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Reader review by whelkman
May 26, 2008 From the sharp minds of Compile come Zanac (1986/1987), a vertically scrolling shooter. Amidst a world of other games of the same genre, Zanac manages to outshine many of them, proving to be a strong contender with a unique challenge system, great weapons controls, and excellent graphics and sound.Thousands of years ago a life form created ''The System'', a self-perpetuating artificial intelligence capable of great growth. The System grew long after the life form's death, eventually covering the entire universe. The System was not without purpose, however. It could grant great rewards for those who correctly unlocked its secrets, but those who incorrectly tampered with it would receive brutal punishment.
Eventually, a human attempts to gain The System's secrets but fails; soon after, The System powers up its weapons and begins attacking. Realizing their mistake, the humans attempt to gain proper access in hopes of shutting down The System. Eventually they succeed, but it was too late for The System would not heed the humans' instructions. Defenseless against The System's awesome fire power, the humans were quickly obliterated to the point of extinction.
The few remaining survivors would not go down with a fight; they had a plan. The System was equipped to fight an armada, but its effectiveness against a single, powerful foe was unknown. Taking a gamble that a lone heavily equipped craft might stand a chance, the 256th Riot Fleet builds the AFX-6502 ZANAC.
In order to defeat The System, the Zanac fighter must travel through twelve systems, defeating fortresses, mini-bosses, and other minions of The System in each. Each system has different amounts of fortresses and other mini-bosses. Shooting different types of enemies earns points toward the total score, and at regular intervals an extra Zanac is awarded. Upon reaching a fortress, scrolling halts, a timer starts, and you must destroy the fortress before the timer reaches zero, lest you forfeit the bonus points.
Assisting Zanac are eight different ''power chips'' (special weapons) received from ground silos, fortress stockpiles, and random ships sympathetic to humans. Additionally, Zanac can power its main blaster with circular power chips received from floating boxes. Each special weapon has different attributes, rules of use, and usage allowed, and collecting additional units of the same weapon increases the power and effectiveness of that weapon.
Zanac will never win the story of the year award, but at least it tells me exactly why I must fight legions of enemies by myself. Being a shooter, story line is not paramount, but the attempt at one makes The System seem all the more devious of a foe, a true irony considering its artificial nature. On a side note, I'd like to point out the amusing choice of 6502 for a ship number as that is the model of the NES' processor.
The fighter is agile and responsive, and weapons are both interesting and effective. The hit detection is solid and logical, and the general rules of the game are clear. Very few times did I think the game was ''cheating'' or that shot really didn't hit me, traits crucial to shooter games. Wonderful control and mechanics overall. The extra weapons are a bonus as well; it's fun trying out different types of weapons in different situations, though accidentally picking up wanted special weapons by accident is annoying since it erases whatever existing special weapon currently in use.
What truly separates Zanac from other shooters is its ''adjustable'' challenge level. The System monitors your progress and adjusts its attack strategy accordingly. Weaker weapons and conservative shots cause The System to hold back, while constantly shooting and more powerful weapons trigger more aggressive attack waves. Not only does the game's artificial intelligence regulate the quantity of enemies, types and strengths vary as well depending on your attack strategy and weaponry.
Like most shooters, however, you're better off possessing the most powerful weaponry possible. While the computer becomes more aggressive, more powerful weapons yield more destructive power and allow more mistakes on the behalf of the player. The game becomes much less forgiving after losing a life as the game goes on, toning down its challenge less and less. Die once on a later boss and prepare to lose more twenty lives. Literally.
Bosses in Zanac are interesting and fun but carry little variety. Mostly they are six or so different kinds of turrets arranged in different orders. Some bosses are even repeats, adding to the ''blah'' factor. Boss difficulty peaks early on, and stages become more difficult by introduction of new more aggressive and powerful stage foes. Zanac's challenge as a whole is medium, and the average player should be able to beat it in a few tries. Visually, Zanac is quite appealing, with distinctive landscapes, enemies, and weapon shots. The Zanac fighter itself is somewhat average, but plenty of thought went into the rest of the game's graphics. Like most NES titles, landscapes are tiled, which means backgrounds look repetitive, but Zanac is still well above the norm. Animations are equally impressive, with spinning shots, nifty explosions, and a neat ''warp'' sequence at the end of each stage. Finally, Zanac uses awesome fonts, with a smooth ''tech'' font and a shaded regular font.
A problem with many NES games is that the music is written in a way where it would sound wonderful if performed by an orchestra but sounds terrible when processed by the NES' comparatively primitive sound chip. Zanac takes care of that with music suitable for electronic processing; most of the music is very good and suitable for a futuristic title. Even though most of the tunes are only approximately thirty seconds long, I found them quite catchy and suitable for looping. The sound effects are also quite well done, with varied effects for different shots and explosions. I especially like the effects for enemy shots.
Perhaps the most amusing extra is Zanac's manual. Infamous for its typos and confusing translations, the manual is a hilarious read. Wading through the garbage, the manual is actually a worthwhile read as it contains hints, strategies, and insights into how the artificial intelligence responds. While printed on high quality glossy paper, however, the manual's bestiary pictures are grainy and monochrome. Otherwise the manual is short, but informative.
Zanac is a fun play. Though often repetitious, beating up the bosses is fun, and the challenge is at a level where you don't have to spend weeks just to get past the first few levels. With the adjustable artificial intelligence and neat special weapons, replays are imminent. However, typical of shooters, Zanac becomes monotonous after enough sessions, but this does not stop Zanac from being well above the average shooter, and fans of classic space ship action should most certainly check this title out.
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