GunNail

Shoot 'em up Arcade Classic Playable Now 1993 🎮 Keyboard / Gamepad

GunNail is a vertically scrolling shooter developed and published by NMK, released in Japanese arcades in January 1993. You fly a main ship flanked by two small support craft that stay with you for the whole game. Instead of losing a life on each hit, you lose one of four shields, and every lost shield makes your weapons stronger and your scoring multiplier higher. That trade between safety and reward is what sets GunNail apart from other shooters of its time.

NMK vertical shooter shmup 1993 arcade Japan only Arcade

Controls

Arrow Keys - Move
Z - A Button (Jump / Attack)
X - B Button
A - L Shoulder
S - R Shoulder
Enter - Start
Shift - Select
Gamepad - Full support

What GunNail is

NMK was a small Japanese developer known for demanding shooters, and GunNail fits that reputation. It stayed in Japan on release, and only reached a wider audience in January 2022 when Hamster Corporation added it to the Arcade Archives line on Switch and PS4.

The central idea is the shield system. Each hit strips away a shield, and with each one gone you gain stronger power-ups and better score multipliers. With no shields left your ship is at its most powerful, but the next hit ends the run. Main ship and support craft use different weapon power-ups, and bombs are available for emergencies.

How it plays in your browser

This page emulates the original arcade board, so the patterns and pacing are the same as the 1993 release. It loads directly in the browser with no download.

Shooters benefit from low input lag, so if the game feels sluggish, close other heavy tabs and try a gamepad.

Tips worth knowing

  • Decide early whether you are playing to survive or to score. Keeping shields is safer, while playing with fewer shields gives more points and firepower.
  • Treat your last shield as a warning. Once it is gone, a single hit ends the game.
  • Keep a bomb in reserve for bosses and dense bullet patterns rather than using it on ordinary enemies.
  • Collect the point items enemies leave behind, since scoring is a large part of how GunNail is played.
  • Remember that your two support ships stay with you even when you take a hit, so position them to cover enemies approaching from the sides.

Frequently asked questions

Who made GunNail?

GunNail was developed and published by NMK in 1993.

Was GunNail released outside Japan?

Not originally. The arcade game was Japan only, and it first reached other regions through Hamster's Arcade Archives release in 2022.

How does the shield system work?

You have four shields. Each hit removes one, which also boosts your weapons and score multiplier. When all four are gone, the next hit is game over.

Where else can I play GunNail?

Apart from the arcade original, GunNail is available on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives series.

More games like this

Rapid Hero, Trog, Bubble Bobble. You can also browse the full games library or read the guides on the blog.