Zanac X Zanac Opinions Needed

[SheSaidDutch]

Well since I'm collecting some PSX SHMUPS, I would like to know what everyone thinks of Zanac X Zanax, Is it worth the price it goes for?

From what I've played on emulators I've enjoyed the Zanac and Aleste games.

[Turrican]

Yeah, I guess we all can't recommend this one enough. On one hand it is classic Compile system, with different kinds of bullets, lots of great weapons, fairly long stages, not difficult as recent manics (but quite more challenging than the no-zanac compile games).

On the other hand it has a quite complex score system and a multiplier ratio, so it doesn't feel totally like 80's stuff.

Plus, you get to play the old Zanac too. I guess it's a winner package!

However, it IS still an expensive import, sadly. You got Gradius Gaiden cheap, right? Perhaps you should consider something cheaper before this, like R-Type Delta.

[SheSaidDutch]

Yeah, I guess we all can't recommend this one enough. On one hand it is classic Compile system, with different kinds of bullets, lots of great weapons, fairly long stages, not difficult as recent manics (but quite more challenging than the no-zanac compile games).

On the other hand it has a quite complex score system and a multiplier ratio, so it doesn't feel totally like 80's stuff.

Plus, you get to play the old Zanac too. I guess it's a winner package!

However, it IS still an expensive import, sadly. You got Gradius Gaiden cheap, right? Perhaps you should consider something cheaper before this, like R-Type Delta.

Complex score system and multiplier ouch, I'm not a fan of either of those

Gradius Gaiden(Not here yet) but I paid about £27

R-Type Delta I can get for £10 so I'm in no rush to purchase that atm

X-2 I might pick up for £2.99 soon

How much do these games go for?
Raiden DX
ImageFight/X-Multiply
Salamander Deluxe
Gradius Deluxe

[ST Dragon]

I haven't played it, but judging by screen shots, the graphics are very 16-bit looking.
Projet X 2 on the other hand, has the best Ps-1 Graphics imo.

[Zach Keene]

Complex score system and multiplier ouch, I'm not a fan of either of those

I'd suggest Zanac Neo has the complex score system for those who hate complex score systems. All you have to do to "chain" is blow shit up before it leaves the screen. Which you should be doing anyway.

[Tychom]

Complex score system and multiplier ouch, I'm not a fan of either of those

I'd suggest Zanac Neo has the complex score system for those who hate complex score systems. All you have to do to "chain" is blow shit up before it leaves the screen. Which you should be doing anyway.

++ what he said. The scoring in Zanac Neo feels incredibly natural because, well, it is - you just shoot stuff fast, run around as quickly as possible refusing to let *anything* escape

The multiplier usage is fun too, wait till there's lots on screen, choose a target and launch your weapon and watch 'Every Extend'-style as the weapon chains around the screen destroying all & sundry.

[Turrican]

Complex score system and multiplier ouch, I'm not a fan of either of those

Gradius Gaiden(Not here yet) but I paid about £27

R-Type Delta I can get for £10 so I'm in no rush to purchase that atm

X-2 I might pick up for £2.99 soon

How much do these games go for?
Raiden DX
ImageFight/X-Multiply
Salamander Deluxe
Gradius Deluxe

Yeah, they're right, Zanac Neo is good because you can forget those score systems are there. Almost forget: the last boss can require some extra lives to spare.

as for the others:

£10 for R-Type Delta and you pick playstation's best, imho.

£3 for X2 is great. Very nice graphics (one of the few rendered that doesn't suck).

Raiden DX I recommend very much. Can find the Hamster release for around 28 euro (be quick to get this one before the price gets higher).

ImageFight/Xmultiply, I don't really know, but easily the least exciting product you've listed.

Salamander Deluxe / Gradius Deluxe = can't go wrong with these. Well; wait until you play Gaiden and decide if Konami is your God to worship.

You've hit the jackpot man, you're going to witness what can be called the best Gradius, the best R-Type, and the best Raiden.

And Zanac Neo is among the best Compile. Not the best, though.

[visuatrox]

Well since I'm collecting some PSX SHMUPS, I would like to know what everyone thinks of Zanac X Zanax, Is it worth the price it goes for?

No, the game may be good, but it is not that good. There is plenty of good shmups out there that will not cost you a fortune.

[Naiera]

I would try and get a hold of this game now. I don't think the price is going down and it's just something that I feel is quite essential to own It's very good in its own right, but if one is a Cave-boy it probably won't entertain all that long. Doesn't hurt that the old Zanac is included. Packaging looks excellent too in my opinion. A real collector's item I think.

