{"id":278211,"date":"2021-08-06T16:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T21:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/?p=278211"},"modified":"2021-10-15T13:20:07","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T18:20:07","slug":"by-the-wayside-gun-nac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/by-the-wayside-gun-nac\/","title":{"rendered":"Gun*Nac is a weird and friendly shoot-’em-up that belongs in your NES"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gun*Nac is a worthwhile trip to Iota Synthetica<\/h2>

The NES wasn\u2019t particularly well suited for vertical shoot-\u2019em-ups with its sprite limits and slow processor, but somehow a lot of notable titles landed on it. Life Force, Crisis Force, 1943<\/i>; the games worked better than they had any right to.<\/p>

The one that intrigues me the most is a more obscure title called Zanac<\/i>. Developed by Compile, I absolutely suck at it. It was slick and used a scaling difficulty system that you had to carefully manage lest you become overwhelmed.<\/p>

Their follow-up to that went in a completely different direction. It was Gun*Nac<\/i> and it ditched its scaling difficulty system in favor of insanity.<\/p>

\"Gun*Nac<\/p>

These days, Compile is best known for creating Puyo Puyo<\/i><\/a>, but they have a pretty diverse portfolio that includes Golvelius, The Guardian Legend, <\/i>and the not terrible Sega versions of Ghostbusters<\/i>.<\/p>

Gun*Nac<\/i> was what drew me to the developer. I actually bought it back in the days when I was collecting retro games because I was poor and they were a cheaper alternative. It\u2019s funny, because now I couldn\u2019t afford Gun*Nac<\/i> since it\u2019s exceeded $550 on the collector\u2019s market. I bought it largely on a whim, but it instantly shot up the ranks to be one of my favorite NES titles.<\/p>

Released in 1991, Gun*Nac <\/i>feels like a kitchen sink approach to the shoot-\u2019em-up genre. Did you ever fully upgrade your weapons in Raiden<\/i>? It\u2019s an amazing experience as everything gets wrecked almost the moment it gets on screen. It\u2019s almost too much, but it\u2019s the equivalent of having a pinball machine screaming \u201cJackpot! Jackpot! Jackpot!\u201d<\/a> at you. It presses this spot in your grey matter that makes you feel like the big cheese.<\/p>

That\u2019s Gun*Nac<\/i>. You\u2019re never far from feeling unstoppable.<\/p>

\"Gun*Nac<\/p>

The narrative of Gun*Nac<\/i> involves an incredibly materialistic society suddenly having its products turned against it. This means robot bunnies, apparently.<\/p>

The levels are eclectic. There\u2019s a logging industry level, banking, battleships. Enemies are similarly varied with everything from totems to coins flying at you. There\u2019s a lot of them, too. Gun*Nac has a weirdly forward-thinking option in its menu that allows you to prioritize speed or flicker. You can cut down sprite flicker if you\u2019re all right with some slowdown, but if you\u2019re okay with the odd flashing enemies, you can opt for a more solid framerate.<\/p>

There are five types of main weapons and four types of bombs. Both can be upgraded. The weapons deal different flavors of destruction, but remember which number is which. Collecting the same number upgrades your weapon to the next level. Thankfully, if you crash into a different number, it changes your weapon but leaves the power level the same, thus saving us from heartbreak.<\/p>

The bombs are upgraded in the same way. Each one is shown as a letter, and collecting two of the same consecutively upgrades your bomb. Just be careful, upgraded bombs use more ammunition. They all clear the screen to begin with, but doubling their power deals more damage to bosses, increases their coverage, and extends their duration.<\/p>

\"Gun*Nac<\/p>

I\u2019ve got my favorite weapons. Number 4, the flamethrower. Once upgraded, it splits into three huge beams and protects you from flanking projectiles (it doesn\u2019t screenshot well). The only downside is that when you hit a metallic object, its automatic rapid-fire makes the high-pitched \u201cting\u201d noise into an all-out squeal. As for bombs, that goes to W, the water bomb. I don\u2019t know, I just like its coverage.<\/p>

