Zanac
Encyclopedia
is an arcade
-style shoot 'em up
video game designed by Compile
and published in Japan by Pony Canyon
and in North America by FCI
.
It was released for the MSX
computer, the Family Computer Disk System, the Nintendo Entertainment System
, and for the Virtual Console
. It was reworked for the MSX2 computer as Zanac Ex and for the PlayStation as Zanac X Zanac. Players fly a lone starfighter
, dubbed the AFX-6502 Zanac, through twelve levels; their goal is to destroy the System—a part-organic, part-mechanical entity bent on destroying Mankind.
Zanac was developed by main core developers of Compile, including Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani, Koji "Janus" Teramoto, and Tadayuki "Jemini" Hirono. All of these developers went on to make other popular similarly-based games such as The Guardian Legend
, Blazing Lazers
, and the Puyo Puyo
series. The game is known for its intense and fast-paced gameplay, level of difficulty, and music which seems to match the pace of the game. It has been praised for its unique adaptive artificial intelligence
, in which the game automatically adjusts the difficulty level according to the player's skill level, rate of fire and the ship's current defensive status/capability.
s, space station
s, and outer space
and through an armada
of enemies comprising the defenses of the game's main antagonist—the "System." The player must fight through twelve levels and destroy the System and its defenses. The objective is to shoot down enemies and projectiles and accumulate points. Players start with three lives, and they lose a life if they get hit by an enemy or projectile. After losing a life, gameplay continues with the player reappearing on the screen and losing all previously accumulated power-ups; the player remains temporarily invincible for a moment upon reappearing on the screen. The game ends when all the player's lives have been lost or after completing the twelfth and final area. However, the player can earn 1-up
s (extra lives) throughout the game by accumulating high point scores. Zanac has a continue option which allows players to restart the game from the level in which they lost all their lives.
The player operates a rapid-fire main cannon, which can be upgraded by collecting power-up
s found in blue boxes that periodically descend from the top of the screen. As the main cannon's power level is upgraded, the number of bullets fired from the ship as well as their speed increases. In addition, the player operates a specialty weapon that is separate from the main cannon. There are eight different specialty weapons, each represented by differently-numbered power-ups. The player can change the type of specialty weapon equipped by collecting a differently-numbered power-up or can upgrade their current specialty weapon by collecting a numbered power-up that matches their current weapon. These weapons range from directional bullets to shields to indestructible projectiles. Players lose all accumulated power-ups if they lose a life.
Enemies in Zanac include meteors
, various bullet-shooting enemy aircraft, bullet-resistant disks, ground turrets, and reconnaissance planes
. The bosses
consist of stationary fortresses consisting entirely of ground turrets. The player must destroy all these turrets within a specified time limit to score bonus points. Every stage has one or more of these stationary fortresses. In addition, large enemy ships acting as "mini-bosses" appear throughout the game. These ships are more resistant to the player's weaponry; all bullets inflict minor damage and are repelled off the mini-bosses, which change color as they become more damaged.
The distinguishing aspect of Zanacs gameplay is its unique enemy artificial intelligence
, called the "Automatic Level of Difficulty Control" or ALC. The ALC measures the System's aggressiveness and the game's difficulty depending on the actions of the player, such as attack pattern and skill level. The ALC increases for experts but decreases for inexperienced players. For instance, shooting the main cannon frequently, collecting power-ups, and failing to destroy bosses within the specified time limit increases the ALC, resulting in a greater number of tougher enemies appearing on screen. However, actions such as losing lives, starting a new level, or destroying reconnaissance planes reduces the ALC, resulting in fewer on-screen enemies.
The plot of Zanac revolves around the "System"—a device figuratively similar to Pandora's box
. The System was created millennia
ago by an unknown alien race. It contains boundless wisdom and knowledge, as well as vast destructive potential. If properly opened it would grant access to untold wisdom and technology, but if improperly accessed it would unleash almost unlimited destruction. Mankind attempted to access the System and failed, causing the System spread throughout space and to exert mass destruction on all forms of life, including the human race. Mankind then discovered how to properly access the knowledge and technology within the System, but could not shut its destructive expansion down because of its vast tactical systems.
