Nanostray is a classical vertical scrolling shooter game, developed for the Nintendo DS by Shin'en, and published by Majesco. As is the case with most vertical scrolling video titles, the players take control of a futuristic space ship and fight an endless number of enemies of different varieties and types. This game managed to get off to a pretty successful start, which prompted its creators to also produce a sequel to it.
The gameplay is progressive, placing you at the beginning of each level in the position of fighting against many small opponents, but their size increases, along with their firepower, so upgrading your ship becomes a must.
When all of the foes in a single wave are destroyed, a blue powerup will appear and restore the weapons of the ship. They will release coins when they are done away with, which will add up to your final number of points. However, the most impressive loot can be found when you ruin the boss at the end of each level.
The title has progressive difficulty settings, each one impacting the amount of lives, energy, and continues with the amount of smart bombs that is replenished after the ship of the player is destroyed. It uses the touch screen of the DS in order to display valuable information regarding the bosses of the level, the radar, and the management of weapons.