Collection essentials #67: Gun-Nac (NES)

This is a Japanese cartridge shown in the photo, but this game did actually get an American release. But that version is rarer and obnoxiously expensive, so in that case sometimes people like me will just go with importing the cheaper Japanese version.

Gun-Nac is a “shoot ‘em up”, or “shmup” for short. This type of game is directly descended from Space Invaders, where you control what is usually a ship or plane of some kind shooting a limitless amount of bullets to gun down enemies, while dodging said enemies and their attacks. The genre has come a long way since Space Invaders. Most shmups have a scrolling background now, and let the player move in all four directions rather than just left and right. As you can imagine, shmups were a very popular arcade game genre due to their pick-up-and-play nature. (Though Gun-Nac here is a console exclusive)

You’re not going to see a lot of shmups among my NES essentials. This is largely because the console can have a bit of a hard time with them. A good shmup typically has a lot of action, lots of enemies, lots of bullets, and a fast pace. Trying to force that out of the NES can cause bad results. It can cause everything on the screen to flicker way too much, or can slow down the game to a crawl.

Which is what makes Gun-Nac so impressive. This is an outstanding shoot ‘em up that can compete with those that came on the consoles afterward, and somehow they made it work on the ol’ NES. Yes, there’s flickering, but the developers kept it under control so it doesn’t disrupt the experience too much. Gun-Nac has fun power-up weapons, quality level and boss design, and even a shop in between levels which you don’t often see in this genre. And if that weren’t impressive enough, the game is nice and long for its kind. For many shmups in this era, if you can get through it without dying (a tall task), the whole game will usually last roughly a half hour, but Gun-Nac is about double that, which means your shooting appetite will be nice and stuffed and you won’t be left wanting more. This game gets my vote for best shmup on the console, and this grants it “essential” status for the collection.