Zanac/Special Weapons

You can only have one Special Weapon at a time. Collecting the same weapon upgrade multiple times will sometimes make the weapon more powerful. If you collect a different upgrade you will switch to that weapon instead.

Just like when you collect a POWER CHIP, the Zanac flashes to indicate temporary invulnerability whenever you collect a Special Weapon bonus.

Special Weapon upgrades either appear in a target on the ground or are dropped by WEAPON DROPs. In general, you will want to concentrate on Fire 0 unless you can pick up Fire 7.

All weapon names are taken directly from the Zanac manual.

Fire 0 - All Range Weapon
Description: This is your default weapon when you start the game or after you die. It is actually reasonably powerful, especially because it is the only weapon you can fire behind you or directly to the left or right.
 * Initially, it fires a single bolt of energy forward or in the direction you are steering with the D-Pad.
 * Collect a second Fire 0 and you will fire twin bolts of energy instead of one.
 * Collect a third Fire 0 in a row without collecting any other Special Weapon and the width of fire will increase.

This weapon works against ground and air targets but it will not destroy CHIPs.

Fire 1 - Straight Crusher
Description: A ball of energy shoots straight forward from your ship until it leaves the screen. You can only have one ball of energy on the screen at any time. A counter displays the number of shots you have left. Each time you collect Fire 1 the counter will refill, but if you collect it 4 times the ball of energy will become huge -- easily twice the size of your Zanac.

In general, this is a poor weapon except at its super-sized maximum. Even then, Fire 7 is still much better. It will destroy just about anything, even CHIPs.

This weapon works against both ground and air targets, even CHIPs.

Fire 2 - Field Shutter
Description: A shield protects a portion of your ship from all attack. Can not be shut off and is powerless against targets on the ground. A counter will indicate how many more hits the shield can take but the lower the counter the less of your ship is protected. Conversely, collecting more Fire 2 upgrades will increase the counter and area protected.

For some reason, the System really, really hates Fire 2. Collecting it will make aggression levels shoot upwards and you can expect to be assaulted by DEGIDs after picking up even a single one. Because of this and the fact that it leaves you with the Conventional Weapon as your only offensive weapon, it is mostly useless and should be ignored in favor of other weapons.

To its credit, the Field Shutter destroys CHIPs. It is useless against targets on the ground, however, including bases.

Fire 3 - Circular
Description: A ball of energy circulates around your ship, destroying everything it touches but leaving everywhere else vulnerable. A counter ticks down each second the weapon is running until it runs out and returns you to Fire 0. Collecting another Fire 3 will upgrade the counter and potentially upgrade to a double version of the same weapon.

This is only marginally better than Fire 2, but eventually a ship or bullet will sneak past your perimeter and destroy you making it a less than desirable weapon.

The Circular is powerless against objects on the ground, but will destroy anything in the air including CHIPs.

Fire 4 - Vibrator
Description: Don't look at me, that's what the manual calls it! When you activate Fire 4 a ball of energy about the size of your ship travels forward a fixed distance, then begins oscillating horizontally across a portion of the screen. A counter displays the number of hits it can take before disappearing. You get 60 hits each time you fire Fire 4; each hit makes the field of energy a little smaller, much like Fire 2.

Unfortunately, while the weapon is active you cannot move it or fire another one. This means that only a fixed portion of the screen is protected from incoming enemies for any portion of time and it can do nothing against enemies that attack from the side or the rear of your ship. You just have to dodge and use Conventional Weapons on the rest. When your 60 seconds are up you can put the Vibrator in a more useful part of the screen but you will probably get killed first.

It does work against CHIPs and objects on the ground.

Fire 5 - Rewinder
Description: The Rewinder shoots a ball of energy upwards from your ship a fixed distance, then the ball falls back until it hits the Zanac at which point you can fire again. It moves with your ship as you steer left and right but is always directly in front of it.
 * Initially, it fires a single ball of energy from the center of your ship.
 * Collect a second Fire 5 and you will have twin orbs that shoot from the wings.
 * With a third Fire 5, your width of fire widens.
 * Collect a fourth Fire 5 and instead of a Rewinder your ship will shoot a powerful laser from the center of your craft..

Fire 5 will destroy CHIPs and Ground Targets. It is marginally useful against bases but is otherwise likely to get you killed unless you can upgrade to its maximum level.

Fire 6 - Plasma Flash
Description: A single ball of energy travels from your ship. When it contacts an aerial enemy the entire screen is cleared of everything other than Special Weapon upgrades, just like when you use an ERASER. A counter displays the number of shots remaining before you revert to Fire 0. Each additional Fire 6 collected resets your counter.

It does not affect targets on the ground at all. Fire 6 is kind of useful to get you through the occasional patch of dense enemy craft, but you are better off sticking to another Special Weapon and using ERASERs instead.

Fire 7 - High Speed
Description: The best Special Weapon in the game! A rapid fire stream of energy balls shoots from the front of the ship. It veers a little bit left and right as you steer in those directions but does not shoot directly to the sides or to the rear. A counter displays the number of seconds of continuous fire left. Collecting another Fire 7 will reset the counter to 200, but if you collect four Fire 7s in a row you will be upgraded to High Speed's maximum level - the ball of energy you shoot becomes huge, easily twice the size of your ship (the same size as Fire 1's maximum level).

This works against Ground Targets and CHIPs. This is my favorite weapon and at maximum I love to watch it turn enemy craft into hamburger meat.

When you use your Special Weapon to shoot a HAPPY FACE, any counters will get reset to maximum and you will automatically be upgraded to the weapon's most powerful level as well as racking up some points. Obviously, this only works with weapons that can hit targets on the ground.