ATTN: DS OWNERS
CC: Wii & DS OWNERS
If you own a DS and Wii, download the Big Bang Mini demo from the Nintendo Channel.
If you only have a DS then find someone with a Wii and download the Big Bang Mini demo.
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Anyway, this is a reply to Mr. Barnholt's review of the game.
He said ...
The touch screen is a nice way to launch your fireworks (just flick upwards in any direction), but you can't use the D-pad or any other buttons to move your icon, which is an outright shame.
Now, perhaps the ability to move OR shoot is derived from the desired results of the shooting mechanics (especially the blowback of missed shots) as well as the dual-screens of the DS.
If you could do both at the same time then, presumably, the player could haphazardly flick up toward the top screen with near-reckless abandon (yes, even with your own shots raining down on you - because you could avoid all that with the d-pad controls). Truth be told, I played like that in the demo to some success (sort of like button mashing in a fighting game). However, it makes your game harder than it has to be when careful shots count more.
Furthermore, if one were to play that way then I imagine checking out the top screen would happen less frequently. Why bother looking up when you are too busy dodging your own crazed shots? That would be a shame as the player would be missing out on a lot of awesome and crazy enemies.
From my time with the demo, the experience tends to be one of strategic firing as opposed to holding down a button as seen in other SHMUPs. You must pay attention to both screens, and one has to check out what type of defenses the enemy has (from the demo, for example, there are clouds and other objects that absorb your shots).
To be fair, there was an instance in which I could shoot AND move. One of the bosses in the demo shoots so many bullets at you that it is difficult to get a shot off. Then again, that is made up a bit by one being able to spam shots without blowback (I know it sounds contradictory, but removing the fallout is the difference that makes spamming worth it in this case).
He said ...
Imagine how bad this gets when you fill up the star meter and have basically completed the stage. So you take a breather, only to watch helplessly as you're unable to dart away from a spark in time.
Odd. In the demo, once the star meter filled the level is over. I have even had bullets cross over my icon shortly after the meter was filled and I did not die. Perhaps there was a change from the demo to retail copy? I even saw a GameTrailers video from, presumably, the retail version that showed the same thing ...
Anyway, I highly recommend folks to try it out. While Mr. Barnholt's explanations make sense (and he has played far more of the game than I have), I think folks will be positively surprised at what they find.
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