Gun.Smoke/Walkthrough

Althrough Gun.Smoke takes place in an the pioneering era of the American gold rush, it is a traditional vertical scrolling shooter at it's core. As such, the game progresses in a very linear fashion, scrolling through each stage one at a time until you reach the boss at the end of the round. The walkthrough presented here is not intended to give you a complete play-by-play of every aspect of the stage, but more to give you an idea of what to expect and how to know how far along you've gotten.

Survival Tips

 * Keep the enemies in front of you:Remember that you can't shoot behind you, only ahead of you. While it's tempting to run up and intercept an enemy before they have a chance to shoot at you, try not to advance too far up the screen and allow another enemy to get behind you and start shooting at your back.  You are defenseless from that position, and will have to double back in order to deal with anyone who is behind you.
 * Prioritize enemies over barrels:While barrels do provide you with bonus points that can help you reach the next extra life faster, or power-ups that give you a much needed advantage, they won't help you very much if shooting one open results in getting you shot by the enemy. Make sure the area around you is clear before you focus on the contents of a barrel.  However, if you happen to find a horse icon, grab it as quickly as possible to ensure your continued survival.
 * Quickly alternate fire buttons:While the three fire buttons and their combinations give you a lot of options, holding the buttons down won't result in a rapid rate of fire. Instead, use two fingers to rapidly alternate between the left and center fire buttons, or the center and right fire buttons.  This will allow you to shoot bullets in a spread pattern to one side or the other.
 * Don't ignore enemies in boss battles:You may be relieved when you finally reach the boss, but don't let your guard down for one second. Regular enemies will continue to appear throughout the battle.  At times, you may have to take your focus off the boss in order to clear the screen out of normal enemies.  This is a good strategy to employ, but don't forget to watch out for continued attacks by the boss himself.

Round 1
The first round starts off at a nice slow pace to help you get used to the controls. You will mostly encounter Gunmen and a few Snipers until you get further into the level. The first two barrels that you encounter (both on your right) have speed-up boots, and they will help you move around the screen more quickly. At the end of the long row of buildings on the right, Bombers will begin to appear. Beginners should be careful around the well, as it is easy to be caught off guard by the gunmen who appear from the side while you are shooting barrels. In addition to more Snipers, Gunmen will jump off the balcony to the ground below, to attack you. The second barrel on the left side has a rifle power-up which you should collect in order to shoot farther. When you see three barrels in a row on the left, three Riflemen will appear. The three barrels have 1000 point bonus items. After the second well, two barrels will appear on the right. The second one will have a horse. Collect it as quickly as you can for added protection. Then carefully make your way around the pond. The first Back-stabbers appear just before the boss as they jump off the balcony.

Boss: Master
Health: 4 bars. As the first boss, Master's behavior is very simple. He will walk around, shooting at you until he gets shot. After he does, he will crawl around on the floor shooting at you until he feels brave enough to stand up again. While he is on the floor, he is invulnerable to your shots, so focus on shooting at the surrounding enemies while you avoid Master's bullets. When he stands back up, focus your attention on him until he falls back down again or dies. The barrel to the left contains a POW that will knock out every enemy except the boss. Try to save it for when you need it most.

Round 2
After a train rolls past you on the left, you will start off facing Gunmen. You will find a pair of boots and a rifle among the first four barrels on the right. Watch out for the Back-stabbers that appear from between the buildings. You will then face a full variety of enemies through the remainder of this section. The last barrel on the building before the stretch of open land contains a horse which you should definitely attempt to safely collect. During the open stretch, avoid the temptation to run up to the top to meet enemies, as many Gunmen will get behind you if you do. As you pass the parked train on the left, you will have to watch out for the purple Gunmen who remain on top of the train and shoot down at you, while you deal with gray Gunmen appearing from the top and the right. A group of Bombers will attack you as you walk pass the engine of the train, and more enemies will attack you even as the screen stops scrolling and you wait for the boss to appear.

