As the DS shelves become flooded with endless virtual pet titles, horse-riding sims and ‘quit your addiction’ training games, it’s refreshing to see an original idea like Big Bang Mini emerge from the crowd. Not attached to any established IP, built around the increasingly novel concept of ‘gameplay value’ and making smart use of the DS controls, it deserves more attention than it will inevitably receive from the drone-like games-buying public.

Made by the three-man development team behind Nervous Brickdown, this sophomore project takes the 2D shoot-’em-up and reinvents it for the stylus generation. The ship is moved around the screen with the stylus while the firework-style bullets are launched up to the top screen with a flick of the self-same implement. The clever trick here is that the two can be positioned independently so you don’t necessarily have to fire from the same space that the ship occupies. This allows for some huge strategic advantages but comes with its own risks, not least the fact that whenever you’re throwing fireworks about, your ship will be vulnerable as you won’t be able to move and shoot at the same time.

And then there’s the added danger that comes from fireworks that miss their target. These will explode in the air and rain down droplets of fire that you will need to avoid. This situation forces you to consider every shot more carefully than you might in a regular shoot-’em-up and leads to a much more restrained and tactical style of play.

As Big Bang Mini progresses it does a decent job of expanding on its basic concept, changing the theme of the levels with every passing chapter and adding new abilities such as the bullet-deflecting shield and the defensive vortex. Every ten levels, the player is also challenged to survive an extended boss battle. Undoubtedly the highlight of the game, these stages almost fall into the category of bullet-hell shooter and truly serve as a test of the player’s skill with the core move-or-shoot mechanic.

Big Bang Mini isn’t all about blinding innovation and artistic design, however. With nine mostly identical levels standing between each boss and each change in style, the game can become rather monotonous when it could so easily have soared, had it changed styles a little more frequently.

The multiplayer is a confused affair in which players must hold the DS sideways and try to angle their shots so that they fly into the adjacent screen. It relies more on luck than any test of skill or experience and we can't help but feel that a more straightforward head-to-head dynamic would have suited it better.