Rolling Gunner
- Navigate across 6 stages blanketed in a hail of bullets from an unceasing onslaught of enemies and screen-filling bosses - Choose from 3 different STORK ships to pilot, each with unique attributes and firing patterns - Multiple difficulty settings allow players of all skill levels to jump in and enjoy a true bullet hell experience - Save Replays and use Training mode to master the Rolling Gun and learn the intricacies of each stage - A pulse-pounding, high-energy original soundtrack composed by COSIO (Space Invaders Extreme, Groove Coaster) perfectly complements the gameplay - Beautifully animated cutscenes marry gameplay and story - A challenging risk v reward point system will have seasoned players shooting for the top of the in-game leaderboard
SCREENSHOTS
PHYSICAL
HISTORY
Rolling Gunner (ローリングガンナー) is a shmup by Project Rolling Gunner initialy released for Windows, and later for Switch, PS4, Arcades (on the SEGA ALLS system) and then again to PC on STEAM.
This game is actually a prequel to another shmup called "Galaxy Frontier".
For replay videos, visit the Video Index.
Gameplay Overview
The player takes control of a ship along with the roling gun that can be aimed in 8 directions, with Fighter and Gunner shots. Gunner firing will freeze aim of the rolling gun and fire faster.
The player as well counts with the bombs. Auto-bomb has really short lenght and barely does damage, while manual bombing has more length, grants more i-frames and deals some damage.
A mechanic in this game is the Power-up system. When main item counter reaches 1000, the player can power-up to a Break-like state called Limiter. If medals are collected, energy will be stored for a Limiter Release, which slightly increases shot power.
Controls
The game has 3 buttons: Shot, Bomb and Full-auto shot. Button mapping and settings can variate on each port.
Difficulty modes
Novice: A game mode for newcomers. Auto-bomb consumes 1 bomb.
Casual: Simplified mode with simplified patterns. Auto-bomb consumes 1 bomb.
Original: The base game mode. Auto-bomb consumes all bombs.
Expert: A mode harder than Original. Auto-bomb consumes all bombs.
Rank
Rank appears in Original and Expert. Rank is what alters the velocity of each bullet pattern. Increases when it`s rank value reaches 9999. It also has a multiplier that variates depending on rank level.
Scoring
Scoring is earned by collecting medals, bonuses and the points multiplied by the multiplier attached to the rank level.
After a stage is cleared, the bonus goes like this:
Small star medal: Amount x 100
Twin star medal: Amount x 300
Triple star medal: Amount x 1000
Eagle star medal: Amount x 5000
If player no-misses a stage, an extra bonus is also awarded.
Ship types
RF-42RX Stork
RF-42RS Super Stork
RF-42RA Assault Stork
Items
True Last Boss / TLB
The TLB has different requirements on different modes:
To trigger it in Novice and Casual, the player has to 1cc all 6 bosses.
To trigger it in Original and Expert, the player has to beat the Stage 6 Boss with rank at level 15 or higher.
OverPower
OverPower is a special release of Rolling Gunner exclusively for home ports. The major changes are the graphics recoloring, new mechanics, etc.
The player no longer has bombs, but counts with a buster beam that can cancel bullets, a circle around the rolling gun that can cancel bullets (it´s size variates on ship type), shield bars and as well a different way to switch between Fighter and Gunner shots.
The medals are divided into 2 types of medals: Green and red.
Enemy item carriers will drop shield restores and extra shield slot items.
Items in OverPower
Story
A scientifical group known as Lerman Matsunaga discovered a resource called Busternium, in which they used to make Buster Engines, aka the Buster All Controller engine (BAC). However, BAC became sentient out of nowhere, and decided to rebel against humanity and declare them war by producing and possesing machines to serve it.
A group within Lerman Matsunaga knew about the dangers of the dependence of Buster Engines. So they hire a pilot to go in a suicide mission to stop BAC before the earth ends in ruins. With a ship called the Stork, the pilot can use it to fight back, and as well a controllage rolling gun.
With the pilot ready to take off, the final hope takes flight...
Trivia
The name of Stork originates from the name of a bird species.
The BAC crystal is basically inspiried in The Stone-Like from Radiant Silvergun.
The name of Pterodactylus (the Stage 4 Boss) refers to the extinct species of dinosaurs called pterodactyl.