Boss: Roy
Health: 4 bars. Roy attacks by throwing a pair of knives at you (of which he has an unlimited supply). If your aim is very good (or if you get very lucky), you can actually shoot Roy's knives down before they reach you. Roy is a bit of a jumper, and likes to leap around in order to avoid getting shot. Don't be tempted to follow Roy when he leaps up to the top of the screen. Instead, patiently deal with the enemies that are within your range and wait for Roy to come back down to you. You may have an easier time hitting him from the side than straight on.

Round 3
The primary feature of this stage is the many obstacles and bodies of water that you must weave your way around. Bridges connect the land on opposite sides of the screen, but they can make for particularly dangerous passage since you can't actually shoot to your side. Shoot across the bridge while you're still in front of it to clear it of enemies before you attempt to cross. One interesting aspect of this game is that you will not die if you get trapped between an impassible object and the bottom of the screen; you will merely scoot to the nearest available empty space. The first barrel on the right contains the first instance of the bullet upgrade, which speeds up your shots. After that, it is extremely important that you focus on shooting the enemies and not get distracted by the barrels. However, the next barrel after a bridge on the left contains a horse which you should attempt to collect. Then you will find a collection of barrels on the right side, leading up to a bridge. The last two contain boots and a rifle. Then remain on the left side of the screen until you begin to see the first bull. Shoot the bull from the side to make it run away, and shoot the barrel behind it to obtain a POW and knock out the enemies. When you see two barrels, one behind the other in front of a root, the second one contains a 20,000 point cow. Keep shooting the enemies that are around you, but don't ignore the enemies that appear on the opposite side of the river. As you approach the end of the stage, two of the last three barrels on the opposite bank have bonus point bags. Then the stage will open up to a clearing before the boss appears.

Boss: Ninja
Health: 4 bars. Although Ninja behaves similarly to Roy, he is considerably harder to hit. He throws two shuriken at Billy, one at a time, but in rapid succession. Like Roy's knives, they can be shot down, but due to their speed, this is considerably harder to do. Ninja jumps around, and can only be hit while he's standing on the ground. But he leaps so continuously that it can be difficult to predict the moment when he will stop and be vulnerable to your fire. When he takes enough damage to lose a health bar, he teleports away in a puff of smoke and reappears near the top of the screen. He is a bit easier to hit from the side than straight on, and you will also have the usual assortment of enemies to deal with while you try to take Ninja down.

Round 4
Cliffs run alongside the beginning of this level. Various enemies will approach you from the top of the screen and the side of the screen that is open, while Back-Stabbers jump down off the cliffs to ambush you from the other side. When the Cliff is on the left side, more Gunmen will jump down to join the fight as well. The top barrel of the second pair on the left contains a 10,000 bonus point star. Following that, the top barrel of the next pair that appear on the right side contains a 20,000 bonus point cow. The next pair that appears on the right contains a horse. While you attempt to claim it, more Back-Stabbers continue to bounce down the cliff sides. This is followed by a set of five barrels in a column, all of which contain 1000 bonus point bags. Another set of five barrels only have bags inside three of them. Don't pay too much attention to these barrels and focus instead on keeping yourself (or your horse) alive. Bombers will continue to appear from the top throughout this section. When you reach a row of four barrels, they may or may not have bulls in front of some, depending on how many enemies were present on the screen. The left two barrels contain power-ups while the right two contain 1000 bonus point items. Then the stage ends in an open plain before the boss appears

Boss: Cutter
Health: 6 bars. Cutter may have more health than any of the previous bosses, but he's a bit easier to take down because he tends to stand still and remain vulnerable for longer periods of time. Cutter attacks by throwing a pair of boomerangs simultaneously, each in a different direction. They travel down to the bottom of the screen before cutting across and towards Billy, and never quite back towards Cutter. The boomerangs can be shot down by your bullets. Since Cutter remains motionless longer, you should have less trouble finding opportunities to hit him. However, you will probably have to advance towards him more often since he does not travel down to the bottom of the screen where you are safest.