A wacky and colorful Japanese vertical shooter by Compile. Absurd weapons, zany enemies, pervasive humor. Technically excellent and visually inventive. One of NES's great forgotten shooters.
Your verdict
Category
Shooter1 player7+
Description
Zany vertical shoot-'em-up featuring funny animals and objects battling in space. Published by Compile, released in the USA in 1991. Top-down view with varied power-ups and unusual enemies and massive humorous bosses. A unique and colorful Compile vertical shooter on Famicom.
The American Gun Nac is among the priciest NES shooters around, a casualty of a late 1991 ASCII release as attention swung to the Super Nintendo. The tiny print run explains its dizzying sealed prices, unrelated to the far more common Famicom version. This end-of-life scarcity, paired with Compile's prestige, makes it a prime target for hunters of complete NES shmups.
An underrated gem
Crafted by Compile, masters of the shooter, this vertical scroller unleashes a goofy menagerie of giant rabbits and belligerent vegetables with a joyfully generous helping of power-ups. Kept in Japan, it stayed quiet against the genre's heavyweights. Fast and bursting with humor, it's a treat for fans of colorful, hyperactive shmups.
Is Gun Nac still worth playing in 2026?
A zany vertical shoot 'em up from Compile, Gun Nac blends snappy action and an offbeat world full of animals, vegetables and funny objects thrown into an absurd space war. The evolving weapon system, the careful scoring and Compile's shmup mastery make it a dense, readable and terribly enjoyable title. The humour and the generosity of the content still appeal. For a fan of retro shooters or of Compile's craft, the title keeps a remarkable intensity and freshness.
