Danny Phantom - Urban Jungle (Nintendo DS)

Horizontal / Rail
Checkpoints OFF
3 Difficulty levels
6 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Altron
Published by THQ in 2006

Danny Phantom was a relatively successful cartoon that aired on the Nickelodeon channel from 2004 to 2007, starring a teenage boy endowed with ghost-like supernatural powers who fights to protect his hometown from otherworldly menaces. One of the two video games to have come out from the show, Danny Phantom - Urban Jungle is based on a specific episode that gets reenacted in glorious shoot'em up fashion, full of all sorts of different weapons and colorful backgrounds. It only came out for two Nintendo handheld systems, the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS.

The DS version is of course the more accomplished of the two. Speaking of this particular version, while relatively competent in the art design front the game was obviously tailored to its target audience and doesn't demand much from the average player, serving solely as a breezy diversion from more serious shooting endeavors. Danny's two best friends are the main supporting characters and interact with him in between levels throughout the whole game, which should prove amusing for fans of the show at least. In both the cartoon and the game's story, an evil entity called Undergrowth attempts to turn the city into a warped jungle with an army of unfriendly ghosts. It's up to Danny to capture them and free the enslaved citizens.

Let's meet Undergrowth, shall we?
(courtesy of YouTube user IGN)

Each stage/world is comprised of two sections guarded by bosses and a bonus area where you must fulfill different tasks to improve your score. Danny shoots with button A and deploys his ghost powers with button B. These ghost powers are always selected before the stage section starts, from a gallery that starts off with the three most basic special attacks: the "phasing" (invencibiliy/invisibility), the boomerang and the thermos, a ray that weakens and sucks ghosts (yes, just like in that famous movie with Rick Moranis). Other ghost powers are unlocked as you get through the game, such as the ghostly ice/fire and other types of ghost-busting devices. Cycling through ghost powers is accomplished with button L, but you can also fire them directly by tapping the corresponding icon in the touch screen.

Besides the default main weapon (N), you'll also come across the piercing shot (P), the homing shot (H) and the laser (L). Non-default weapons are obtained by shooting and cycling the corresponding incoming icon. The departure from the norm here is that you must activate all of them in every single stage. There's also a charge shot that's activated by quickly tapping the shot button and holding it until you see Danny's hand glow. It's a very powerful attack that varies according to the current weapon. Green capsules upgrade the firepower and are also needed in every single level if you want to have a maxed out shot (three capsules needed). Buttons Y and X cycle through the available weapons, a selection that can also be made by means of the touch screen.

The last control input in Danny Phantom - Urban Jungle is button R, which toggles Danny's aura between red and blue. Each aura allows him to absorb bullets of the same color, just like in Ikaruga. Soaked bullets are the main way of filling up the gauge that provides energy for ghost attacks. You can also do it by trapping ghosts with the thermos: for a certain amount of ghosts trapped you acquire a special capsule that's stored in the lower left box in the touch panel; just touch one of them when you need to recover ghost power. Likewise, all hearts collected are stored in the upper left box in the touch panel, just touch one of them when you need to recover lost health. All ghost capsules and hearts in stock are wiped out when a new level starts.

As we can see, there's no shortage of resources in the gameplay and all buttons are put to good use. Unfortunately, the sheer number of survival aids is more than enough for you to cruise through the game on your first sitting, as was my case. What's left as a challenge, if you decide to do so, is exploring a few techniques to score higher. A chaining system is in place for successive enemy kills, where every enemy destroyed adds to a multiplier combo (approximately two seconds max between each kill). Besides, at the end of every level you're rewarded for the amount of ghosts/enemies you obliterated and also for speed-killing the boss.

I ain't 'fraid of no ghost

More than the lack of challenge, the aspect that undermines Urban Jungle's appreciation the most is certainly the repetitive gameplay. Little is to be expected besides taking down wave after wave of cannon fodder, the occasional medium-sized ghost and then the boss. Once you figure out how efficient the homing weapon is for crowd control there's little incentive to get out of your way to survive (for bosses the best one is the laser though). In a few levels you need to go around obstacles and walls, but that's it.

A glimpse of something more demanding appears in the area where you need to phase across buildings that block your whole path or else you'll take damage. No phasing available though? Don't worry, ramming across these buildings won't seriously impact your health meter. Another glimpse of diversity appears in the 4th world, which turns the game into a rail shooter where Danny pilots a spaceship. Gameplay rules change a little bit there, but everything is still as easy as the previous levels. What's left for real variety, strangely enough, are the bonus areas. The tasks you need to accomplish there are all different from each other. In one of them, for example, you're only allowed to soak bullets, whereas in another you're supposed to play for as long as you can if don't let a determined amount of ghosts escape.