Any way you go, you\u2019ll be filling the screen with destruction in no time. It\u2019s not impossible to be hit, however. Gun*Nac isn\u2019t the hardest shoot-\u2019em-up I\u2019ve played, but it isn\u2019t the easiest, either. Taking a hit doesn\u2019t kill you outright, but it destroys your wings and reduces your weapon power. You can get them back by either dying or collecting a wing power-up, but you\u2019ll be rebuilding your arsenal.<\/p>

It just joyfully lets you load yourself up. Even in later levels where there\u2019s constant pressure, it\u2019s entirely possible to max yourself out. In between missions, you visit a shop where you can spend money to buy further upgrades or build a cache of bombs gifted to you in future levels. It\u2019s not that other shoot-\u2019em-ups don\u2019t<\/i> want you to beef up your fighter, it\u2019s just that Gun*Nac<\/i> understands that it\u2019s at its best when you\u2019re annihilating everything on screen.<\/p>

\"Gun*Nac<\/p>

Gun*Nac<\/i> holds a special place in my heart. It hits a sweet spot, being weird, fun, but still challenging. It\u2019s a friendly shooter, but it isn\u2019t afraid to kill you. It\u2019s Twinbee<\/i> while also being Gradius<\/i>.<\/p>

Beyond that, it\u2019s also really solid. It maybe doesn\u2019t surprise in the way Crisis Force<\/i> does, but it\u2019s more energetic than many others on the system. It doesn\u2019t carry that quarter-sucking stench, either. The first few levels are a breeze, then it starts upping the pressure, and, really, that should be how goes.<\/p>

It\u2019s also technically capable if the flicker vs. framerate option didn\u2019t make that obvious. It knows how to go big on a console that couldn\u2019t usually handle it very well. Compared to the next generation of shoot-\u2019em-ups, it doesn\u2019t feel like too many sacrifices were made. We still have big weapons and screen-clearing bombs. There are still large bosses and lots of enemies.<\/p>

But what I want to stress is that Gun*Nac <\/i>is just fun. It doesn\u2019t ask too much of you when it comes to learning its ins and outs. There’s no overreach in trying to be smarter than you or demand that you put in a lot of time to make progress past. It challenges but is more focused on entertaining. Not many shoot-\u2019em-ups of the era — a time dominated by arcade ports — can make that claim.<\/p>