Moreover, the defenses of the System are designed around destroying and overcoming entire fleets. Mankind hopes that a lone starfighter may be able to slip through and penetrate the defenses of the System, allowing such a ship to fight its way into the heart of the System and destroy it. The AFX-6502 Zanac, the most advanced starfighter ever produced, is launched on a desperate mission to fight its way to the heart of the System and shut it down.
computer by the Japanese video game company Compile
—the same company responsible for other games such as Blazing Lazers
, Devil's Crush
, and the Puyo Puyo
series. Compile then re-released the game for the MSX2 computer later that same year as Zanac Ex, which featured improved graphics and sound over the original MSX version. Zanac was then ported and heavily reworked again for release on the Family Computer Disk System in Japan on , and then in North America for the NES
in October 1987. The NES version was later re-released for Wii
's Virtual Console
service on and published by D4 Enterprise
. This version is identical to the NES version released in 1987.
Compile released a compilation titled Zanac X Zanac for Sony's PlayStation console in Japan on to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the original. This compilation features an updated version of Zanac—titled Zanac Neo—and three versions of the NES version of the game, including a version featuring enhanced graphics and sound. The game features two-player cooperative gameplay as well as a remix of the game's soundtrack.
Zanac, in retrospect, has been considered a unique shoot 'em up
game, combining gameplay elements from games such as Xevious
, especially with the extensive power-up system and vertical-scrolling gameplay that features both air and ground targets. Brett Alan Weiss of Allgame
praised Zanac, calling it an extremely fast-paced shooter in which the player is almost completely surrounded by enemy ships and bullets. He praises the game for its music which seems to flow along with the action of the game; he calls the music "at least as close as you can get to a Zen moment while playing a shooting game on the NES". Frank Provo of GameSpot
lauded Zanac for its difficulty level, its ability to handle many sprites on the screen without slowdown or other glitches, and its unique AI
, which placed this game in a sub-genre of its own. However, criticisms include mediocre and primitive music and sound, a steep learning curve in gameplay and difficulty level, and, most notably, presence of Engrish
in the game itself and in the game's instruction manual. In addition, Weiss says that enemies in Zanac, while fearsome, "don't have much personality".
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
-style shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
video game designed by Compile
Compile (software company)
Compile Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game company established on April 7, 1982, under the name Programmers-3. Founded by Masamitsu Niitani , they were famed for developing shooters and puzzle games such as Aleste and Puyo Puyo.Compile filed for bankruptcy and disbanded in 2003, but the franchise...
and published in Japan by Pony Canyon
Pony Canyon
is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...
and in North America by FCI
Fujisankei Communications International
Fujisankei Communications International, Inc. is the American arm of the Fujisankei Communications Group , an important Japanese media conglomerate of television and radio channels, magazine, newspaper, record and video game companies. The Fujisankei Communications Group owns about 100 companies,...
.
It was released for the MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
computer, the Family Computer Disk System, the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, and for the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
. It was reworked for the MSX2 computer as Zanac Ex and for the PlayStation as Zanac X Zanac. Players fly a lone starfighter
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
, dubbed the AFX-6502 Zanac, through twelve levels; their goal is to destroy the System—a part-organic, part-mechanical entity bent on destroying Mankind.
Zanac was developed by main core developers of Compile, including Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani, Koji "Janus" Teramoto, and Tadayuki "Jemini" Hirono. All of these developers went on to make other popular similarly-based games such as The Guardian Legend
The Guardian Legend
The Guardian Legend, known in Japan as , is a hybrid action-adventure/shoot 'em up video game developed by Compile for the Nintendo Entertainment System . It is the sequel to the 1986 MSX game Guardic, and was published and released in Japan by Irem in 1988, in North America by Brøderbund in 1989,...
, Blazing Lazers
Blazing Lazers
Blazing Lazers, known in Japan as , is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Hudson Soft and Compile. It was released in Japan on for the PC Engine, and it was released in North America in November 1989 for the TurboGrafx-16. It was later released on the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on...
