2D shooting games aren't as common as they used to be. They would bring a constant stream of enemies to fight, and bullets to shoot them down in a harsh fashion. So when I heard about a game called Gunslugs 2, I was sort of delighted to give it a shot. Even if it would make me think about games like Contra for a little bit, I would be happy to keep playing until I simply couldn’t take it anymore. The good thing is that I did get the needed satisfaction out of it, though on the flipside, some of the modes aren’t worth trying more than once.

Gunslugs 2 feels pretty mindless for the most part. There is no strategy involved with the entire thing and that makes it all a little harder to swallow. There is no need to be precise or careful, because the game just wants you to step forward with all guns blazing. It is just a game where you keep shooting your enemies and try to make it out alive.

There is nothing particularly wrong with that and it’s an enjoyable chaos. For that reason, the mechanics are kept easy to understand. You run, jump and shoot a way through harsh terrain and destroy the towers in each of the Story Mode levels. There is ammo, different weapons and things to grab so that you can keep the action going.

The story mode has about 25 stages to play through, which are spread across seven worlds. You will destroy a few towers, get to the chopper and continue to the next level. You will keep doing this until you reach the end of the area, where you will face off in a boss fight. While going inside of the towers, you will free your friends, who will take over with a full health bar. Every character has their own favorite weapon and trying them out ensures some gameplay variety.

Another way that they ensure variety is by having randomly generated levels. This makes for some devilish placements, but considering that the stages are short, it is never a big deal. For a handheld game, the prospect of unlimited replay value is a nice one and the developers deserves attention for that. If you want something else, there are two more modes to complete the package. There is a Daily Challenge, which will put your skills to the test. Even crazier is the Arcade Mode, in which you try to finish the campaign with a single life. Both of these options could have benefited from offline or online leaderboards, but it is not there and that feels like such a missed oppertunity.

Gunslugs 2 brings mindless fun to the screens of the Nintendo 3DS. The presentation and gameplay are great, but it does feel pretty mindless most of the time. I can appreciate why they have done this, but it feels like I am missing something. Even bigger is the lack of leaderboards, which could have made the game infinitely replayable. If you are fully aware of what you are getting yourself into, it is more than likely that you will have a good time!