The entire solar system is being attacked by the vicious Gyrusians, and it's up to you to save the day! You will need to fly your spaceship to each of the nine planets and then clear three stages of enemies to rid that planet of the Gyrusians. You start the game with a single cannon, but can gain a double cannon after shooting a power up satellite. After clearing each planet, there is another bonus stage where additional weapons and bonus points can be collected.
Gyruss is an action shooter game where you move your spaceship in a circle around the perimeter of the screen instead of horizontally or vertically. The NES version adds new features such as music, new enemies, and a large boss at the end of each level to the original arcade game.