Starship Patrol (Starship Defense) is a shooting game where you defend your ship from waves of enemy attackers. You have a combination of static guns and defence ships to form an efficient strategy. It's well executed, but most unusual for its hand drawn, graph-paper, visuals and simple touch screen interface on the DS and 3DS.

Play involves tapping on the screen to place your weapons to strategic positions. You use energy collected from defeated enemies to purchase more powerful weapons. As you progress you find power crystals that unlock advanced attacks, including the ability to summon a devastating black hole. You can also call in special characters to help you in different ways if you are stuck.

There are 30 levels to work through as you advance from lowly recruit to fleet admiral.