, and the Puyo Puyo
Puyo Puyo
is the inaugural game in the Puyo Puyo series originally released in 1991 by Compile for the MSX2. Since its creation, it uses characters from . It was created by Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani, the founder of Compile, who was inspired by certain elements from the Tetris and Dr...
series. The game is known for its intense and fast-paced gameplay, level of difficulty, and music which seems to match the pace of the game. It has been praised for its unique adaptive artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, in which the game automatically adjusts the difficulty level according to the player's skill level, rate of fire and the ship's current defensive status/capability.
Gameplay
In Zanac, the player controls the spaceship AFX-6502 Zanac as it flies through various planetPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
s, space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
s, and outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
and through an armada
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
of enemies comprising the defenses of the game's main antagonist—the "System." The player must fight through twelve levels and destroy the System and its defenses. The objective is to shoot down enemies and projectiles and accumulate points. Players start with three lives, and they lose a life if they get hit by an enemy or projectile. After losing a life, gameplay continues with the player reappearing on the screen and losing all previously accumulated power-ups; the player remains temporarily invincible for a moment upon reappearing on the screen. The game ends when all the player's lives have been lost or after completing the twelfth and final area. However, the player can earn 1-up
1-up
1-up , pronounced "one up", is a term in console video gaming that commonly refers to an item that gives the player an extra life, to complete the game. In certain games, it is possible to receive multiple extra lives at once...
s (extra lives) throughout the game by accumulating high point scores. Zanac has a continue option which allows players to restart the game from the level in which they lost all their lives.
The player operates a rapid-fire main cannon, which can be upgraded by collecting power-up
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
s found in blue boxes that periodically descend from the top of the screen. As the main cannon's power level is upgraded, the number of bullets fired from the ship as well as their speed increases. In addition, the player operates a specialty weapon that is separate from the main cannon. There are eight different specialty weapons, each represented by differently-numbered power-ups. The player can change the type of specialty weapon equipped by collecting a differently-numbered power-up or can upgrade their current specialty weapon by collecting a numbered power-up that matches their current weapon. These weapons range from directional bullets to shields to indestructible projectiles. Players lose all accumulated power-ups if they lose a life.
Meteoroid
A meteoroid is a sand- to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar System. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth's atmosphere is called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star or falling star. If a meteoroid reaches the ground and survives impact, then it is called a meteorite...
, various bullet-shooting enemy aircraft, bullet-resistant disks, ground turrets, and reconnaissance planes
Reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...
. The bosses
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
consist of stationary fortresses consisting entirely of ground turrets. The player must destroy all these turrets within a specified time limit to score bonus points. Every stage has one or more of these stationary fortresses. In addition, large enemy ships acting as "mini-bosses" appear throughout the game. These ships are more resistant to the player's weaponry; all bullets inflict minor damage and are repelled off the mini-bosses, which change color as they become more damaged.
The distinguishing aspect of Zanacs gameplay is its unique enemy artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, called the "Automatic Level of Difficulty Control" or ALC. The ALC measures the System's aggressiveness and the game's difficulty depending on the actions of the player, such as attack pattern and skill level. The ALC increases for experts but decreases for inexperienced players. For instance, shooting the main cannon frequently, collecting power-ups, and failing to destroy bosses within the specified time limit increases the ALC, resulting in a greater number of tougher enemies appearing on screen. However, actions such as losing lives, starting a new level, or destroying reconnaissance planes reduces the ALC, resulting in fewer on-screen enemies.
Plot
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora , which contained all the evils of the world. When Pandora opened the jar, all its contents except for one item...
. The System was created millennia
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
ago by an unknown alien race. It contains boundless wisdom and knowledge, as well as vast destructive potential. If properly opened it would grant access to untold wisdom and technology, but if improperly accessed it would unleash almost unlimited destruction. Mankind attempted to access the System and failed, causing the System spread throughout space and to exert mass destruction on all forms of life, including the human race. Mankind then discovered how to properly access the knowledge and technology within the System, but could not shut its destructive expansion down because of its vast tactical systems.
