Big Bang Mini on the DS had our various family writers clamoring to do the review for us. Rather than cause a family bust up we thought we get each of them to write their thoughts and bring them together for you in a super family review.

So here we have our Mum, Dad, Teen and Twenty something gamers to bring you their very different thoughts on what is fast becoming the poster child for DS specific shoot 'em ups.

Family Gamer Dad

My shoot 'em up playing goes all the way back to Nemesis, R-Type and
Flying Shark in the arcade. In more recent years I've enjoyed
Ikarigua's awesome simplicity and visuals, and had my fair share of
Geometry Wars on 360 and Super Stardust HD and Everyday Shooter on PSN.

But on my DS I've never really hit my stride. Nanostray 1 and 2 offer
something close to what I'm after but still make clunky use of the
touch screen. And whilst Geometry Wars: Galaxies DS came close to
combining rapid shooting action with touch screen controls, Nintendo's
hardware simply struggled to keep the frame rate up when the screen was
ablaze with bullets and enemies.

Enter Big Bang Mini. I was initially a little suspicious of what
appeared to be a novelty driven experience. The game is controlled
entirely with a stylus on the bottom screen. You learn to flick your
fireworks up to the top to hit the various enemies. The angle and
trajectory of the motion determines the resulting firework bullet.

Before long these detailed controls soon had my old school shooter
juices flowing. I loved the fine control you have over the direction -
and found that by focusing on the top screen I could keep track of what
was going on a lot better.

Whilst I still missed that sense of digital connection you have from
up/down/left/right D-pad and buttons, I couldn't deny this new approach
had its benefits. In addition to the angle at which you can also
control the trajectory. On later levels this becomes key as cross winds
swirl through the play field and need to be compensated for.

My aging brain struggled with the addition of enemies on the bottom
screen. It reminded me of being asked to pat your head whilst rubbing
your stomach at school - I struggled to get my hands to do what I
wanted them to.

Big Bang Mini may not be the DS's answer to a a classic shoot 'em up.
Instead it sweeps away all those gaming protocols and creates a
language all its own. It shows the way forward for how shooting can be
creatively tackled on Nintendo's flexible handheld hardware. While I'm
still waiting for an old school DS shooter - this more than makes up
for the wait.

Wired: Slick controls and unique visuals.

Tired: Slightly loose feel compared to buttons.
Rating: 7/10

Eclectic Gamer Mum

I've always loved fireworks. Our family goes to a display most years.
Failing that we do our own thing in the back garden. So when I heard
about a firework shooting game on the DS I put my name down for review
straight away.

The first thing to say is that the game really delivers on the
pyrotechnics. Not only do the fireworks all look like the real deal,
but they also offer a wide variety of effects. Plug in some headphones
and you have the sounds to go with it - all those glorious pops, futts
and bangs.

Now, I have to admit I did play quite a few games without really
understanding what was going on - just enjoying the display. But after
things kept coming to a premature end I spent a bit of time reading the
instructions and was soon making a little more headway.

As the others will probably say in their reviews, you control things
with the stylus and shoot the various bods that appear on the top
screen. What they may not say is that each world has it's own look and
feel. Not only the backgrounds, but the enemies and music are unique to
each area which progress through a variety of city names.

I loved the way this gave the sense of a constantly changing
environment in which to play. I got quite addicted to unlocking the
next city to see what it would look like and what special attacks and
hazards would be introduced.

I'm probably not the worlds best shooting game player, I played some
Galaga back in the day (miss-spent youth and all that), but I didn't
find the going too hard. I think my 80's arcade years helped me as
things are essentially the same here - time your shots to hit the bad
dudes. There were a few stages that had me stuck for a while, but a
little thinking and trying out different strategies soon had me on my
way again.

I found that the attention required to play the game made it better
suited for evenings when the kids were in bed. Even then in fact, after
twenty minutes or so I had had enough alien bashing. My play habits
seem to have continued like this. But I am still checking in with the
game each day - which for me is a good sign.

Wired: Create your own firework displays.

Tired: Needs a lot of concentration and the rest of the family hogging the game.

Rating: 9/10

Teen Gamer Daughter

Big Bang Mini has one of the coolest game boxes I've seen for ages. It
has some bright pictures, but also features one of those fake animation
things. Like they used to do on rulers - so when you tilt the box it
looks like its moving.

After such a great box I was really looking forward to playing the
game. First thing I noticed was the great plink plink sound the menus
make. It sounds like you are tapping with your stylus on glass and
works really well.

Once I started the first level it took me a while to realize I wasn't
supposed to use the buttons. You just control everything with the
stylus. You move your ship on the bottom screen by moving it around and
first by flicking in a direction towards the top screen.

Each level has a theme that dictates the background and enemies. Both
of these look pretty good. As you work through each stage in a level
things carry on like this, but the enemies get harder. At the end
there's a big boss to fight - which took me quite a few goes to figure
out.

I liked that I didn't have to go back to the beginning when I died - I could just restart the level I was on.

Things get harder as you go on because new levels have different things
to work out. The second world is windy and your bullets get blown
around the place. You can also use different special moves, like the
whirlwind one. When you draw a spiral it creates a little whirlwind
that sucks the bullets in. I liked these and am looking forward to
discovering more of them.

The game seems like it will last a long time for me, and at the moment
I'm playing it every day. I'd recommend it for kids - my younger
brother (ed: three) could play it without too many problems, although
he's not as good as me.

Best: Really neat box and simple controls so everyone can play it.

Worst: Can get a little samey and takes a while to get into.

Rating: 8/10

Returning Gamer Twentysomthing

I've always loved shooting games. But not only for their fast action
and demands on the reflexes. For me it's the co-operative strategies
that emerge when you play with other people. From the joys of combining
a helicopter and jeep in SWIV to the black and white bullet scraping of
Ikarigua, its that ability of these games to demand two people to
synchronize their firepower that I've always enjoyed the most.

On the DS this is of course a bit of a big ask. Two players obviously
can't share the same handheld console, so it is down to the game to
offer a suitable link up mode. Unfortunately though the Wi-fi function
is limited to uploading scores rather than live multiplayer. So with a
lightly sinking heart I press on with the single player.

Apart from these co-operative desires, the single player game is
remarkably solid. Not only are the controls well judged, but the
visuals, sound and general staging of the experience make it really
stand out. There is no denying that this is a quality production.

I was a fan of Nervous Brickdown DS, their previous game, so was not
surprised to find another polished experience. It's been said
elsewhere, but that first game was for one reason or another was
overlooked by the public at large. So, I hope Big Bang Mini does better
for them and perhaps even sparks a renaissance for Nervous Brickdown.
They certainly seem to be putting more PR wight behind it which is
great to see.

The game as a whole demonstrates how you really can't treat the DS (or
Wii for that matter) as another console to churn out the same games on.
Their new controls seem like an obvious iteration on shooting games
but, as you realize playing through the game, have far reaching
consequences in every aspect of play.

The speed and attack type of enemies has been cleverly honed to the
reduced reaction times brought about from a analogue touch screen
interface. But where this has been toned down, the developers were able
to up the ante in terms of dodging bullets because of the increase
level of fine control offered by the stylus.

These features all come together to create a satisfying game, even if
it is one that doesn't solve the cooperative problem for me yet. Watch
this space.

Wired: Adjusted game difficulty to suit controls and audience and a unique experience on the DS.

Tired: Multiplayer options are limited and more power ups would be nice.
Rating: 8/10