February 2019 Shmup Club - Zanac

[MetalFRO]

Making progress in Zanac! I managed to reach Stage 6 last night, and got my highest score so far...
[img width=700 height=525]https://i.imgur.com/AMf6f2n.jpg[/img]

[Crabmaster2000]

Did a little refresher run and got to stage 7:

[img width=640 height=480]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7846/47175689021_09c837b0fa_z.jpg[/img]

Second run was much better, but I chocked multiple times on the last 2 stages and blew some great powerups. Ended my run on stage 12 at 3,301,420

[img width=640 height=480]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7841/47175682801_80847b5a96_z.jpg[/img]

This jerk ended up taking my last few lives. He's a huge pain and I need to figure out a better method for him:

[img width=640 height=480]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7890/32233913107_306b8a6415_z.jpg[/img]

This game is so much fun. I forgot how great the soundtrack is too, really lively and upbeat.

[Crabmaster2000]

Been listening to the title screen music on repeat for the last hour. Really like this song a lot:

[MetalFRO]

Dang, Crabby, you're a beast! I forgot to post this, but I managed to get my highest score so far on stream, and had a decent run going up to Stage 4:
[img width=700 height=525]https://i.imgur.com/7dGnfS5.jpg[/img]

I still haven't managed to get past Stage 6, though, and usually I can't even make it that far. It's crazy how quickly your fortunes can change in the game. Just out of curiosity, which weapon do you typically use?

[Crabmaster2000]

One of my favorite things about the game is that I feel like all of the power ups are fun to play with and there are no stinkers. Given a choice 7 is my favorite, but after a death I'm happy to grab any number that is offered to me and focus more on getting my main guns powered up rather than focus on my secondary weapon. The default 0 is even quite good especially when the enemies that show up from the front/back and close together on you appear. It's one of the best for those guys.

I probably avoid 2 and 4 the most then 5, all the rest I strive get and power up. 5 is amazing on bosses though so if it's late in the level and I have a choice I'll go for 5.

[MetalFRO]

I probably avoid 2 and 4 the most then 5, all the rest I strive get and power up. 5 is amazing on bosses though so if it's late in the level and I have a choice I'll go for 5.

I was looking up the weapons, and 5 actually turns into lasers, once you power up beyond level 2. So I'm going to try and use those. I also generally go for 7, and I also quite like the 3, because of the barrier it creates. It gives you a nice balance between offensive and defensive capabilities. In a pinch, the 0 weapon works well enough, when powered up a bit. 2 makes you a target, and unless you dodge like a madman, it's hard to survive that very long. 4 isn't overly useful, and 1 isn't great unless it's fully powered up. 6 is cool, but hard to hold onto, in order to make it fully useful. Apparently, at full power, 6 converts all on-screen enemies to 1ups!

[MetalFRO]

Streaming Zanac again on Friday night, and ended up getting my highest score yet again, reaching Stage 6. Slowly but surely, I'm improving!
[img width=700 height=525]https://i.imgur.com/yZvCX6a.jpg[/img]

[MetalFRO]

Anyone else have any thoughts to share, or scores to record? I'm compiling the outline for the upcoming podcast, and would like to have a few more community thoughts, if possible. Thanks to everyone for participating, and hopefully we can close out this short month strong!

[MetalFRO]

On stream last night, and I managed to hit my secondary goal: 1.5 million points! 1,546,410 points, to be exact
[img width=700 height=525]https://i.imgur.com/NMkMLda.jpg[/img]

[EZ Racer]

Never really could get good enough to get a solid score to post. I'm glad I got this and started playing it, but more for the fact I can see where the development of some other Compile shooters like Gun Nac and Guardian Legend got their influence.

I mentioned it on one of MetalFro's streams, but it's hard to make consistent progress. In all my attempts, I never got a sense of being able to build on what I had learned from previous attempts. Especially with the harder games, you need that sense of slow accomplishment, and I never got that with this game. While the AI set up in Zanac was initially interesting, it also took away the sense of being pulled in to keep playing and just get a little farther, because it always was a bit of a crapshoot in just how far I would get on any given run.

Zanac is one to me worth looking at from a game history perspective, in that you can see how it influenced the genre, especially within its own company. That said, it's probably not one I'll visit very often in the future.