Moreover, the defenses of the System are designed around destroying and overcoming entire fleets. Mankind hopes that a lone starfighter may be able to slip through and penetrate the defenses of the System, allowing such a ship to fight its way into the heart of the System and destroy it. The AFX-6502 Zanac, the most advanced starfighter ever produced, is launched on a desperate mission to fight its way to the heart of the System and shut it down.
History
Zanac was initially released in 1986 for the MSXMSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
computer by the Japanese video game company Compile
Compile (software company)
Compile Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game company established on April 7, 1982, under the name Programmers-3. Founded by Masamitsu Niitani , they were famed for developing shooters and puzzle games such as Aleste and Puyo Puyo.Compile filed for bankruptcy and disbanded in 2003, but the franchise...
—the same company responsible for other games such as Blazing Lazers
Blazing Lazers
Blazing Lazers, known in Japan as , is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Hudson Soft and Compile. It was released in Japan on for the PC Engine, and it was released in North America in November 1989 for the TurboGrafx-16. It was later released on the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on...
, Devil's Crush
Devil's Crush
Devil's Crush is a pinball video game developed by NAXAT Soft for the TurboGrafx-16. The second installment in the Crush Pinball series after Alien Crush, the game has an eerie occult theme with skulls, skeletons, and demons. It was later followed by Jaki Crush and Alien Crush Returns...
, and the Puyo Puyo
Puyo Puyo
is the inaugural game in the Puyo Puyo series originally released in 1991 by Compile for the MSX2. Since its creation, it uses characters from . It was created by Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani, the founder of Compile, who was inspired by certain elements from the Tetris and Dr...
series. Compile then re-released the game for the MSX2 computer later that same year as Zanac Ex, which featured improved graphics and sound over the original MSX version. Zanac was then ported and heavily reworked again for release on the Family Computer Disk System in Japan on , and then in North America for the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
in October 1987. The NES version was later re-released for Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service on and published by D4 Enterprise
D4 Enterprise
D4 Enterprise is a Japanese video game publisher currently specializing in content delivery services like Project EGG over the Internet. The company has also provided Neo Geo and MSX titles to the Virtual Console for the Nintendo Wii.-See also:...
. This version is identical to the NES version released in 1987.
Compile released a compilation titled Zanac X Zanac for Sony's PlayStation console in Japan on to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the original. This compilation features an updated version of Zanac—titled Zanac Neo—and three versions of the NES version of the game, including a version featuring enhanced graphics and sound. The game features two-player cooperative gameplay as well as a remix of the game's soundtrack.
Zanac, in retrospect, has been considered a unique shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
game, combining gameplay elements from games such as Xevious
Xevious
is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game by Namco, released in 1982. It was designed by Masanobu Endō. In the U.S., the game was manufactured and distributed by Atari. Xevious runs on Namco Galaga hardware. In Brazil the arcade cabinet was printed with the name 'COLUMBIA' for the game, while the...
, especially with the extensive power-up system and vertical-scrolling gameplay that features both air and ground targets. Brett Alan Weiss of Allgame
Allgame
Allgame is a commercial database of information about arcade games, video games and console manufacturers.Allgame is owned by All Media Guide, along with Allmusic and Allmovie....
praised Zanac, calling it an extremely fast-paced shooter in which the player is almost completely surrounded by enemy ships and bullets. He praises the game for its music which seems to flow along with the action of the game; he calls the music "at least as close as you can get to a Zen moment while playing a shooting game on the NES". Frank Provo of GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
lauded Zanac for its difficulty level, its ability to handle many sprites on the screen without slowdown or other glitches, and its unique AI
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, which placed this game in a sub-genre of its own. However, criticisms include mediocre and primitive music and sound, a steep learning curve in gameplay and difficulty level, and, most notably, presence of Engrish
Engrish
refers to unusual forms of English language usage by native speakers of some East Asian languages. The term itself relates to Japanese speakers' tendency to inadvertently substitute the English phonemes "R" and "L" for one another, because the Japanese language has one alveolar consonant in place...
in the game itself and in the game's instruction manual. In addition, Weiss says that enemies in Zanac, while fearsome, "don't have much personality".