For other retro titles you may have missed, click right here!<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":278225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"article_type":"","gamurs_wordpress_blocks_hide_tags":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[110],"tags":[20328,468,1025,1312,443,172,520],"internal-label":[],"invoiceable_action":[],"article_type":[],"coauthors":[{"id":17,"display_name":"Zoey Handley","user_login":"Adzuken","user_nicename":"adzuken"}],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGun*Nac is a weird and friendly shoot-'em-up that belongs in your NES – Destructoid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gun*Nac is one of the best shoot-'em-ups you may have never played. 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She got her start blogging with the community in 2018 and hit the front page soon after. Normally found exploring indie experiments and retro libraries, she does her best to remain chronically uncool.","url":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/author\/adzuken\/"}]}},"apple_news_notices":[],"raw_content":"Gun*Nac is a worthwhile trip to Iota Synthetica The NES wasn\u2019t particularly well suited for vertical shoot-\u2019em-ups with its sprite limits and slow processor, but somehow a lot of notable titles landed on it. Life Force, Crisis Force, 1943; the games worked better than they had any right to. The one that intrigues me the most is a more obscure title called Zanac. Developed by Compile, I absolutely suck at it. It was slick and used a scaling difficulty system that you had to carefully manage lest you become overwhelmed. Their follow-up to that went in a completely different direction. It was Gun*Nac and it ditched its scaling difficulty system in favor of insanity. These days, Compile is best known for creating Puyo Puyo, but they have a pretty diverse portfolio that includes Golvelius, The Guardian Legend, and the not terrible Sega versions of Ghostbusters. Gun*Nac was what drew me to the developer. I actually bought it back in the days when I was collecting retro games because I was poor and they were a cheaper alternative. It\u2019s funny, because now I couldn\u2019t afford Gun*Nac since it\u2019s exceeded $550 on the collector\u2019s market. I bought it largely on a whim, but it instantly shot up the ranks to be one of my favorite NES titles. Released in 1991, Gun*Nac feels like a kitchen sink approach to the shoot-\u2019em-up genre. Did you ever fully upgrade your weapons in Raiden? It\u2019s an amazing experience as everything gets wrecked almost the moment it gets on screen. It\u2019s almost too much, but it\u2019s the equivalent of having a pinball machine screaming \u201cJackpot! Jackpot! Jackpot!\u201d at you. It presses this spot in your grey matter that makes you feel like the big cheese. That\u2019s Gun*Nac. You\u2019re never far from feeling unstoppable. The narrative of Gun*Nac involves an incredibly materialistic society suddenly having its products turned against it. This means robot bunnies, apparently. The levels are eclectic. There\u2019s a logging industry level, banking, battleships. Enemies are similarly varied with everything from totems to coins flying at you. There\u2019s a lot of them, too. Gun*Nac has a weirdly forward-thinking option in its menu that allows you to prioritize speed or flicker. You can cut down sprite flicker if you\u2019re all right with some slowdown, but if you\u2019re okay with the odd flashing enemies, you can opt for a more solid framerate. There are five types of main weapons and four types of bombs. Both can be upgraded. The weapons deal different flavors of destruction, but remember which number is which. Collecting the same number upgrades your weapon to the next level. Thankfully, if you crash into a different number, it changes your weapon but leaves the power level the same, thus saving us from heartbreak. The bombs are upgraded in the same way. Each one is shown as a letter, and collecting two of the same consecutively upgrades your bomb. Just be careful, upgraded bombs use more ammunition. They all clear the screen to begin with, but doubling their power deals more damage to bosses, increases their coverage, and extends their duration. I\u2019ve got my favorite weapons. Number 4, the flamethrower. Once upgraded, it splits into three huge beams and protects you from flanking projectiles (it doesn\u2019t screenshot well). The only downside is that when you hit a metallic object, its automatic rapid-fire makes the high-pitched \u201cting\u201d noise into an all-out squeal. As for bombs, that goes to W, the water bomb. I don\u2019t know, I just like its coverage. Any way you go, you\u2019ll be filling the screen with destruction in no time. It\u2019s not impossible to be hit, however. Gun*Nac isn\u2019t the hardest shoot-\u2019em-up I\u2019ve played, but it isn\u2019t the easiest, either. Taking a hit doesn\u2019t kill you outright, but it destroys your wings and reduces your weapon power. You can get them back by either dying or collecting a wing power-up, but you\u2019ll be rebuilding your arsenal. It just joyfully lets you load yourself up. Even in later levels where there\u2019s constant pressure, it\u2019s entirely possible to max yourself out. In between missions, you visit a shop where you can spend money to buy further upgrades or build a cache of bombs gifted to you in future levels. It\u2019s not that other shoot-\u2019em-ups don\u2019t want you to beef up your fighter, it\u2019s just that Gun*Nac understands that it\u2019s at its best when you\u2019re annihilating everything on screen. Gun*Nac holds a special place in my heart. It hits a sweet spot, being weird, fun, but still challenging. It\u2019s a friendly shooter, but it isn\u2019t afraid to kill you. It\u2019s Twinbee while also being Gradius. Beyond that, it\u2019s also really solid. It maybe doesn\u2019t surprise in the way Crisis Force does, but it\u2019s more energetic than many others on the system. It doesn\u2019t carry that quarter-sucking stench, either. The first few levels are a breeze, then it starts upping the pressure, and, really, that should be how goes. It\u2019s also technically capable if the flicker vs. framerate option didn\u2019t make that obvious. It knows how to go big on a console that couldn\u2019t usually handle it very well. Compared to the next generation of shoot-\u2019em-ups, it doesn\u2019t feel like too many sacrifices were made. We still have big weapons and screen-clearing bombs. There are still large bosses and lots of enemies. But what I want to stress is that Gun*Nac is just fun. It doesn\u2019t ask too much of you when it comes to learning its ins and outs. There's no overreach in trying to be smarter than you or demand that you put in a lot of time to make progress past. It challenges but is more focused on entertaining. Not many shoot-\u2019em-ups of the era -- a time dominated by arcade ports -- can make that claim. For other retro titles you may have missed, click right here!","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Banner_Gun-Nac.png?fit=1739%2C978","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278211"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278211"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289500,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278211\/revisions\/289500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278211"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=278211"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=278211"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=278211"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=278211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}