Developer: Beatshapers

Publisher: Beatshapers

Originally a PC game but recently ported over to the minis service, NormalTanks is an arcade-style, top-down shooter, where you commandeer a destructive battle tank. Your only aim is to just to blast anything and everything on your way to the end of the level.

At the beginning of each level your tank is air-dropped to the starting point, after which you can proceed to cause as much destruction as possible. You start out with a basic tank, equipped with a shell-firing cannon and a machine gun that rapidly fires destructive bullets, and throughout the course of the game you will find upgrade stars from fallen enemies or destroyed scenery; rolling over these gives one aspect of your tank an upgrade. Your basic tank soon turns into fully equipped battle machine, capable of firing multiple cannon shells with huge force. There are also health pick-ups and extra lives placed around, as well as a liberal scattering of ammo, so you never need to worry about running out.

There are over 8 levels available, from outdoor canyons to inside caves and enemy facilities. All of them are pleasing on the eye and the graphics as a whole fit in with the arcade-style gameplay. Each of the levels are filled with multiple environmental hazards (such as fire) and enemies, of which there are over 30 different kinds. These range from your average tank or stationary turret to massive end of level bosses, requiring you to throw everything you’ve got at them to take them down. The later levels become a frenzy as you’re simultaneously dodging shells, machine gun fire, flames and mines whilst trying to blast your way through. Variety is not just with the scenery and enemies as you’ll sometimes take control of an infiltration robot or even a walker, armed with a destructive, rapid fire cannon. The background music fits the levels and gameplay well, with some rocking tunes to listen to whilst your blowing stuff up, amongst a few others.

The d-pad controls the movement of your tank throughout the game, the left shoulder button switches between the cannon and the machine gun and the right shoulder button fires the selected weapon. The face buttons are for the control of your turret direction, which can cause a few problems. The turret only moves at 45 degree angles so your tank has to be in the correct position to line up with an enemy, and it can be extremely fiddly at times to keep up with fast moving enemies. It’s manageable, though, so after a while you won’t have too many problems. Auto-aim is mapped to the analog nub/left stick, but it’s hard to use. Moving and auto-aim are both done with your left thumb, so unless you’re extremely dexterous it’s normally a case of choosing between precision aiming and moving around.

Being stationary for more than a few seconds typically means you’re going to take quite a bit of damage, or even die if you’re in the later levels. Even on normal, the game ramps up the difficulty pretty quickly; it’s not enough to be frustrating, but just enough to give you a nice challenge. The control scheme doesn’t help a huge amount, which means you need to get to grips with it or you’ll be dying quite a bit. Even though a new tank is dropped exactly where you were before when you do eventually bite the dust, you’re completely stripped of all your upgrades you’ve acquired so far. This can be a real blow in the later levels when you’re taking on strong enemies with only your basic weapons, or even worse if it happens during a boss fight.

Putting the control issues aside, NormalTanks is an absolute blast to play. With lots of variety and enough challenge to keep you on your toes it’s an awesome shooter with some decent replay value. You can complete the whole thing in less than a hour, but it’s great on the move where you’ve got 10 minutes spare and you just want to blow stuff up. Well worth checking out.