All things considered, Danny Phantom - Urban Jungle at least serves as a good introductory shmup for kids. The cartoon seems to be a charming one from what I've quickly seen, so the fan service also represents a good part of the enjoyment factor. Beating the game unlocks a few extra things in the opening menu, such as a sound test and a boss battle mode that I didn't care to try. I just played two full credits in the main game on Normal difficulty, and the results for both are shown in the following high score table.

Nanostray 2 (Nintendo DS)

Horizontal / Vertical
Checkpoints OFF
3 Difficulty levels
8 Stages
Ship speed selectable (per level)
- - - - - - -
Developed by Shin'en Multimedia
Published by Majesco Entertainment in 2008

The best thing that can happen to a video game sequel is the feeling that things have really evolved and you're not just playing more of the same. I'm happy to state that Nanostray 2 is a prime example of that: a good, well designed sequel that takes the best out of the first game while moving things around a little in order to deliver a fresh, different and worthwhile shooting experience. Nanostray had flair, explosions and a nice challenge backed up by a neat sci-fi environment. The overall style and interface remains the same for Nanostray 2, but graphics are enhanced even further and stages now alternate between horizontal and vertical (which now unfold in a standard plane instead of the tilted perspective seen in the first game). Throw in a few gameplay changes and the improvement package is complete.

Another striking difference in Nanostray 2, at least for the more experienced shmuppers, is the amount of diverse influences developer Shin'en was able to incorporate into the gameplay. Think Gradius/Salamander meets Trizeal, with extra nods to games by Taito and even Cave. Of course everything is tailored to the handheld format with nice results, from the density in bullet patterns to the varying scrolling speeds you face across eight stages/planets with relatively long and varied campaigns. On top of that you're bound to listen to one of the best sci-fi soundtracks ever composed for a video game, an aspect that definitely plays a major part in understanding why Nanostray 2 is so engaging from the get go. And if you care about the story there are fully voiced intermissions between levels that flesh out the narrative quite nicely.

In every selected world you need to equip the ship before diving into the action. There are three preset speeds to choose from, as well as the choice of a special weapon and the preferred shot direction of your pods. Button A shoots, button B deploys a special attack and buttons L/R switch the position of the pods (no need to use the touchscreen at all, yay!). These pods/satellites are always absent when you start a level, but are also the first two items you get when destroying full enemy waves. That's an odd take on the weapon system, but it only causes real pressure in the Naizoh Habitat level (the 3rd one in the default order) since you must navigate a shower of organic flocks for quite a while with your pea shot until the first enemy wave appears.

Against the bullet sprays from boss Tessemi

Once the pods are acquired every single enemy wave that's obliterated will release a blue coin that refills a slice of the special attack gauge. Larger enemies and mid-bosses release yellow coins that give you some points. Coins always drift towards your current position as soon as they appear but never change course, so take that into consideration if you want to plan on getting them before they disappear (there's no attract effect as in the first Nanostray, unfortunately). The other item you might come across is the 1UP, which will only appear once per level if you happen to be on your last life. Pods aren't lost upon death if you have already got them within the stage.

Speaking of which, stage structure is always the same regardless of the scrolling orientation. Halfway into the level you must defeat a mid-boss, with a stage boss waiting at the end. An energy gauge tells you how much damage you must inflict before they fall, and in the case of some bosses the confrontation does seem a little longer than usual. These are the only moments where the game drags, but fortunately most boss fights are quite fun, requiring unique strategies from the player. The battle against second boss Tessemi, for instance, is one of my favorites because it's very claustrophobic. The overlapping pattern of fourth boss Ishigani om the other hand demands quite a few twitchy dodges, which is always a fun thing to have in a vertical shooter.

Completely up to the player's approach is the choice of special weapon. Their energy drainage of the special attack gauge varies, but since you're always refilling it with blue coins that doesn't pose any serious restraint in the long run. Each of the first three levels unlocks a new special weapon, so by the end of the third stage you'll have all six types available for selection. More important than the choice of special weapon, however, is your strategy for satellite usage. Knowing where the enemy is coming from is of course imperative, but beware of a minor dead zone up close to the pods where your firing stream does not do any damage. Enemies might get through it and inevitably kill you.

