sequel is better, Nanostray was very average as a shooter. It's good to hear there is a buttons-only mode as switching weapons was very annoying on Nanostray (touch only).
 

CorwinB

Member
stuminus3 said:
Ignore the reviews. They are irrelevant when it comes to shmups. This one's getting some positive feedback from fans of the genre. See also: point and click adventures. Reviewers these days just don't get the classic genres.

Indeed. Apart from a few 2D platformers, classic games or variations on classics are really getting the cold shoulder from reviewers. I remember IGN's review of Touch Detective where the reviewer complained that the game had a twisted logic. Poor sap probably never played Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacle...

My copy of Nanostray 2 shipped yesterday, I should get it next week...
 

Manfred

Member
stuminus3 said:
Got it. It's awesome. Love letter to shmup fans everywhere... it's 'influenced' by just about every top-rated classic and modern shmup you can think of... scoring system is nice and straightforward, not so absurd as the first game... nice graphics and sound... fixes everything that was wrong with the first Nanostray... lots of content...

Ignore the reviews. They are irrelevant when it comes to shmups. This one's getting some positive feedback from fans of the genre. See also: point and click adventures. Reviewers these days just don't get the classic genres.

This guy's right on. There are influences all over this game, and they're all pretty awesome. The extra modes are cool and add a lot of replay value, and it improves on the first Nanostray by leaps and bounds.
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
This is gonna be mine then.
The first one was average+ but a nice first attempt on the DS.

Well, only thing missing from the reviews was something like "this game is too short, first to last level you can beat it in 30 minutes"!
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
great games come stealthily. if i were not so head-over-heels into shiren these days, i'd be freaking running to the store right now. regardless, i won't stay nanostray-less past this weekend.
 

Model 500

Member
Played through the first couple of levels, excellent fun in a "not aiming for a high score but having good fun trying to stay alive" kind of way. Definitely digging the option to adjust ship speed and fire direction. Great stuff so far, recommended.
 

Iam Canadian

and have the worst user name EVER
I've had my eye on this game for a while. I actually enjoyed the original Nanostray, despite its flaws. I'll have to get around to picking this game up before it becomes annoyingly rare.
 

Baron

Member
Dash Kappei said:
Well, only thing missing from the reviews was something like "this game is too short, first to last level you can beat it in 30 minutes"!


This is no different from any other shoot-em-up. I could play Gradius V from beginning to end in about 45 minutes. Is that game too short? Fuck no. 30 minutes is right about average for the genre. Why are you complaining now about something that has existed for over two decades? Do you seriously want to maintain the level of attention and energy needed in a shmup to play for more than 30 minutes? An 8-hour long shmup? Funk that.
 

M3d10n

Member
Played only a couple levels on a friend's DS. From what I played, it's a major improvement over the first one. Level design is tight and much more inspired this time. I played 3 levels, and each one of them seemed to be paying homage to classic shmups.

I noticed Gradius, R-type, Salamander, Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga and Raystorm references just on the 3 levels I played. But it doesn't feel like a ripoff, it's more like noticing the various horror movie references scattered on RE1, as example.

From the little I saw, there seems to be lots of replay value, with the multiple modes and challenges. Being able to fine tune your option setup, secondary weapon and ship speed before each level is also a nice touch.
 

mosaic

go eat paint
My feeling about the game itself is that it's an awesome mix of Gradius, R-Type, Ikaruga, and other styles, without feeling like a complete knockoff. Basically, this is solid, nicely balanced shmup... easily the best on the DS or PSP.

The "you'll beat it in 30 minutes" argument is bullshit. For sure, you won't beat all 8 levels your first time through in 30 minutes. They're long, there are numerous bullet-hell and "dodge the hazards" portions, and you only get 20 total lives. YOU CAN NOT BLEED SHIPS AND BEAT THIS GAME.

I made it to the 5th level my first time. Made it to level 8, but didn't beat it, the second. Finally beat it the third time--ON EASY. And I only had two ships left. I'm noticing all sorts of beefed up enemies and new patterns on Normal... not sure I have the mettle to complete it, but I'm going to try. Definitely feeling a Contra IV vibe with regard to the difficulty curve.

Very glad that once you've visited a stage in the adventure mode, it's unlocked in the arcade mode. Makes practicing easier, plus I can jump right to the Daitoshi Station stage, which is my favorite (Ikaruga-ish).

