Zanac

Everyone said computers weren't meant for arcades. Zanac proved otherwise — and as early as 1986, when PCs were still being looked at like machines for spreadsheets and text. Developers from Fujitsu decided to try a vertical shooter that would compete with consoles while running on an ordinary computer with a sound card.

It's simple — you control a ship on the screen and shoot at waves of enemies coming from above. You collect power-ups which rain down endlessly, and gradually expand your fire from a modest beam to an almost unstoppable barrage. The game behaves boldly, with no shortage of ammunition, and leaves competitors minimal room for maneuver.

The controls keep things simple — arrows and space bar, nothing more. On screen there's such chaos of enemies, flashes and explosions that you easily get lost in it. The screen edges aren't particularly noticeable, so without experience you'll crash your ship quite easily. I'd like to say that's part of the charm, but it's really self-destructive awkwardness.

What Zanac brought isn't revolutionary, but within PC arcades of the eighties it was an interesting attempt. The graphics are bright and colorful just like the sound — beeping and crackling from the sound card, which you get used to after a while. What remains is a fairly solid shooter that behaves confidently and without detours.

Today it looks like a digital archive piece. But when you try it in a browser, you'll see what appealed to players back then — simplicity, clarity, no unnecessary complications. Zanac won't give you anything revolutionary, but those who remember monochrome monitors on PCs will appreciate what a step forward that was.