Zanac/Secrets and tricks

NES Stage Select
To select any stage to start on, press the Reset button on the NES 13 times, then press. You will be able to select the stage you wish to start at by pressing or. Choose CONTINUE once you have selected the stage you like, and press to begin.

Continue on Area 11 and 12
To continue from Area 11 or 12, you must press and hold, and  when you choose CONTINUE. Alternatively, you can press then  on the second controller, then choose CONTINUE with the first controller.

Alternative Game Over music
Hold down just before GAME OVER appears and you will hear a different GAME OVER theme than the usual one.

Alternative Area 10 music
Hold down after destroying a fortress in Area 10. Music will reset when destroying next fortress.

Alternative Ship
To use a different ship, press and hold, and  as you press  to begin a new game. The new ship looks different but behaves identically to the original Zanac ship.

Sound Test
Press and hold and  when you turn on the NES. You will reach a sound test. Press or  to choose a particular song or sound effect, then press  or  to hear it.

Hidden message
This works in both versions, except that the waiting time in NES version is shorter.

During the ending, after the fairy displays "Created by Compile" and stops at bottom of screen, wait for a while until she moves again and stops at end of above line. At this time, press +  on both controllers at the same time, and a hidden message will be revealed. See this page for message content.

Instant Blue Lander
At the start of the game, do not fire your standard gun. When the first Sart appears, fire at it with your Special Weapon. It will turn into a Blue Lander. You can collect the Blue Lander for an extra life, or you can shoot at it until it becomes a Red Lander. Red Landers give you an extra life as well, but they also increase the rate of your automatic fire. See the items page for more information.

Instant Level 5 Guns
Shortly after the game begins, a trio of Boxes will appear after you have destroy 2 Duster rocks. If you are playing the game for the first time since turning your system on, it's a safe bet that the middle box contains a Power Chip. If you ram into this box, you will automatically upgrade your weapons from level 0 to level 5. If you are starting a new game after a previous game, there's no guarantee that the Power Chip will be contained in the middle box. Which box contains a Power Chip, is determined by your score. When you destroy 2 yellow Dusters at the start of a game, it's guaranteed that the middle one contains a Power Chip. See the items page for more information.

Box roulette
Knowing the contents of 3 boxes will help you to upgrade your Zanac more quickly. Boxes that come in sets of 3, come in groups as follow:


 * 1 Empty Box, 1 Power Chip Box, 1 Lead Box.
 * 2 Lead Boxes, 1 Power Chip Box.
 * 3 Empty Boxes
 * 1 Lead Box, 2 Power Chip Boxes. Lead box is in the middle in this case.

Knowing the contents of 2 will usually determine the contents of the third box so you can determine if it's safe to ram into or not.

Numerous sets of Boxes
Boxes set in three appear after killing a certain number of enemies. Since enemy bullets count as enemies too, you can place yourself in front of Mortar to destroy its stream of Sigs. Your starting weapon is enough to hold the large amount Sigs back. However, this causes numerous sets of Boxes to appear.