When it comes to packing a lot of fun into a bite-sized package, few game developers can do it as well as the guys and gals over at Q-Games. The studio already has a string of hits on its hands with its PixelJunk series on the PlayStation 3 and PSP. And while the company is no stranger to Nintendo's consoles, Q-Games may have outdone itself with Starship Defense, its latest DSiWare game currently available for download via the Nintendo DSi Shop.

With Starship Defense, Q-Games takes the tower defense genre and tosses it offworld into the recesses of deep space. As captain of a fleet of starships, your goal is to try and make your way safely through enemy territory. Along the way, your fleet will be barraged by wave after wave of enemy fighters. Your survival depends solely on the strategic placement of defensive systems amongst your ships. Plan things right, and you'll make it through relatively unscathed. Plan things wrong, though, and your fleet will be left drifting through space as little more than glorified space junk.

If you've never played a tower defense game before, the concept is pretty simple and straightforward. You've got a handful of stationary bases to defend from oncoming attackers. You're given a selection of armaments to position where you think they'll be most effective, and then you sit back and wait to see how it all plays out. Sometimes, the enemies might zig when you thought they were going to zag, and your whole plan gets thrown out of whack. On the other hand, when things go well, you get to relish in the victory as you watch your opponents marching headlong to their doom.

While on the surface, Starship Defense doesn't seem to stray from the usual tower defense fare, just a few seconds into your first game, you'll start to see the differences. Starship Defense makes the most of the DSi's extra real estate on the top screen. In a move that immediate brings to mind memories of the arcade classic Galaga, waves of enemies take position on the top screen and fly in attack formation towards the lower screen. Just before a wave attacks, you're shown the flight pattern that it'll take. This helps for making those last minute additions or changes to shore up your defenses. After all, there's nothing worse than setting up your lasers and missiles on the left, only to have a line of fighters strafe you from the right.

Starship Defense doesn't bog you down with a huge inventory of different defenses. There are just a few basic options to deal with whatever comes your way. Ghost lasers, for example, don't do much damage, but they're your main line of defense against cloaked fighters. Berserker missiles are slow to fire and reload, but can do some hefty damage to groups of enemies. Later upgrades allow for things like spaceports which can send out swarms of small fighters to attack approaching enemies, or mine launchers that can pump out explosive ordinance just waiting to take out anything that crosses its path. The key is in knowing exactly what you'll need, and where you'll need it. If things start looking bad, you can still get yourself out of a jam by cashing in any of the S.O.S. cards you might have earned along the way. These one-shot deals can help out by calling in bounty hunters to help fight enemies, repair damage done to your fleet, or any number of other lifelines to survive through the end of the current mission.

Visually, screenshots don't do Starship Defense much justice. While still shots tend to make the game look ... well ... plain, in motion it's a whole other case. The game looks almost like a blueprint brought to life. Everything is crisp and clean, with lines so sharp they could cut butter. Smooth animation and the occasional dash of color help to give the game its distinct presentation. It's amazing to see how Q-Games managed to put so much polish on something that otherwise seems so basic.

Q-Games has quite the streak going for it. Between the PixelJunk series for Sony and now games like Starship Defense for the DSi, it's hard not to be chomping at the bits for whatever else the develop has up its sleeve. Until then, though, Starship Defense is hands down the best gaming experience you're likely to find on the Nintendo DSi Shop. If you've got a DSi and five bucks in your pocket, there's no reason not to pick this one up.

Final Score: A+