I'm throyghly impressed with Compile's wizardry with their Famicom/NES release of Gun-Nac. Has a grand total of 8 stages to play through including a TLB to bring down.
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Gun-Nac: 4,694,100 pts. with all eight stages cleared on game difficulty setting "Level 2 - Intermediate" with 11 lives in reserve on March 28th, 2024 (Thursday). A 1,000,000 point bonus is given/added to your overall score if you destroy the TLB. I've noticed on stage 8, Compile recycles some of the earlier defeated stage bosses for the player to take down (this "recycled boss showdown" is also present in the classic PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 stg of Gunhed/Blazing Lazers's final ninth stage as well).
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Quite something to see all the different sprites that comprise of all the small fry enemies, mid-stage bosses and end-stage bosses. In the configuration screen, there's the option to choose whether "Sprite or Speed has priority" when playing a serious session of Gun-Nac indeed (Compile seriously gave those two crucial gameplay options selectable but not enable both at the same time given the hardware limitations with the Famicom/NES at the time of it's initial development). Could it be possible to have both "Sprite & Speed" option enabled as a hack with better programming methods for Gun-Nac nowadays?
It was Ascii Games whom sold the NES version of Gun-Nac back in 1992 stateside. At the USA based Toys-R-Us store locations, they were selling brand new copies of NES Gun-Nac on clearance/video game bargain bin for a mere $19.99 usd back in 1993-1994.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
Gave Compile's Gun-Nac a revisit.....
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PC Engine Fan X!
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hamfighterx
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Re: Gave Compile's Gun-Nac a revisit.....
Yeah, a few years ago M2's Aleste Collection got me to take a closer look at some of Compile's other output from that era. Gun Nac had been a bit of a blind spot for me, but I absolutely fell in love with it and now it's one of my favorite NES games. Was actually the very first NES game I loaded onto my Analogue Pocket 
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blazinglazers69
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Re: Gave Compile's Gun-Nac a revisit.....
Agreed, it’s quite awesome. The NES library is extremely strong so for a title like Gun*Nac to stand out that’s pretty impressive.
Console shooters truly are a different beast than arcade shooters. Console shooters probably assumed kids back then might have 1 or 2 shooters in between Super Mario Bros, Contra, Zelda, and Tetris.
I understand why guys here with 200 arcade clears are not very impressed with Compile games, but as someone who grew up as a vanilla Nintendo kid I think they’re very good if you understand that these games were for kids in the 90s who played a variety of games and not hardcore adult players here decades later who inject bullet hells into their veins for breakfast.
Historical context is important and often overlooked in these conversations of trying to objectively rank video games from different scenes across decades. Another thing I feel like isn’t talked about that much by people who poopoo on Compile is difficulty adjustment. Everyone says the default is too easy, but if you crank the difficulty up on something like Space Megaforce for example and have to deal with fast revenge bullets, I feel like even some pretty skilled players here would feel the spiciness.
But yeah, Gun*Nac is great. I’d love to see another Compile collection with it and some 16 bit stuff actually make it here to the west properly to get more players into shmups.
Console shooters truly are a different beast than arcade shooters. Console shooters probably assumed kids back then might have 1 or 2 shooters in between Super Mario Bros, Contra, Zelda, and Tetris.
I understand why guys here with 200 arcade clears are not very impressed with Compile games, but as someone who grew up as a vanilla Nintendo kid I think they’re very good if you understand that these games were for kids in the 90s who played a variety of games and not hardcore adult players here decades later who inject bullet hells into their veins for breakfast.
Historical context is important and often overlooked in these conversations of trying to objectively rank video games from different scenes across decades. Another thing I feel like isn’t talked about that much by people who poopoo on Compile is difficulty adjustment. Everyone says the default is too easy, but if you crank the difficulty up on something like Space Megaforce for example and have to deal with fast revenge bullets, I feel like even some pretty skilled players here would feel the spiciness.
But yeah, Gun*Nac is great. I’d love to see another Compile collection with it and some 16 bit stuff actually make it here to the west properly to get more players into shmups.
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To Far Away Times
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Re: Gave Compile's Gun-Nac a revisit.....
Inspired by this thread I decided to check out Gun-Nac yesterday and did a few runs focused around weapon 3 (the homing weapon), usually getting shot down by stage 6 or so. I switched to weapon 4 (the fire weapon), made quick progress and cleared the game. Or, ahem… “pulverized the enemy,” as the end credits says.
