Gun.Smoke

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Gunsmoke

Rate: 5 out of 5
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Played: 10/26

Opinion: Gun.Smoke is among the best games in NES history. It's a lot of fun to play with a great deal of strategy when it comes to weapons. Sometimes, you have to be conservative about the ammo. I don't think Gun.Smoke is that hard, but stages 3 and 4 are tough. If you survive them, it gets easier unlike so many NES games. There are plenty of chances to get an extra life per stage, and you can always repeat each until you get a Wanted poster.

I consider Gun.Smoke beaten if you survive all six stages without continues.



Technical Notes

Basic Moves
♦B is shoot to the left.
♦B + A is shoot straight ahead.
♦A is shoot to the right.
♦SELECT is switch weapons.
♦START is pause.

Dropped Items
♦Pick up everything in sight except for the skull.
♦Red Spinner is extra life, but you can only have 5 maximum. If you lose a life during a stage, you can go through it all over again for the sole purpose of capturing the Red Spinner.
♦You should buy a horse in every stage except for the first one because he'll absorb a few hits before they reach you.

Confused?
♦The reason why you are seeing the same stuff over and over is you didn't buy a Wanted poster to initiate the battle with a boss. Not to worry: I will tell you where to get one for free per stage.
♦If you die, the gun you were using will disappear. Therefore, you'll have to buy it again.



Town of Hicksville



What To Do
♦Shoot everything in sight; don't worry about hitting innocent people.
♦I recommend going through this twice to stockpile cash.
♦Once you have enough, get a machine gun and then 4x bullets; it's much easier now in terms of hitting the buttons.
♦Enjoy the free horse for the first and only time by grabbing it at the final barrel in front of the third blue building on the right past the female shopkeeper.
♦When you go past the male shopkeeper, there's an invisible part behind a barrel on the left where the blue building is. Shoot that approximately eight times to reveal a Wanted poster.
♦There's a barrel behind a fence, so shoot that to reveal Red Spinner.

Bandit Bill
♦Just like everybody else, shoot Bandit Bill dead with a machine gun while avoiding the flying bullets. Hitting him is only effective when he stands up.



The Boulders



What To Do
♦I recommend going through this once, but be conservative with bullets.
♦You should have enough money to buy a magnum gun and a horse.
♦When you go past the male shopkeeper, there's an invisible part behind a barrel on the left side, revealing a Wanted poster. In the middle will be two drumstick rock formations.
♦At the same time, on the extreme right, there's a barrel containing Red Spinner.

Cutter Boomerang
♦Time to use the magnum gun to shoot him dead.



Commanchi Village



What To Do
♦This is a pretty tough stage because it takes a very long time to reach the female shopkeeper, so I can have a horse!
♦Therefore, I recommend going through it once, but be conservative with bullets at times.
♦You should have enough money to buy a shotgun, a smart bomb, and a horse.
♦When you go past the first male shopkeeper, there are two barrels on the right side, and one of them contains Red Spinner.
♦When you go past the second male shopkeeper, there's an invisible part on the left of the first barrel on the left side, revealing a Wanted poster.
♦Right after, there are six barrels, and one of them (on the far right) contains Red Spinner.

Devil Hawk Fire Ball
♦The magnum gun will get him.



Death Mountain



What To Do
♦This is the toughest stage of the game as enemies are coming from everywhere, but don't ask me why there are ninjas in the Wild West. If you survive this, it gets easier from now on...promise.
♦Therefore, I recommend going through it once and taking advantage of all space possible by moving around so much, but be conservative with bullets at times.
♦To use a smart bomb, select it (actually do that at the beginning and let yourself be shot when you see the female shopkeeper, so you can buy another right away) while shooting with a normal gun. In order for it to explode, everybody but you dies after being shot.
♦Buy whatever you need, especially bullets and a horse.
♦In a while, after you go past the male shopkeeper, there will be two barrels in a diagonal fashion on the right side, containing Red Spinner.
♦When you see three barrels lined up on the right side, two barrels will be on the left side. Thus, shoot at the invisible part on the left of these two, revealing a Wanted poster.

Ninja Darts
♦Any gun will do. In fact, the shotgun will be ideal.



Cheyenne River



What To Do
♦This stage is actually much easier compared to the previous two.
♦Therefore, I recommend going through it once, but be conservative with bullets at times.
♦Use the smart bomb early.
♦Buy whatever you need, especially bullets and a horse.
♦On the third river crossing, there are two barrels on a pier, and one of them contains Red Spinner.
♦After you go past the female shopkeeper, you'll come to another river crossing, and to the right on land are two barrels; shoot at the right invisible part, revealing a Wanted poster.

Fatman Joe
♦The magnum gun will make a short work of him.



Fort Wingate



What To Do
♦$30,000 cash reward? Ha! We'll not be playing again.
♦Believe it or not, this is the second easiest stage of the game.
♦Therefore, I recommend going through it once, but be conservative with bullets at times.
♦Use the smart bomb early.
♦Buy whatever you need, especially bullets and a horse.
♦After the female shopkeeper, there are two barrels on the left, and one of them contains Red Spinner.
♦Soon, you'll come to a cemetery in the middle where there are four tombstones together. Right in the front of it on the left will reveal a Wanted poster. Afterwards, it'll take a while to get to the boss.

Wingate Machine Gun
♦There will be two of them, so start with magnum gun and work your way down in weapons for an easy win.