Wireframe - #25 - 2019

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Compile \^ Developer Profile

Zanac X Zanac

PlayStation 2001

The 2D shoot-’em-up was already on the wane

by the 2000s – and so too were Compile, sadly

• but this late PSone compilation of the original
  game and a modern sequel, Zanac Neo, was
  a welcome throwback to the company’s past,
  with pre-rendered graphics and the now-familiar
  fast-paced action. Time had marched on, but
  Compile’s lasers were still blazing.

GG Aleste
Sega Game Gear 1991
It was never as popular as the Game Boy,
but Sega’s handheld still got one of the best
handheld shooters of the nineties in GG Aleste:
far from a lazy port of the Master System
version, this was an all-new entry with its own
level designs, soundtrack, and more of the
surreal boss designs that enlivened Compile’s
earlier entry, Musha Aleste.

Ghostbusters

Sega Mega Drive 1990

Compile went uncredited on the title screen,

but this was one of several games the studio

developed for Sega in the eighties and nineties.

It’s a simple yet fun platformer, and the ghost-

busting mechanic (you have to zap larger

spooks and suck them into your Ghost Trap)

makes this one of the better games based

on the movie.

Puyo Puyo
Various 1991
Although far from the first tile-matching game,
Puyo Puyo’s two-player competitive mode
proved irresistible in Japan, as opponents vied
to pull off combos and fill the neighbouring
play area with ‘garbage’ blocks. With sequels
and spin-offs released almost every year since
1991, Puyo Puyo is Compile’s most lasting
contribution to gaming.

Guru Logi Champ

Game Boy Advance 2001

Compile’s last commercial release saw the

studio pack away the fast-scrolling and

explosions for a surprisingly sweet-natured

puzzler that involves firing blocks at a grid to

make simple shapes. It’s a little like Picross, but

with the pace of Puzzle Bobble. The cutscenes

• featuring a society of cartoon ducks – are
  unbearably cute.

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