Nanostray 2 is a game that excels in diversity from beginning to end, especially with regards to the enemy gallery. Every level is unique, and some of them are just plain beautiful to look at. The sewer level, called Kohai City, is a prime example of amazing graphics, exquisite stage design, intelligent 3D modelling and outstanding music. Himuro Base, the final level, feels like a natural extension to the initial moments of Gradius Gaiden mixed with several other elements of Konami's most famous shmup frachise. With these observations I have come to the conclusion that in the case of Nanostray 2 stage highlights are in the horizontal sections, whereas vertical levels shine a little more during boss fights.

Official trailer for Nanostray 2
(courtesy of YouTube user PlayscopeTimeline)

The main mode in Nanostray 2 is Adventure, where you select stages and play them all until the end. Each level won is then unlocked for individual play in Arcade mode. Strangely enough, high scores are not tracked/memorized for Adventure mode, only for Arcade mode. The scoring system doesn't seem to change between them, and is primarily based on chaining enemy kills according to the time limit of the "nano gauge" (imagine a less strict Dodonpachi-like system and you get the picture). Unfortunately only Arcade mode includes some sort of visual aid for players to track their chaining progress, in the form of tiny multiplier tags that appear when enemies die. Adventure mode has no indication whatsoever, so I just tried to come up with a general sense of timing and worried only about destroying full waves to get their rewards (blue coins are also worth a few points). No end-of-stage bonuses exist this time around, unlike what we got in the first Nanostray.

Other variations available besides Adventure and Arcade (which also serves the noble purpose of single stage practice) include Challenge mode (where you must fulfill several short missions in order to unlock four simulators), Simulators (which consist of the mini-games unlocked by completing Challenge mode) and a couple of two-player distinct modes to try out with a friend. Given the fact that all simulators were available when I checked them out and I hadn't completed any challenge, I suspect that once you beat the game on a single credit they're all unlocked at the same time.

Except for the missed opportunities related to the scoring system, Nanostray 2 is by all means a truly awesome game. I beat Adventure mode on Normal difficulty with the final score shown below (pause as soon as the last boss dies or you won't be able to get a picture of your score). I followed the default stage order and used special weapons seeker in stages 1 and 2, pulse in stage 3 and spin for the rest of the game, with speed set to 1 and no alteration of pod positions from beginning to end.

Next in the Nano series of shooters is Nano Assault on the Nintendo 3DS.

Star Prince (Nintendo DS)

Vertical
Checkpoints ON
1 Difficulty level
8 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by indies 0
Published by Namco Bandai in 2007

I feel a little sad when certain video game releases are "too" Japanese, since this often tends to detract from their appeal in other markets. Game Center CX - Arino no Chōsenjō (Arino no Chōsenjō means Arino's Challenge) is a prime example of this: a compilation title originated from a TV show where a comediant would talk about old video games and try to beat them. Luckily for a few Westerners, the cultural barrier imposed by the language was gone when a translated port appeared in the US as Retro Game Challenge. Unfortunately it failed to garner attention and was eventually considered a failure by its publisher, botching any plans the company might have had of also porting the sequels.

Game Center CX has lots of options and menus, many of them leading to libraries, galleries and boring dialogue (for me at least). Of course one can go directly to Retro Game Challenge for an easier interface since the Nintendo DS has no region lock, however I made the choice to get the Japanese package so I had to deal with all that foreign text… which is a challenge in itself, but fortunately finding what really matters – the games – isn’t hard at all. These span several genres and come presented as Famicom/NES titles, complete with fake developers and release dates. The shmup highlight is Star Prince, “released” by Tomato on 6-JUN-1986.

Star Prince owes a lot to the likes of Star Force, Star Soldier and early outings of developer Compile. Much of its design was, in fact, influenced by Shinya Arino’s Star Force challenge in one of the first episodes of the show. The result is a fun and fairly charming homage to these old classics, one that fits the DS format well and doesn’t make you struggle with the secondary screen, unless you decide to have fun inside the virtual game room and you’re bothered by the two boys who’re supposedly watching you play.

Princes, princes who adore you...

In all stages players must fly over terrains full of turrets and destructible blocks, dealing with the mandatory stops against bosses and mid-bosses and all sorts of incoming aerial waves that approach from everywhere. Button Y provides autofire while buttons A or B fire a single shot and activate a shield when held, a protection device that initially covers the front of the ship but is automatically upgraded to a full circling barrier once you take the first power-up. Power-ups are always released by a particular ground enemy and consist of P (power/straight shot), S (spread shot), B (back shot) and M (missile shot). There are no upgrades beyond acquiring the characteristics of each weapon, but the lack of further levels of firepower couldn’t be more deceiving. After all, Star Prince’s gameplay is much richer than what the basic inputs make it out to be.

