Impressions: Big Bang Mini (NDS)

Written by Daniel Lloyd

Monday, 02 February 2009 10:41

I've been waiting to get my hands on Big Bang Mini for a while now, and finally, I have. A wonderful little gem of a DS game, Big Bang Mini isn't your father's shoot-em-up. Most shmups go like this: You are some sort of plane. You shoot other planes, tanks, and enemies by using lots of lasers, bullets, and power ups, all the while collecting monies and avoiding an unholy amount of enemy fire. So where does Big Bang Mini differ from that?

For starters, you're not a plane. You're a shape, changing from circles to triangles and so on. You travel to different cities, and rather than shoot lasers and bullets, you shoot fireworks (from the touch screen) at the enemies (on the top screen.) So each attack results in a colorful explosion and the joy of knowing you killed a baddie. However, each firework shot that doesn't meet its target, backfires on you. You must then, in addition to enemy fire, avoid falling burning debris, that you yourself have brought on.

These enemies I speak of, they aren't planes. Not tanks either. Not even demon lords. Big Bang Mini's ene bigbang_mini02-article_image mies include a large roster or clowns, knife throwing sharks, clouds, and level boss walruses. They circle in, cheorographed to do their best at killing you. Once in a while, you get a new power-up. A temporary whirlwind that attracts bullets and leaves you safe for a short while. Homing fireworks that track down targets and release a colorful explosion of light. Each enemy that dies, drops a star. You must collect the star, while avoiding enemy fire, to fill a gauge. Once the gauge is full, you move on to the next level and repeat.

Big Bang Mini is quirky, cute, and fun. For me, that's success for a game. It doesn't have the addictiveness I was expecting, but it is a neat twist on shmups, and adds a bit of puzzle solving to up the difficulty. Best of all, it's affordable. In these financial times (as everyone likes to say now) a $20 DS game that will keep you playing for a while and has great replay value (Arcade and Challenge modes, etc.) is totally worth it. Fans of Katamari Damacy, Raiden Fighters, or the bitGeneration series from Nintendo should find great joy in Big Bang Mini.

Big Bang Mini is available on the Nintendo DS. From Arkedo Studio, MSRP $19.95.

Comments (2) Add Comment

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written by Bryce, February 02, 2009

You actually got me interested in this game. I think I have to drive 30 minutes to find it at a walmart though. It's sad that this isn't going to get a big audience.

Tip of the hat to you for covering it though. I'm going to listen to your latest podcast on the way there