STORY
The year is 2061 and nearly three decades have passed since the new metallic element "Busterium" was discovered by the Lerman Matsunaga corporation at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Utilizing this new alloy, Lerman Matsunaga developed a new clean energy engine called the Buster Engine, which was globally adopted and quickly replaced fossil fuel and nuclear-based engines. With nearly all of the world's engines now being centrally powered and controlled by a fully automated computer system called BAC, the unthinkable has happened: BAC has gained intelligence and has turned against humanity.
With humanity on the verge of extinction, a secret internal division of Lerman Matsunaga had the foresight to design a special weapon against BAC: the Rolling Gun. Operated and controlled via brain implant, humanity's fate now rests in the hands of a courageous RF-42R STORK pilot who must set out to destroy BAC at the old Lerman Matsunaga building, which has been turned into a near impenetrable BAC fort. This is the last hope for humankind.
And now the final hope takes flight...
1CC RUNS
One-credit clears we point to as the benchmark for this game.
Show all 10 runs
TRAILERS
STORES
Prices are cached from each storefront and may be out of date. Last checked 24 Sept 2026.
PRICE HISTORY
Every price change we know of, per shop. Flat means the price held; PC shops reach back through IsThereAnyDeal's archive, console shops start when this site started watching.
Steam low: $5.99 (25 Jun 2026)
REVIEWS
Published elsewhere, collected here. Every score is the outlet's own, on the outlet's own scale. Follow the link for the full review.
“If you call yourself a fan of bullet hell shoot ‘em ups then you owe it to yourself to play Rolling Gunner + Over Power. While there isn’t much here for extra modes what is here is an absolute action-packed treat. It’s got challenging gameplay, great art and sound design, and the Over Power DLC makes the game feel completely different to play from the base game. When people talk about what are some of the best shoot ‘em ups, Rolling Gunner deserves to be among them.”
“For shoot ’em up fans, Rolling Gunner + Overpower truly is a treat. Everything about it – from visuals to gameplay – is top-notch, ensuring that you have a big grin on your face from the moment you boot it up until you decide to turn it off. But the amount of difficulty options here, and the features introduced by the Overpower DLC, make this accessible to newcomers, too. We reckon this will be remembered as a classic in years to come.”
“Kudos to Mebius for creating an entry in the genre that does so much to welcome newcomers into the fold whilst at the same time offering a blisteringly difficult challenge with plenty of hidden depth to hardened warriors looking for their next shooter addiction.”
“If you have finished playing, you can play the game again with, for example, another ship. There are three to choose from. Although you might not be better off doing that right away, because the soundtrack is rather uplifting and intense, which is good, by the way. And it fits this type of game. Real negatives are therefore not present, except for the relatively short playing time. With an hour you can blast yourself to the credits. But hey then you are a beautiful experience richer. Thank you developer Mebius.”
“If Rolling Gunner was already a title with a good reception and packaging, within its cave of users, this edition with the addition of 'Over Power', what comes is to expand, loosen and satisfy more users of direct action and fast games . Rolling Gunner was already an excellent bullet-hell shmup, more accessible and open than it was a couple of decades ago, although tough nonetheless. And now an edition is released on PlayStation 4 that with this '+' scales even better between casual quick games, all kinds of challenges and settings, and the extreme challenge that those pros of the subgenre dem”
“Don’t let its somewhat drab exterior fool you, Rolling Gunner is worth a look for genre professionals and up-and-comers alike. Its the kind of game that, despite only being six stages long, I can see myself returning to for a long time coming.”
“Rolling Gunner features classic arcade shoot 'em up gameplay that's as tight and challenging as its visuals are flashy.”
“Rolling Gunner is a Japanese bullet hell shoot ’em up. The game may have limited staying power, as it only has six stages. The four difficulty levels and three ship variants can certainly keep you busy for a while. If you like going for high scores, it will probably keep you busy much longer. I’ve beaten the game on three of the four difficulty modes, and that took two to three hours of total gameplay. The game is available now on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99. There is also a PC version, but it is only available through two Japanese distributors, which you can find out about on the off”
“Rolling Gunner is a fairly standard shooter, taking some elements and working on making them polished enough so that players of any skill levels could get used to shooting games, while experts can challenge themselves on the higher difficulties or by limiting themselves to getting as far as possible on one credit. It may not do anything new, but it serves as a fun, solid shooter for score chasing fans who enjoy these old-school games.”
Reviews are the work of the outlets named. Titles, scores and quoted excerpts are reproduced for identification and criticism; each links to the original.