Back in the day these were pretty much frowned upon. Competitions specify that power allways be related to loading effort - thence pneumatic and band guns (and way back - spring guns). The co2 guns were very powerful - but had all the faults you mentioned. Another uber gun that came along was the SMG - which worked off a .22 cal cap - these were incredibly powerful and models were even made with rotating barrels - holding up to four spears.
Basically if you want a compact gun with lots of power Pneumatics seem to be the way to go. The shorter ones do not necessarily have much range or accuracy - but they can generate alot of power with a heavy shaft over a short distance. The nemrod Torpedero I had as a kid would blow throw both sides of the average carp at about a meter and a half. And carp are very heavy, solid fish with large, thick scales. That gun was a mid-handle design about two feet long. I also had a smaller Mares gun that was very short - maybe 18 inches or so - also very powerful but hard to aim as most of the weight was behind the handle.
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