[SheSaidDutch]

Aslong as the mechanism is natural, I probably just got scared as soon as I heard Chain and multiplier inthe same sentance

I've played the Gradius/Salamander seriers before so It's safe to say I do like Konami for their Shooters

ImageFight I dont know but I really like this game for some reason

R-Types is my next purchase for sure

X2 I might aswell pick it up anyway for £2.99 cant go wrong for that price.

Naiera-No Cave fanboi here

[Cthulhu]

Zanac X Zanac is going for about 9000 yen in Akiba these days - well over the 6000 yen I paid for my copy last year. This might just be a temporary price fluctuation, but you can probably expect ZxZ to cost more than the last few months for at least a little while overseas too.

[BrianC]

While Zanac X Zanac is probably worth the big bucks it goes for, keep in mind that the original NES Zanac is also an excellent game and sells for peanuts.

[llabnip]

Zanac Neo is wonderful, classic Compile in a 32-bit package. It plays much more like the Compile shooters of old so don't expect the copyright date (2001) to be an indication as to what this should play like. It's a console shooter all the way - full screen verizontal with all the classic Compile shooter sounds and (updated) visuals... good use of PSX transparencies in places and great music... Plus you get various original versions of Zanac included in the slightly extra wide single-CD case. Very enjoyable and highly recommended.

There are a solid group of shooting games that almost demand you own a PSX (not to mention the other genres where the PSX excels). If you already have a PSX, you really should track down and own Zanac X Zanac, IMHO. If you don't have a PSX, this is one of the handful of exclusives (and, barring some bizzare ressurection, the last Compile shooter ever) that should make you consider getting one. Raiden Project/DX, Gradius Gaiden, R-Type Delta, Toaplan Shooting Battle 1, Konami Arcade Classics (for Scramble, Time Pilot and Super Cobra) and Einhander generally fall into the same category.

[SheSaidDutch]

Just bought X2 and I must say I dont like it one bit.....

[EXMaster]

Sorry for the derail, but does anyone still have those score attack videos that were up on the ZanacXZanac website?

[BenT]

Yeah, X2 bites if you don't care for Amigatrash-style games. I have a JPN copy I want to ditch.

[Turrican]

X2 I might aswell pick it up anyway for £2.99 cant go wrong for that price.

Hey, man 2.99. That's the magic number you have to reapeat yourself like a mantra.

The game is not so good, true. Put the invincibility cheat on and enjoy the show at least. A maxed out ship is something to witness in that game, especially for that laser whip subweapon.

[Guardians Knight]

i would def recommend you get Zanac X Zanac it is a very nice game. you should perhaps check it out via a psx emu first before you shell out your life savings tho -just in case. thats what i did and i love it.

raiden dx is also a great game, and a lot more affordable than zanac, expect to pay around $30-$40 or maybe £30 if you can find it in the uk

[Shatterhand]

Zanac X Zanac is the best piece of software you can get for your PSX IMO.

Zanac Neo is just WONDERFUL. I had to wait 4 years 'til I could play that game, my expectations were incredibly high, but the game delivered MUCH MORE than what I expected.

I am no fan of complex score systems either, but Zanac Neo one is deep enough without being too complex. It never gets into your way. The game has lots of secrets stuff, but none of them are NEEDED for your enjoyment.. think of them as stuff you will just learn because you will end up playing the game for many and many hours.

The graphics aren't all that hot indeed, but IMO they do an excellent work. They are colorful enough, and the game looks very good IMO.

Soundwise, the game is just awesome.

And of course, you also get the NES version of Zanac with the bundle.

This is coming from someone who grew up having Zanac as my fav game up until Aleste 2 (Another Compile shmup) was released, and I am a HUGE Compile fan, so their games usually make me feel happy. Zanac Neo was the game that, after 12 years, finally managed to take "Aleste 2" from the "Best shmup ever" spot in my list.

I'd pay any money to have Zanac x Zanac. I'd pirate the game. I'd kill to have the game. Zanac Neo it's IMO the best shmup ever, and the best PSX game ever (Maybe the BEST game ever? )


Now X2 kinda of blows. It has good graphics, but the gameplay suffers badly. The difficullty is ridiculous unbalanced, the levels are so boring-designed... of course, for 2.99 it's worthy, but I wouldn't pay much more than that for it.

[MadSteelDarkness]

I just got this (finally...) yesterday. I paid too much for it, but man, am I loving this to pieces. Zanac Neo has some great old-school gameplay (watch your back...), coupled with gorgeous graphics and really nice remixes of the classic tunes. The addition of a pixel-perfect port of the original Zanac (that I can finally play in component) rounds out the package nicely. Two thumbs up!

