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Great Guns
Great Guns is an action arcade game released by Stern in 1983. Players take on the role of gunners operating mounted weapons to shoot down waves of attacking enemy aircraft, tanks, and other military targets. The game supports two players simultaneously, allowing cooperative play at a single cabinet. Players use a joystick or mounted gun controller to aim and fire at oncoming threats, managing ammunition and timing to maximize their score. Targets approach from various angles, requiring quick reactions. The game features a military theme throughout, with escalating waves of enemies increasing the challenge as play progresses. Great Guns fits within the fixed-shooter tradition common to early 1980s arcades, emphasizing rapid target acquisition and score accumulation across successive enemy formations.
- Developer
- Stern
- Released
- 1983
- Platform
- Arcade
- Genre
- Action
- Players
- 2P
- Rating
- 4.6 / 5 (4.8K)
- Last updated
Great Guns Controls — Arcade Keyboard Keys
Default keyboard bindings for Great Guns on our in-browser Arcade emulator. Plug in a USB or Bluetooth gamepad to auto-detect mappings, or rebind any key from the emulator settings menu.
| Keyboard | Console button | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| ↑ | Joystick Up | Move up |
| ↓ | Joystick Down | Move down |
| ← | Joystick Left | Move left |
| → | Joystick Right | Move right |
| X | Button 1 | Primary action (jump / confirm) |
| Z | Button 2 | Secondary action (attack / cancel) |
| S | Button 3 | Tertiary action |
| A | Button 4 | Quaternary action |
| Q | Button 5 | Fifth button |
| W | Button 6 | Sixth button |
| 5 | Insert Coin | Insert coin |
| 1 | 1P Start | Start / Pause |
Coin and Start are convention "Insert Coin: 5" and "1P Start: 1". Some arcade boards expect specific button mappings — check the in-game prompts on coin-up.
Rebind any key from the EmulatorJS in-game settings menu (gear icon → Controls). A connected gamepad auto-maps to the same buttons.
Great Guns Longplay & Gameplay Videos
Watch a full playthrough of Great Guns on Arcade before you dive in — recommended for getting a feel for the game's pacing, story beats, and difficulty curve.
Watch longplay on YouTube
"Great Guns" Arcade longplay 1983
External references
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Great Guns released?
Great Guns was released in 1983 for the Arcade.
Who developed Great Guns?
Great Guns was developed by Stern, available to play in your browser on RetroGameSpace.
How many players does Great Guns support?
Great Guns supports up to 2 players, ideal for couch co-op or competitive sessions on the Arcade.
What type of game is Great Guns?
Great Guns is a Action game for the Arcade, playable instantly in your browser — no downloads, no installs.
How can I play Great Guns for free?
Open this page and click "Play Now" — Great Guns runs free in your browser via WebAssembly emulation. No account, no payment, no installer.
Do I need to download anything to play Great Guns in the browser?
No. Great Guns streams from a public archive into a browser-side Arcade emulator. Nothing is installed on your computer.
Can I save my progress in Great Guns?
Yes. Save states are stored in your browser (IndexedDB) per game, and you can also use any in-game save the original Arcade cartridge supported.
Does Great Guns work on mobile devices?
Yes — the Arcade emulator runs on iOS Safari and Android Chrome. Touch controls overlay the game; landscape mode is recommended.
Is it legal to play Great Guns this way?
RetroGameSpace is a transient caching reverse-proxy and does not host first-party copies of Great Guns. Game files are fetched on demand from publicly-accessible archives. You are responsible for compliance with your local laws and the bring-your-own-ROM principle.