FYI--a warning to those that hate running into walls in shmups: The walls can destroy you, and the game frequently borrows from the R-Type playbook of "dodge the environment" and "scroll upward, scroll diagonally, rotate the level!"

The 30 minute further falls apart thanks to the Challenge mode: 32 unique mini missions where you have to do things like survive, destroy X waves of enemies, or gather X number of power-ups. They're pretty damn challenging, too.

My only complaints are: I wish I had one extra continue, I wish the ship was slightly smaller for the hectic situations (the hitbox doesn't include the wings or nose, thankfully), and I wish bosses had less health. Yeah, all weaksauce complaints.
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
Baron said:
This is no different from any other shoot-em-up. I could play Gradius V from beginning to end in about 45 minutes. Is that game too short? Fuck no. 30 minutes is right about average for the genre. Why are you complaining now about something that has existed for over two decades? Do you seriously want to maintain the level of attention and energy needed in a shmup to play for more than 30 minutes? An 8-hour long shmup? Funk that.

You=Fail ;)

Read the thread, do you see the extracts from those dead wrong reviews now? Well they're so clueless that "the only thing missing was something like [..]"

Edit:

The "you'll beat it in 30 minutes" argument is bullshit.

Ok, the sarcasm detector must have gone totally off in this thread
...and I've probably (kinda) missed a couple of smilies and a better phrasing :lol
 

mosaic

go eat paint
Dash Kappei said:
Ok, the sarcasm detector must have gone totally off in this thread
...and I've probably (kinda) missed a couple of smilies and a better phrasing :lol
Except it really doesn't matter that you were being sarcastic... a couple magazine reviews have used the "too short" card, and you just know a bunch of online sites will pull the same shtick too... they always do.

Props to Shin'en for coming up with ways to add multiple layers of replay.
 

JRPereira

Member
Really neat game. I like how you have really fine control over how the options are set up.

The gameplay doesn't strike me as a refined masterpiece like gradius or ikaruga but it is still a great shmup, especially considering there's not really much for shmups on the DS right now.

Looks great, plays pretty smooth, interesting bosses. Some of the secondary weapons are a bit wierd to use. I've been mostly sticking to pulse. I found the mines useful when you need a big punch.
 

sykoex

Lost all credibility.
JRPereira said:
Really neat game. I like how you have really fine control over how the options are set up.
Agreed, I think stuff like being able to choose 3 different directions for your add-on blasters and switch between them in play is friggin genius.
 

mosaic

go eat paint
The reviews are slowly trickling in:

EDIT: Heh, sinnergy, I was entering this as you posted the IGN link above! Same thought!

IGN: 8.1
http://ds.ign.com/articles/861/861197p1.html

Hardcore Gamer: 4 (out of 5)
http://www.hardcoregamer.com/index.php?option=com_magazine&type=article&id_article=41

GamePro: 4 (out of 5)
http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/ds/games/reviews/167948.shtml

GameDaily: 8
http://www.gamedaily.com/games/nanostray-2/ds/game-reviews/review/6986/1983/

GamesRadar: 8
http://www.gamesradar.com/ds/nanost...a-20080317135156422072/g-20070108151722309059

1UP: C+
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3166976&p=39

Game Informer: 7.3
Nintendo Power: 6.0
EGM: 6.5 / 6.0 / 5.0


I think the Hardcore Gamer review nailed it on the head by saying "a good shooter should be fun to play, repeatedly." That's Nanostray 2 in a nutshell.

IGN's review kind of ragged on the generic ship designs... I can sort of agree... but I also think there are plenty of nice ships scattered throughout... and the levels themselves provide a goodly amount of eye candy. He does give proper kudos to the levels and the cinematic aspects though, and finishes off with the same conclusion that Hardcore Gamer did: It's fun.

The thing I find disconcerting (or hilarious) is that the reviews that scored it low all seem to have done so based on it being "old school" and difficult to beat. Umm... yeaaah... *scratches head* ... aren't shmups supposed to make you work to see those last little bits? They sure didn't point out Contra 4's difficulty and regimented levels as a negative.

I'm not sure why 1UP gave it a C+. The review rags on how you have to play through the early levels just to see the later ones... but that's the only real negative thing said in the entire review.

Also, in the interests of full disclosure, I wrote the GamesRadar review. So, I'm not going to comment on it...
 
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