Shawn Holbrook plays Gun-Nac - Part 1 of 4

Once again, it's time to play another Nick Arcade classic! This time around, we play the wacky, anime-ish vertical shmup Gun-Nac!

Far away in the universe, there is a nation that consists of a sun and seven whole planets. A threat has caused everything - plants, animals and objects - to attack everyone right out of the factory. You play a space police commander known as Gun-Nac, who is summoned to investigate all the planets and find the threat.

Area 1

There are a lot of weird enemies around here. Carrots, meteors, globes that shoot at you from the ground, robot bunnies and volcanic craters all want you destroyed.

The four letters change the type of bombs that you have while giving you a bomb. F is the default and gives you a circle of fire, W is a water bomb, B is a long, thin tornado that goes back and forth throughout the screen and T is a group of lightning bolts that strike at angles across the screen. Be careful as you use your bombs, because you won't be able to use your weapons power-ups while they're in use, leaving you only with your default gun temporarily until the bomb stops striking.

The numbers are your upgrades. 1 is a Triple Angle Shot, 2 is a bunch of spheres, 3 is a set of crescent-shaped shots that home in, 4 is a flamethrower and 5 is a laser beam. You'll also find P capsules as a red ship upgrade that power up your special weapons even further, allowing you to shoot more projectiles. The red ship upgrade makes your ship bigger while also adding more offensive power and an extra hit. You'll need the wing (the red ship upgrade) to go past weapon level 3.

Keep collecting the same weapon number to power it up. Remember, you need the wing to go past Power Level 3. The maximum is 8. Also the bigger ship upgrade is your turbo level. The highest level is 5.

If a bomb or special weapon is blue instead of red, it will cycle between all the choices. You can let it do this until it cycles to the one that you want.

The flashing bomb immediately destroys any enemies currently on the screen.

The blue guys drop P capsules and weapons when shot, while the red guys can also drop money bags. You'll definitely need the money bags for upgrades at the store you'll visit between areas.

The small moon that follows you around is the mini boss. Simply fly around it and keep holding the fire button. If you have the homing crescents, this is slightly easier, as you'll also be able to destroy some of the bombs that it shoots out at you. The moon can only be destroyed when it is open and firing at you.

The boss here is a giant mecha bunny. It just stands there while it sends smaller clones of itself and shoots carrot missiles at you, but if you've stuck with the Homing Crescents and upgraded your ship a couple of times, this is really easy as long as you don't get hit and keep holding the fire button. You can only damage the giant bunny while its eyes are opened, but once again, if you have the Homing Crescents, you won't have to worry too much about having to aim one of your shots to damage it.

Area 2

This area takes place on a volcanic planet. You'll be attacked by volcanoes, cinnamon rolls and giant candles that shoot bombs at you, just to name a few of the enemies that are here.

The Water Bomb is probably the best type of bomb to use in this area, as you can take out groups of volcanoes out with ease.

The mini-boss is some weird looking tank that rains missiles at you. Shoot at it as you move away from all the missiles. Once again, a fully powered-up Homing Crescent attack helps save the day here.

The flashing oil substations that shoot fire upwards take a lot of abuse before they finally go down. It may look like they're impenetrable to your normal weapons, but they're not.


The boss here is some sort of angry gnome. Watch out for the water shots that it sends at you, and stay at the bottom of the screen. Be sure to move out of the way of both the gnome and the missiles that it sends at you.