Gun-Nac (FC) (1990)
Developer: Compile

Review by Faididi and Co.

Zanac gone funny

Story: Average

We've seen the terrifying alien entities in Zanac and Aleste, but none of them can compare to the silliness in this game. A chaos machine from outer space creates comedic insanity everywhere, resulting in gigantic bunnies beating up people, TV monitors zipping through the air, and other random nonsense. The hero must pilot the Gun-Nac starfighter and stop this nefarious villain to restore peace. The story may be stupid, but at least it doesn't retread the same plot about evil space aliens.

Gameplay: Average

Quirky story or not, Compile's Gun-Nac is another member of the line of vertically scrolling space shooters that include games like Zanac, Aleste (Power Strike), and Gunhed (Blazing Lazers). The main draw here is the humorous level and enemy designs, because all the interchangeable drones and turrets are replaced by funny things like flying vegetables and cartoon faces on the floor. Instead of the same old space battles, you have scenes like the financial bank area, where the hero shoots down spinning coins, hovering dollar bills, and gigantic safe vaults that can prove to be as deadly as alien ships and tanks.

Aside from the redressed bad guys, however, the action is a mostly familiar remix of past material. This game thankfully avoids the weird lateral scrolling effects of Gunhed but shares similar kinds of attack upgrades. The hero can grab weapon pods to change the default rapid-fire guns to homing beam cannons, flamethrowers, scatter-orb launchers, and the impressive-looking displaced laser bolt guns. There aren't any auxiliary weapons like missile launchers, but the megabombs now come in 4 varieties, and they can also be upgraded like the main weapons.

Another recycled aspect is the shop system from Guardic. Before every area, the hero visits a shop that sells main weapon upgrades and an option of delivering extra megabombs to future areas. Why the megabombs can't be purchased immediately like the main weapon upgrades is strange, and the items for sale can already be found within the areas, so the shop feels more like a bonus gimmick than the absolutely vital feature back in Guardic.

Controls: Excellent

The Gun-Nac handles as responsively as its predecessors. Moving and attacking are very easy to do, and the ship's speed (relative to the screen) can be adjusted. There are a lot more options that let you fine-tune the difficulty of the game, too.

Graphics: Excellent

The visuals look really nice. Brightly drawn characters, projectiles, and explosions can fill the screen without slowdown. The action always remains smooth, and the multilayered backgrounds for certain scenes make the game appear even cooler.

Audio: Above Average

Except for the hero's quiet weaponfire, the sound effects are strong. The bad guys blow up noisily, and the different power-up noises are neat. As for the music, some of the tunes are very repetitive, while others are appreciably more inspired and catchier.

Overall: Average

Gun-Nac may have a crazy story and setting, but it's very sound as a space shooter, even more so than Gunhed. Zanac and Aleste fans looking for a more light-hearted alternative should find plenty to like here.