Nintendo Look - Gun-Nac

On the default settings, Gun-Nac a super-engaging blastemup that plays fast and loose. Shoot through eight areas, contend with an endless army of oddities, break out of dangerous situations with a variety of bombs. This is great stuff! An easy recommendation for NES fans. Also, there's a shop where players can stock up on necessities. Very cute. Very nice. I like buying things, especially in genres where currency is uncommon. It feels a little like cheating the system, even though 99 times out of 90 it's a necessity to survive. Since this is a Compile game, a thought crept into my skull, asking me what happens the instant I leave Easy & Normal's warm embrace. 

As it turns out, Gun-Nac on anything above Normal becomes a creature of chaos, an overwhelming entity that separates souls from bodies. Figures. In an attempt to distract myself from the hopeless Terranigma review, I tried hunting for something a little less draining. This shmup about flying cigarettes and murder-rabbits seemed like the right call. I probably could've gotten away with ignoring the other difficulties if I just slathered a bunch of generic praise. People tend to think very highly of this game, and they're not going a question a review they agree with. Instead, I couldn't stop digging, and now there's dirt everywhere. 

After covering three of their other works in the past couple of weeks, you'd almost believe that I knew a thing about Compile. Please, I'm nowhere close to pinpointing what drives them, but I'm foolish enough to try anyway. The general idea behind their 1990 effort is that everything is a threat. It's as if the development team looked around the office and thought how neat it'd be if mundane objects could fly around and shoot bullets. Then when the game is released, kids at school would talk about the time they got exploded by a Maneki-Neko. Also, I'm trying to avoid being too facetious. Something as simple as a clay pot can be harbinger of destruction. Tiny enemies don't seem like a problem at first. Shoot them 1-3 times and they're gone. That all changes when you realize that they were designed small so they could fill the screen. Blink too many times and get overwhelmed by a dozen different enemies sending a taste of Hell in Mage's direction.

Ah right, introductions. I'm so forgetful. Say hi to Mage. She's a shrine maiden who got tossed into the pilot seat of a starfighter after summoning mankind's last hope. This time around, there are five weapons to choose from. #1 is the basic shot that upgrades into multiple flavors of spread, hitting various angles at once when fully powered. #2 spits giant balls that fling needles to the sides. Feels like the precursor to Space Megaforce's #8, just nowhere near as good. Homing shot is #3. A good starter weapon, except it does the thing where it circles enemies it can't reach (such as anything underwater). The last two weapons are the flamethrower and laser. I figure most players will stick to the former, since it's a no-nonsense flame that doesn't leave much to chance. Lasers are cool, but their damage output and learning curve don't line up. 

A mid-boss to watch out for.

What sets the starfighter apart from the rest of the Compile squadron is its advanced bombing capabilities. Don't go in expecting big bullet-clearing explosions. Instead, find something that appeals to your tastes and stick with it. Bomb drops are identified by letter: F, T, B, and W. Up to 20 can be carried at a time, and they can be powered up by grabbing the same type twice in a row. The drawback is that improved bombs cost more. Also, you can't really afford skip any. Depending on the difficulty, you'll be spending them as often as you're picking them up. I know, it sucks having to rely on F bombs for anything, but that's life. Definitely keep a lookout for anything that resembles a pair of wings. These provide a huge boost to firepower and allow star-fighter to take an additional hit. It does make the ship a slightly larger target, so good luck hanging onto it.

In Gun-Nac, the familiarity of shooting down lines of enemy ships quickly gives way to mecha-bunnies, carrots exploding into smaller carrots, and other oddities. This sets the tone for all eight areas. Expect the unexpected, and don't leave survivors if you can help it. If something fires a homing missile, you can bet that missile will follow for an eternity. Most fiends tend to be native to the area. After destroying a moon's worth of rabbits, you'll enter the Fire Star zone. Obligatory fire stage? Yes and no. It is filled with objects that light up. Once the armada of matchsticks, lighters, and candles are wiped out; then it's on to the sea stage to cool off. I don't recall many shmups where fish and battleships team up. Future themed areas include wood, clay, coin, and fire (more fire?). Whatever you can think of is going to hunt you down.

The longer an enemy stays alive, the more likely you'll notice that it exhibits behaviors that are... let's just say uncommon. Typically, baddies move in predictable formations. That could go out the window depending on what you're dealing with. Area 1 has these spheroids that spit bits of rock towards starfighter. Inconsequential on Easy & Normal, but... this is becoming a pattern, isn't it? I'm going to have to skip around a bit, so bear with me. The spheroids that crumbled so easily before are devious and deadly on Crazy difficulty. Turns out the difference-maker was a couple points added to their speed and durability. You see, not only are they vomiting rocks, but the N-shaped pattern they move in has a tendency to corner players. Besides increasing their firepower, difficulty affects how much time an enemy has to act. Whatever that act is depends on them, and obviously you don't want to see it. Let's be real though, this is just the kind of madness that shmup fans live for.

If I'm spending nearly an entire paragraph describing one enemy, then think of how many different kinds there are in the game. Next, consider how their numbers and combined efforts could affect one's survivability. A lot of fish in area 3 won't leave the safety of the water until a ship gets close. Expect them to be paired with cruisers that cloud the sky with homing missiles. I've said it at least once before, but someone being good at dodging bullets doesn't mean they're good at STGs. It's a lesson I've bumbled into countless times. Enemies in Gun-Nac don't need a DaiOuJou washing machine's number of bullets to take anyone down. They have specialties, varying characteristics, and a talent for putting themselves exactly where players don't want them to be.

You know what's really crazy? This is a parody shmup, but not in the sense that penguins are manning the cannons or anything like that. The jokes run deeper, as if they're poking fun at game mechanics. Let's go back to the cute little shop that Mage visits in-between areas. Seems useful enough, right? Purchase rapid-fire upgrades, get a new weapon, order bombs to be delivered in future stages. Now, think about how the shop becomes exponentially less relevant as time goes on and the difficulty increases. Money has a habit of disappearing as quickly as Mage's starfighter eats a bullet. Pick up every bag of cash that floats onscreen if you want. None of it matters the instant a life is lost, even if the next arrives a second later. They don't even award points when picked up! 

Frankly, I think Compile is too good to leave a half-baked feature in one of their games. The shop becoming almost entirely useless after the second area was a choice. It gave the developer an excuse to continue throwing bags of cash at poor players. When someone needs a power-up, a bomb, or a new set of wings, getting money they won't live long enough to spend is literally a prank. I'm in the final area trying to do something that isn't dying horribly, and dollars are still flying my way. Basically, a third of all item drops are worthless. This would be a serious problem in a serious game, but here? Just a laugh at the player's expense. No big deal. Also, Gun-Nac is already generous with the extra lives. Giving players exactly what they need at all times would crash the difficulty balance.

With the right weapon setup, you could take a smoke break during area 3's midboss and get all the spare lives you need.

For the sickos out there, one of the options that can be ticked on is "Ricochet". This turns every destroyed enemy into a revenge bullet. Since it's a separate from difficulty settings, this modifier can be tacked on to create new challenges. Keep in mind though that the game defines "enemy" as anything that can be destroyed with basic weaponry. If a large object splits into several smaller objects, than that's several revenge pellets heading your way.

No matter how you decide to approach Gun-Nac, know that you'll be treated to Compile's typical high-level quality and replay-value. I talked a lot about the insanity packed within, but really, you could stick to the default settings and never notice. This is a lovely shmup that just happens to have an extreme side. Definitely give it some time if you're a maniac, a maniac-in-training, or just looking for 8-bits of fun.