The game also features some genuinely impressive visual effects. The water effects in particular are far beyond what you would normally expect from a title like this. Combined with a rock-solid 60 frames per second and absolutely no noticeable slowdown or frame drops, the result is a game that is not only fantastic to play but also a joy to watch.
I am a huge fan of retro remakes, and I generally prefer official ones over indie reinterpretations. There is something special about seeing a classic game return with all the proper assets, licenses, and copyrights intact. However, every now and then, an indie team comes along and completely outshines the big companies without ever touching someone else’s intellectual property. They succeed because they understand what made the original great and then add that little extra something that elevates the whole experience.
Nano Assault Neo is essentially a remake and reimagining of the Amiga classics Stardust and Super Stardust. While the original developers went on to create an incredibly successful third entry in the series, they also left a few beloved features behind—features that many fans considered some of the best parts of the original games. That said, Super Stardust HD on the PlayStation 3 was absolutely fantastic, so don’t mistake this as criticism of that game.
Nano Assault Neo feels much more like a true remake than a continuation of the franchise. It borrows the best ideas from all three Stardust titles. Most notably, it adopts the rotating spherical worlds introduced in the third game, allowing you to fly around a fully rendered planet rather than the static backgrounds of the Amiga originals. While that may make it sound like a remake of the PS3 version, that is really where the similarities end. Almost everything else is firmly rooted in the gameplay and design philosophy of the first two games.
Each world consists of four stages, and there are four worlds in total. That may not sound like much on paper, but Nano Assault Neo embraces proper old-school difficulty. This is not a game you will casually breeze through. Instead, it slowly grows on you as your skills improve, and before you know it, you’ll be pushing further and further until you eventually conquer the game.
Boss battles await at the end of each world. While they are not quite as spectacular as the ones found in the Stardust series, they fit perfectly within the game’s overall theme. Unlike Stardust’s asteroid-filled space setting, Nano Assault Neo leans more towards a biological, plant-and-insect-inspired aesthetic. A friend mentioned this while watching one of my streams, and the more I thought about it, the more I realised he was absolutely right.
The game also features some genuinely impressive visual effects. The water effects in particular are far beyond what you would normally expect from a title like this. Combined with a rock-solid 60 frames per second and absolutely no noticeable slowdown or frame drops, the result is a game that is not only fantastic to play but also a joy to watch
One feature I was especially happy to see return is the bonus rounds. This is something I really missed in the third Stardust game. These tunnel sequences have you flying through twisting environments while dodging obstacles at high speed, and they immediately brought back memories of Wild Flying, a project I once worked on that combined similar tunnel-shooting gameplay with ideas inspired by the PlayStation classic N2O: Nitrous Oxide.
The tunnel stages in Nano Assault Neo are brilliant. They are fast, challenging, and demand complete concentration—exactly as they should. Much like the original Stardust games, they can be brutally difficult, but they are also some of the most exciting moments in the entire game. Every time one appeared, I wanted to play more.
The bonus stages themselves are pure survival challenges. You have no weapons at your disposal, and your only goal is to dodge incoming obstacles, stay alive as long as possible, and collect as many points as you can. These rounds appear between the second and third stages of each world. Unfortunately, they seem very similar to one another, although I can’t say for certain yet. I completely forgot to capture footage from every single one because they are simply too much fun to pause and mess around with recording equipment.
Below is a short video from my very first attempt. As usual, my performance is far from perfect, but I think it does a good job of showcasing both the game’s design and its difficulty. There are insane amounts of enemies, weapons, visual effects, and environmental detail packed into every stage.
This is an awesome game, and it genuinely deserves to sell by the bucketload.
Make sure you watch long enough to see the tunnel sequence—it is one of the highlights of the entire game.
Thanks for your time, and I’ll see you all again soon.
ne else’s intellectual property. They succeed because they understand what made the original great and then add that little extra something that elevates the whole experience.
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