Starship Defense

Starship Defense
Developer	Q-Games
Publisher	Nintendo
System	DSiWare
Release Date	EU December 18, 2009 US January 18, 2010 JP February 10, 2010
Genre	Action/Strategy
Rating	ESRB: E

Starship Defense (also known as Starship Patrol) is a DSiWare game developed by Q-Games. It costs 500 Nintendo DSi Points. It is similar to tower defense type of games except with somewhat of a spaceship theme.

The player takes command of a fleet of starships. The goal is to install various weapons on the ships to protect them from the oncoming waves of enemies. Weapons cost points of energy which are obtained from destroying enemies. The various weapons can also be upgraded throughout the level when Upgrade Items show up. After firing, weapons will require time to recharge. As the game progresses, more powerful weapons are unlocked. Players have the option to uninstall weapons by spending 100 energy points.

Enemies swoop down from the top screen in swarms to attack your ships. Most levels have 10 waves of enemies followed by a boss enemy. As soon as a swarm is ready, it's path will briefly appear on the bottom screen to ensure you have the proper weapons within range. Some enemies will be cloaked. Weapons marked with an S are the only ones able to destroy them. After successfully surviving an onslaught of enemies players earn SOS Cards. These cards will aid the player such as repairing shields or increasing firepower.

The 30 levels of the game are classified as sectors. Normally a linear progression is in place going from sector to sector, although occasionally more than one sectors will open up at a time. If all enemies are cleared, the sector is designated with a Perfect symbol. If enemies were missed, a symbol with a number of how many were missed will appear. If no SOS Cards were used, an additional medal symbol will appear. Special sectors with additional challenges are marked with a colored border. Red indicates that random solar flares will cause your weapons to malfunction, blue indicates that asteroids will occasionally destroy secondary ships or weapons, and green is reserved for the final sector.