Gyrostarr provides a good helping of shooting fun along with a side of bad design choices.
As I said, it is a tunnel shooter, not a top down shooter. This means that instead of a birds-eye view, you have a semi-isometric view behind your vehicle as it speeds through halfpipe levels. The game provides a good sense of speed to the user as well as a good view for shooting the enemies that come into your sight.
The one thing that matters most in games like this is having sharp, precise controls, which Gyrostarr has, for the most part. Using only the Wiimote allows for motion controlled steering, but you'll be quick to ditch it in favor of a traditional pad. This is not a genre that can be enhanced via motion steering, as it doesn't provide the precision. Using the D-pad, however, works great. You also have the option of plugging in a Classic controller and using that instead. One thing that is really great about Gyrostarr's control setup is that if you have a classic controller in use, another player can use the Wiimote it is attached to. This makes for easier accessibility if you don't have four Wiimotes. You have a button to shoot, and another to use a nuke, which clears the enemy of screens. Up on the D-pad shoots out your grapple hook that can grab power-ups as they come towards you. This is a fun mechanic as well as a useful one, since if you shoot the power-ups, they will fall back and out of view.
Grabbing power-ups in this game is not optional. You literally need them in order to advance on to the next round. There is a meter on the top of your screen that fills up as you grab special white power-ups. Fill it up enough, and you can advance on to the next level. Fill it up all the way, and you go to a bonus stage. Don't fill it up enough and you crash and burn. If you die mid-stage, a small part of your bar is taken away, which is a very hefty punishment in the later levels. Overall, it works well.
The graphics in this game are semi-jaw-dropping for a Wiiware title. With great effects, animations and explosions, it really shows the Quantum3 Engine at work, and damn, am I impressed. The soundtrack, while good, is fairly limited, with only around three songs in the game, and none of them really stand out too much.
But, as I said before, there are bad design choices made in this game, and it starts with the bonus levels. The bonus levels have you collecting white power-ups with no enemies and no grapple hook. They manage to be interesting at first due to the great sense of speed they give; it can actually get your heart beating. The issue is that the beginning levels are so mind-numbingly easy that you'll probably get the bonus stage every level for the first 20 or so levels. The sense of speed doesn't remain interesting for that long. A better choice would have been to make two bars to fill. The first, which allows you to pass on to the next level should fill up as it does. The second, when filled, takes you to a bonus stage. This would help the bonus stages seem more fun for longer.
The next bad design choice I have seen is the power-ups. While some, such as the Tesla Shot, which fires a slow-moving, one hit kill shot at your enemies, and the Triple Shot, which fires three normal shots every round, have a good amount of power to them, others, such as the Fat Shot, seem weaker by comparison. It takes longer to kill an enemy with it than with normal shots. It doesn't really seem to have a place.
The most glaring flaw, however, comes from the terrain on which you ride. Many of the areas are a dark brown color, or black, or something of the sort. These are fine. However, when you travel over areas where the ground is clear, and you see the nebulae underneath, things get excessively challenging for all the wrong reasons. Because it's usually pretty light on these areas, you can't see the enemy shots, and sometimes, you can't even see the enemies themselves until you collide with them. This takes a lot of enjoyment from the game. How can you shoot what you cannot see? There's also a fairly laughable difficulty curve in the game. Everything is easy street for about 23 levels, then level 24 is very challenging. After that, it's fairly easy again, until the mid-30's, and from there, it fluctuates from level to level. It isn't very consistent, and it really throws you off sometimes. The game also has some of the dumbest level names I have ever seen. I think the name "Robot Robot" says it all.
Despite all these flaws, it is still a satisfying shooter, and stands out from other Wiiware titles. It has great graphics and sharp control, and even though there are flaws, it can still be fun, especially at it's 800 point asking price. It's worth a try for anyone that loves the genre, and will satiate your hunger for explosions well.