Gunslinger Stratos
is a series of third-person hero shooter video games, developed by Byking and Taito, and published by Square Enix. It debuted in arcades on July 12, 2012, with the scenario provided by Norimitsu Kaihō based on a concept by Gen Urobuchi. It uses Silicon Studio's Orochi game engine, and runs on the Taito Type X³ arcade system board.
Its sequel,, was released on February 20, 2014, featuring new characters, new battle mechanics, and new stages. Tetsuya Nomura and Akira Yasuda each created two characters exclusively for the game. A sequel, titled, was announced to be released in 2016 for Windows PC. The servers were closed on March 29, 2016.
A fourth game,, was released on May 12, 2016. An upgraded version,, with four character types and six new weapon packs for each character and several changes to the respawn and awake systems, was released on April 24, 2017.
The servers for the arcade version of Gunslinger Stratos were shut down on April 1, 2021.
An anime adaptation of the series, Gunslinger Stratos: The Animation, made its premiere on April 4, 2015.
Gameplay
All of the games are played from a third-person perspective, and the player must move around the massive battleground, while using the Gun Controllers to aim and shoot at enemies. The goal is to survive and shoot down the rival teams to decrease the opposing team's team meter within a given time limit. The round ends when either teams' team meter drops to zero and/or if the timer reaches zero.Players can switch weapons in-battle, utilizing various strategies and tactics, by melding the two gun controllers together into different positions, such as:
- Side Style: by clipping the side of the gun controllers together, the players can use their character's secondary arsenal.
- Tandem Style: by clipping the tip of right gun controller onto the top of the left gun controller, the players can use their character's powerful arsenal.