Compile had a great formula and even if they basically made the same game over and over again, the type of hyper active, console-tailored shmups they were making were pretty damn good, so I got no problem with it. Peak Compile would be MUSHA and Spriggan, I think.
Compile had a great formula and even if they basically made the same game over and over again, the type of hyper active, console-tailored shmups they were making were pretty damn good, so I got no problem with it. Peak Compile would be MUSHA and Spriggan, I think.
Stage 6: ARKIENDY SMITH
I hopped on the bandwagon and had a go too, having long passed it over as For Less Advanced Kid next to Zanac.
And yes indeed, that is a Compile game. Another charismatic reconfiguration of fan-favourite characters Piercing Laser Beam, Big Ball, Mysterious Multi-Axis Powerup System and Useless Weapon That Will Get You Killed.
So far I'm most comfy with #4's raw power, particularly later on when the basic zako start getting more health. #1 is nice too, though varies wildly in utility based on level, wing, and a mysterious Z-axis that I don't quite grasp yet. #5 is a death sentence.
Bit um-ah on the Wing system; it's pretty generous, often delivering one right as its absence becomes most acute, but locking 5 levels of power behind it is pretty rough on recovery.
Bombs are nifty; letting you keep them across deaths and instead sacrifice the power chain is an interesting approach that adds some ebb-and-flow strategy between unloads. Light shades of breakable FF8 mechanics; 20 stocks of Lv4 T is nothing to fuck with, even if it starts out thoroughly wimpy.
Best run so far as been ~3.something million toward the start of stage 8 on difficulty 2, though I also keep forgetting to turn on sprite priority. Speed priority + unlocked sprite limits doesn't prevent flicker, though perhaps sprite priority + CPU overclock would yield a best-of-both-worlds setup.
I really like the bank level. Something about its overall style is really fun and lighthearted, like you're crashing through and ~accidentally~ robbing the place in part and parcel of saving the galaxy.
And more Randar than ever (or, uh *checks notes* Liman-III and Garban-Zo in the west)
Bit heart-attack inducing on the flight path when things get busy, but he's got your back, unlike that treacherous hitbox-having POW armor
On the whole I think Zanac is still Compile's holy grail, being a particular conjunction of outstanding systematic complexity and polish, but Gun*Nac has its own enjoyable flavour that's more reminiscent of their broader body of work. Technically impressive throughout too, as is expected!
And yes indeed, that is a Compile game. Another charismatic reconfiguration of fan-favourite characters Piercing Laser Beam, Big Ball, Mysterious Multi-Axis Powerup System and Useless Weapon That Will Get You Killed.
So far I'm most comfy with #4's raw power, particularly later on when the basic zako start getting more health. #1 is nice too, though varies wildly in utility based on level, wing, and a mysterious Z-axis that I don't quite grasp yet. #5 is a death sentence.
Bit um-ah on the Wing system; it's pretty generous, often delivering one right as its absence becomes most acute, but locking 5 levels of power behind it is pretty rough on recovery.
Bombs are nifty; letting you keep them across deaths and instead sacrifice the power chain is an interesting approach that adds some ebb-and-flow strategy between unloads. Light shades of breakable FF8 mechanics; 20 stocks of Lv4 T is nothing to fuck with, even if it starts out thoroughly wimpy.
Best run so far as been ~3.something million toward the start of stage 8 on difficulty 2, though I also keep forgetting to turn on sprite priority. Speed priority + unlocked sprite limits doesn't prevent flicker, though perhaps sprite priority + CPU overclock would yield a best-of-both-worlds setup.
I really like the bank level. Something about its overall style is really fun and lighthearted, like you're crashing through and ~accidentally~ robbing the place in part and parcel of saving the galaxy.
And more Randar than ever (or, uh *checks notes* Liman-III and Garban-Zo in the west)
Bit heart-attack inducing on the flight path when things get busy, but he's got your back, unlike that treacherous hitbox-having POW armor
On the whole I think Zanac is still Compile's holy grail, being a particular conjunction of outstanding systematic complexity and polish, but Gun*Nac has its own enjoyable flavour that's more reminiscent of their broader body of work. Technically impressive throughout too, as is expected!