Everything you shoot and destroy is worth some points. There are certain targets, however, that can lead to a lot more points when you manage to destroy them in a certain way. Every weapon item released, for example, can be destroyed with a few shots. When it blows up, all enemies and bullets on screen are also destroyed and over their amount a multiplier of ×1.000 or more is applied (huge points can be scored from that!). You can also choose to collect the same weapon you're already carrying, which is then worth 8.000 points. Every once in a while enemies will stop coming and a ship will materialize at the center of the screen before an attachment comes from below: destroy it before the attachment latches and win a big bonus. This might seem familiar to some, since it pretty much copies a similar enemy from Star Force.

Another easy source of points, provided you know their locations, is uncovering the six tiles in every level for the characters that form the word PRINCE. By uncovering them all you win 40.000 points, and for each one you miss this amount is divided by two. An extra life is also hidden in a specific place in every stage, and to get it all you have to do is hit its hidden spot. Finally, since I'm talking about the scoring system, at the end of the game each life in reserve is worth 50.000 points. By end I mean the second loop because the game is bold enough to go DDP on you after you beat its four levels, saying that all enemies were not real and you must play the game again to face the real ones. And with all the extra score-based extends (50K, 100K, 200K, 500K, 1M, …), not dying ends up being the biggest addition to a credit aimed at high scoring.

Cruising the stars for a crown!
(courtesy of YouTube user IGN)

The second half/loop of Star Prince is obviously harder than the first, with the added quirk of changing around all locations for hidden items (characters and 1UPs). Since the bullet count is increased, this is when you'll be using the shield input the most. A neat feature of the shield is that after absorbing three bullets the ship will expel an outward blast that's able to hit everything around it. While definitely a life saver in tight situations, the shield doesn't protect against enemy collision, and these may happen a lot due to waves coming from behind and closing in from the sides.

Putting everything together, it's feasible to say this little game is a blast to play. It uses the same wave scheme of Star Force, meaning the fastest you dispatch a wave the more enemies you'll kill before the stage is over. Sometimes the checkpoints will mess with enemy/wave order, making them less or more difficult up front. Several turret arrangements in the mid-boss sections and the brief invincibility upon item collection will immediately remind people of Zanac, which is just a hint at how much Compile is infused in the gameplay, morphing with Tecmo and Hudson into a nice piece of handheld shmup rush. The music and the sound effects are equally competent, and the occasional voice samples just serve to add that odd flavor you'd expect from a Japanese title.

Click for the (lousy) option menus translation for Star Prince on Game Center CX
Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

During gameplay R+X works as a reset button and L+X calls up the main menu, from where you can select other options such as switch to another game, check the instruction manual, etc. Since I’m not versed at all in Japanese, I can’t comment on anything else about Game Center CX.

My humble final 1CC score for Star Prince is below. The game halts at this final panel before you're sent back to the start screen. And just like in good old 8-bit fashion, there are no continues!

Nanostray (Nintendo DS)

Vertical
Checkpoints OFF
3 Difficulty levels
8 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Shin'en Multimedia
Published by Majesco Entertainment in 2005

I had been taking the Nintendo 3DS with me in my trips for light diversion purposes, but this last time I decided to seriously face the challenge proposed by European developer Shin’en in Nanostray. And so I cracked the seal in my list of beaten shmups for a Nintendo handheld console. Things that definitely lured me into the game include the colorful and detailed graphics, the cool soundtrack and the opportunity to play another vertical shooter with the slightly tilted perspective that reminds me of Silpheed and Raystorm. Getting used to the dual screen was a little strange at first, but thankfully the interaction with the lower screen is minimal even though it could’ve been better.

Nanostray is purity incarnated for those who can’t stand text or too many cinemas in their video games but love some quick eye candy. It boots up fast and offers just the right amount of animation sequences as the spaceship goes from one mission to the next. Of all game modes available, the one to be played as an arcade adventure is the option named “Adventure” (duh). Each stage is a planet that must be visited and purified of evil alien scum, with the player being allowed to choose the order of the first three stages. After they’re done it’s once again possible to tackle the next three in any order. Only the final two levels must be played one after the other, as the ship enters a fortified enemy base with lots of corridors and giant doorways. Each level beaten in this mode is unlocked in the “Arcade” option, where the player is encouraged to score attack each planet separately.

