ROLLING GUNNER / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: MEBIUS. / PLATFORM: PC, SWITCH (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
The latest in a long line of high quality Japanese shooters to receive western localisation, and a port to Nintendo’s mighty Switch console, is the highly touted side-scroller Rolling Gunner. Published and developed by Mebius, it will come as absolutely no surprise to fans of the genre that this game is brought to us by ex-Cave employees. Almost immediately after booting the game up, it becomes apparent just how much of a love letter this is to the arcade shooters of the late 90s/early 2000s by the likes of Capcom, Psikyo and, of course, Cave. From the menu and interface to the gameplay to the massive pre-rendered backgrounds, Rolling Gunner is like a time capsule to the glory days of arcade shooters. Had this game come out 20 years earlier it would be the perfect candidate for release on the Dreamcast!
We should mention that RG unashamedly falls under the category of ‘bullet hell shooter’ and for this reason may put off a lot of the uninitiated, but where many of RG’s similarly hellish counterparts fail, Rolling Gunner succeeds in that it provides a lot of fun and accessibility for entry level players. The main mechanic has a wonderful ‘easy to pick up but difficult to master’ quality which is immensely satisfying. Players control the main ship, but also a small option which rotates around it. Holding down the regular fire button will shoot a continuous stream from the main ship and also whichever direction the option is rotated to. Holding down the alt fire button will make the ship move slightly slower, but also lock the option in place, making it possible to orient your ship while the option maintains fire in one direction. This also makes it easier to double up your streams for some serious firepower against larger enemies and those daunting end of level bosses.
To compliment RG’s excellent gameplay, it also boasts an incredible soundtrack, superb visuals and thoroughly entertaining cutscenes between levels which set the mood wonderfully. Again, all are extremely reminiscent of the arcade style by which they are influenced, and all of these things fit the game incredibly well. The brief cutscenes particularly are an absolute joy and the sort of thing that is sorely missed from other modern shooters. Our only minor criticism of RG is that some of the larger enemies have a bit of a stuttery framerate and could have maybe benefited from a few more frames of animation, but this is pretty nit-picky and hardly a deal breaker!
All in all, Rolling Gunner is an absolutely first class shmup and possibly the best side scrolling shooter we’ve played since the likes of Akai Katana and Deathsmiles several years ago. An absolute must have for fans of the genre, but also one that we can recommend to players who wouldn’t normally pick up this type of game.
