Barunba is a shooter in comic style. You control a spacecraft that has a weapons ring around it and therefore can shoot in various directions. Weapons can be upgraded by shooting enemies and picking up the pods they might change in. The levels automatically scroll and move in all directions. Each level has its own theme and is quite long and has two bosses: a mid-level boss and an end boss. Both bosses have to be defeated before you can continue to finish the level or go to the next. A status bar at the bottom of the screen shows the energy bar of your ship and it's game over when that bar has depleted.