Shawn Holbrook plays Gun-Nac - Part 4 of 4

In the last two areas of the game, the locales take a rather strange turn for the...interestingly normal. Good lord, the developers are weird.

Area 7

This level looks a lot like something out of Gradius. Not only will those walls of fire kill you if you touch them, you'll see short wisps of flame as well as long columns of fire coming out of them, and sometimes the fringe fire can cover up nearly the entire screen at times. You'll also see sun-star like balls, fire worms and flames that arc up before coming straight down at you. The normal enemies here look a lot like light bulbs.

Not only is treading carefully recommended, but also having the ability to take two hits instead of one is preferred. This level can be unforgiving if you're not careful.

The red tiles are the nastiest enemy in this area, as it shoots a lot of projectiles in a circle-like pattern that covers many angles. You'll definitely want to consider them a high-priority take these down as soon as you can.

There's only one boss here, and it's some sort of flame moon that moves back and forth while shooting at you. If you have the Homing Crescent, he's deathly easy.

Area 8

This is the last level, so you'd better power up fully before you take this area on. When you leave the shop, you'll get an item that converts money bags into bombs. This is nice, as you won't be needing money anymore and you'll be collecting bombs a lot more easily if you've been collecting money bags out of habit.

The laser beams are really nasty. They'll move towards you and horizontally track, turning towards you as soon as you're next to them. Be on the move!

You'll face the giant moon from Area 1, the giant acorn from Area 4, and the tank from Area 2 before facing the final boss.

You'll finally face the boss: some sort of alien. It sends a bunch of turret tiles at you (which can easily be destroyed with the Water Bombs) before coming out through the floor and flying around. Shoot at it and avoid both the turret fire and the metal plates on the floor that come at you, and keep holding the Fire button at all times. Ditto when it hides underneath the floor where you can't hit it, as the tiles and turrets will keep flying at you.

Once you destroy it, you'll then take on the second form. It will try to shoot a bubble at you before a giant arm comes out of it. Use the Water Bombs on the arm, and keep holding down the Fire button. You want to take out the arm as soon as possible, as it shoots five small fireballs directly at your current location.

When you beat this thing, the nation is peaceful once again, and you'll be declared a national hero! Congratulations on playing this weird, quirky, underrated Nick Arcade classic!

Also, if you beat it on Expert, you'll be able to get a different ending.

Shawn Holbrook plays Gun-Nac - Part 3 of 4

As soon as you hear the music for Area 5, it's pretty clear that the people who developed this game were either really getting into the development of this game or on some really, really good weed. Either way, Area 5 is probably one of the most interesting thing I have ever seen in a video game...ever.

Area 5

Not only do we get some surf music, but trophies, giant safes, coins, piggy banks, nickles and large spikes sticking out of some of the walls all want us dead.

Also, the floor is made out of yen. How I noticed this, I don't even know. Don't even ask. I just looked at it long enough and noticed it looked like money, and here I am knowing it's yen.

The mini-boss is a Chinese Lucky Cat figurine. I kid you not. It sends coins at you from eight directions with a swipe of its paw, and then throws some coins forward. And it smiles the whole time. I swear to Jeebus, this is probably one of the best bosses ever.

The silver eggs are just vanilla enemies, but you have to wait for the gold eggs to open up and fire a laser before you can damage them.

The boss here is a gold robot. As it shoots at you with its arms, it also sends plate of metal from the floor to rise up and hit you. The Water Bombs take care of both the robot and the metal plates at the same time, while doing a good job of it, so take those into battle with you.

...

I wonder what this level would be like if you were really high on weed?

Area 6

The majority of the enemies here are pots, cups and pieces of chinaware that want you dead. Jeebus, everything in this game wants you dead! But fine china?!?

The red knives are just like the blue acorns in Area 4. If you don't kill them fast enough, they shoot out a whole circle of bullets.

The mini-boss looks like some sort of fertility idol. Just fly around it in a circle and keep shooting, so that you can make dodging the shards of china that it shoots at you easier. Don't forget, it shoots two lasers: one direclt behind it and the other directly in front of it.


The boss is some sort of statue that pops in and out of the ground. The Homing Crescent really helps to win the day here, especially when you've got it fully powered up. Its only real attack is firing shards at you, but don't forget that it can change its position at random every few times it pops out.

Shawn Holbrook plays Gun-Nac - Part 2 of 4

Today's in-flight double feature: It Came From The Deep and Revenge of the Paper.

Area 3

Here at the water planet, you'll be attacked by umbrellas, gold coins and fish. Battleships will also aim their cannons straight at you, and they're ripe for power-ups and money bags.

The mini-boss here is a mermaid that throws whirlwinds at you. Once you destroy both of her arms, they'll start coming straight out of her. A fully-powered Homing Crescent or several bombs will finish her off.

The boss is an octopus with an eight-way shot. Avoid its shots as it moves around, and watch where the tentacles come out, as that where they'll fire at you from. If you can destroy some of the tentacles, it makes the second half of its attack easier.

Area 4

In this area, you'll be attacked by wood, acorns, branches, trees and rolls of toilet paper.

The blue acorns release a whole circle of bullets if you don't destroy them fast enough...which is almost impossible. Thankfully, you can shoot some of the bullets down to give yourself an easier time at avoiding them.

The mini boss here is a giant acorn that shoots acorns at you. Once again, move around to avoid both the acorns and the smaller nut bombs.


The boss here is some sort of wood god. The Homing Crescents combined with the Water Bombs will put this guy out of commission really quickly, and can even destroy his extending arms at times.

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.