[SheSaidDutch]

Glad you like it MadSteel, Shatterhand(Compile Salesman) is in this thread *faints* lol I'll keep an eye out for it anyway,

[Turrican]

I am no fan of complex score systems either, but Zanac Neo one is deep enough without being too complex. It never gets into your way. The game has lots of secrets stuff, but none of them are NEEDED for your enjoyment..

To all the supporters of this idea "It's there but it's harmless, you can pretend it's no there":

Going by logic, that is technically a flaw. If the system is too "invisible" then clearly it's not doing its job too well. In other words, if it's not NEEDED, then it might as well not be there.

I think I still prefer Super Aleste and Power Strike II (SMS) just because of that: NONE of their elements seems superfluous or semi-relevant. But after all this is common sense: clearly Compile was more into his stuff during their golden years, and despite all their effort, 2001's Zanac Neo can't hide the feeling of a nostalgic goodbye. I wouldn't say they ended with a whimper, ZNeo is still quite a blast, although not the bang Tecnosoft called its curtain with, TFV.

This is coming from someone who grew up having Zanac as my fav game up until Aleste 2 (Another Compile shmup) was released, and I am a HUGE Compile fan, so their games usually make me feel happy. Zanac Neo was the game that, after 12 years, finally managed to take "Aleste 2" from the "Best shmup ever" spot in my list.

This instead is coming from an HUGE Compile fan that never a fan of the original Zanac, as it was never released in Europe for NES. So I'm more a fan of their Gunhed/Super Aleste style or the GunNac/PowerStrikeII one: that is traditional, no-AI gameplay.

That said, TGL is still their ecleptic masterwork.

Ok, ok, now I quit babbling...

P.S. SheSaidDutch, skip my post and buy the game anyway. You won't regret it.

[BulletMagnet]

I think I still prefer Super Aleste and Power Strike II (SMS) just because of that: NONE of their elements seems superfluous or semi-relevant.

What about the "Missile" weapon in Super Aleste?

[Turrican]

I think I still prefer Super Aleste and Power Strike II (SMS) just because of that: NONE of their elements seems superfluous or semi-relevant.

What about the "Missile" weapon in Super Aleste?

I was talking of game machanics and general rules; Zanac Neo is full of worthless weapons too.

Moreover, since most Compile games have lots of weapons, to have generally weak ones is a standard and something the player has to deal with, in order to make his own way of blasting. It's not a flaw, it's how they work/part of their charm.

[BulletMagnet]

Heh, I was just being a pain in the neck. Seriously though, that one weapon is the ONLY one I've found ZERO use for in that game...it's like power-ups (or for that matter the main blaster) in Souky, why bother including 'em?

[professor ganson]

I played Neo for the first time today, and it was great fun. Too early to say confidently that it's worth the steep price, but for someone (like me) who loves games like Blazing Lazers, this would seem to be a must-have.

BTW, the original packaging is really nicely designed-- I especially like the large case it comes in.

[TWITCHDOCTOR]

I played Neo for the first time today, and it was great fun. Too early to say confidently that it's worth the steep price, but for someone (like me) who loves games like Blazing Lazers, this would seem to be a must-have.

BTW, the original packaging is really nicely designed-- I especially like the large case it comes in.

I may have to check it out again some day...too bad it fetches such a high price tag. The first few times I played it, I did use continues(I was previewing it, remember) I thought it was rather bland. Thats weird, but I LOVE Blazing Lazers. I even thought that Gunac kicks the shit out Neo Zanac....

BTW: Zanac sounds like some anti-depressant drug! Too bad it didn't work for me, as I became depressed from playing it. (somebody borrow this quote for their sig...please!)

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I thought ZanacXZanac was great at first, but the fun started to wear thin before I reached 20 hours of gameplay. The difference in thinking between my first and last time playing it is because I started to notice the game's flaws. The game does more things wrong than right. For example, the game feels fast paced and the combo system gets a *thumbs up* from me. However, the levels are incredibly long, the music grates on my nerves after repeating for the 20th time, haphazard enemy placement, repeating bosses, and a lot of useless weapons.

[Naiera]

Uhm, I think you're supposed to be happy that you got anything near 20 hours of enjoyment out of a shmup...

[MSZ]

I thought ZanacXZanac was great at first, but the fun started to wear thin before I reached 20 hours of gameplay. The difference in thinking between my first and last time playing it is because I started to notice the game's flaws. The game does more things wrong than right. For example, the game feels fast paced and the combo system gets a *thumbs up* from me. However, the levels are incredibly long, the music grates on my nerves after repeating for the 20th time, haphazard enemy placement, repeating bosses, and a lot of useless weapons.

Yes, the game is long. But not as long as the NES Zanac.