“Challenge” and “Multiplayer” options complete the package. The first one has several different requirements that must be fulfilled when playing specific levels, which in turn unlock related extras in the gallery section.

Mitsurin Jungle

Weapons come in four flavors switchable on the fly by touching their symbols in the lower screen: forward pulse shot (a soft burst of blue energy), two-way side shot (no frontal attack at all), seeker (has mild bending ability) and lightning (electricity discharge that latches onto enemies). Weapons are fired with button A, bombs are triggered with X and weapon boost is activated with B, with no option to remap buttons. As long as there is enough energy in the weapon gauge, this boost amplifies the power of the weapon in the following ways: pulse shot turns into a killer laser beam, side shot efficiency is heavily increased, seeker fires additional bursts with better homing function and lightning creates a cloud of electricity that hits everything within a short radius.

Recharging the weapon gauge is done by collecting blue coins released whenever you kill complete waves of small enemies. One coin is sufficient to refill the whole gauge. Other enemies might leave behind gold coins worth 500 points each (tip: whenever you hold button R all coins are automatically sucked into the ship). A health bar allows the ship to take some hits before blowing up. It does not, however, protects it against collisions, which are fatal and mean instant death. Every credit starts with five lives and there are absolutely no health recovery items or extends of any kind. As for bombs, they work in standard classic shmup fashion by inflicting lots of damage and rendering the ship invincible for a little while.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the core gameplay of Nanostray. In fact, it’s actually decent fun only marred by a few problems such as the awkward weapon selection scheme and the recognition of boundaries – ramming into enemy ship hulls or touching unsafe areas close to borders is very common as you start to play, but this is eventually ironed out with memorization. Most of the fun comes from boosting weapons in screens filled with enemies, as well as sucking all those coins with button R. The obvious question in this case is why this sucking ability wasn’t implemented by default into the game, and the answer unfortunately points to an aspect that’s bound to negatively hit the fun factor. This aspect is the scoring system.

Official trailer for Nanostray
(courtesy of YouTube user and developer ShinenGames)

In order to score higher in Nanostray you need to refrain from using the weapon boost attacks, since each successive wave you destroy without draining the boost gauge is worth more points. You also can’t use the coin sucking function, otherwise you’ll reduce the so-called “valor” bonus that’s shown at the end of the level. Note that the valor bonus is also reduced whenever you’re shooting aimlessly without hitting anything. All things considered, what I just put in this paragraph is enough to turn the game into a totally wooden experience that excludes almost everything that’s cool about it. Killing the larger enemies, for instance, becomes a chore because it’s very hard to do it without recurring to a weapon boost or letting precious waves go by. Even if a specific weapon is theoretically capable of destroying the thing before it leaves the screen, switching weapon types on the fly without shifting your focus from the action is too risky and requires ninja training.

I can cope with the small weird quirks of Nanostray’s gameplay, such as being denied the blue coin if I destroy waves too fast (as they’re entering the screen) or dealing with the unreliable nature of the seeker weapon boost (the energy burst sometimes goes out in the wrong way and totally misses what you should be targeting). However, going through this visual feast of lasers, bullets and handheld eye candy while worrying about collecting all coins manually and switching weapons too often is just painful. All my weapon switches were done at the start of a level or at very specific points in the game, as in when the quick waves overlap the large battleships in the Sunahara Desert stage (seeker → lightning). Some boss fights also require a little weapon switching to be won faster, but these are often possible in between transitions without enemy bullets being fired at you.

Besides the elusive valor bonus, other bonuses to be collected at the end of the level consist of extra points for the number of destroyed waves, ship stock and unused bombs. Adventure mode allows three save slots and each successive difficulty (Normal, Advanced, Expert) decreases the amount of resources while increasing the damage taken by the ship without making the gameplay actually any different. Your overall performance is ranked from F to S++, while scores obtained in Arcade mode – which is locked at the Advanced difficulty – can be filed at the game’s website via a code.

I played in Normal and valued fun instead of scoring, so I was almost always with button R pressed and wreaking havoc with the boost functions. The final result is in the picture below (don't press any button on this screen or you'll be sent into the final credits/animation and never see your final score again). Note: Nanostray is the spiritual successor to Iridion II for the Game Boy Advance, and the first in a series of shooters with the “nano” prefix in the title, which also includes the sequel Nanostray 2 for the Nintendo DS and the Nano Assault arena shooters developed for the Nintendo 3DS.