Axel and Ruka (L - R) about to skin some Pumpkinheads.
Rapid Reload (known in Japan as Gunner's Heaven) is a Run-and-Gun action game developed by Sony and Media Vision for the PlayStation.
A pair of Treasure Hunters, Axel Sonics and Ruka Hetfield, are after an Ancient Artifact known as the Valkiry, hidden in an underground cavern. But a terrorist organization called the Pumpkin Heads are searching for the Valkiry too, with their armies of mooks and giant machines standing in the heroes' way.
The game contains visual elements and a gameplay format similar to Gunstar Heroes, including the option to carry multiple weapons in various item slots, chibi-style animations, scoring systems and identical power-ups.
Rapid Reload contain examples of:
- And the Adventure Continues: The game ends with the Pumpkin Heads defeated after the Master is obliterated, with the Valkiry destroyed or stolen, again, followed by Ruka and Axel setting off on another adventure.
- Animal Mecha: Some of the robot bosses and several of their mooks are machines based on animals, notably the praying mantis mech, a Spider Tank, robotic isopods in the jungle level's river area, and the powerful chameleon robot boss.
- Auto-Scrolling Level: The minecart level which leads to the train chase, where Axel and Ruka are on rollerblades and constantly moving forward in pursuit.
- Badasses Wear Bandanas: Axel the hero does, and he's a highly competent soldier and asskicker.
- Big Bad: The... Master. The leader of the Pumpkin Heads terrorists seeking the Valkiry for global domination, whose mooks Ruka and Axel have to battle throughout the game.
- Boss Banter: Most of the bosses will taunt Axel and Ruka before the fight begins."Luck is on your side, but everything comes to an end... including your life!"
- Chameleon Camouflage: The Jungle's Guardian, a Chameleon mecha, honors this trope to the T, right down to using his stealth to sneak upon Axel and Ruka and lash out from literally anywhere in the area.
- David Versus Goliath: Axel and Ruka spends the entire game on foot, and takes down giant robot bosses towering over them (some too large to even fit into the screen!) with their weaponry.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: While all enemies explode upon defeat, normal enemies randomly choose between exploding once and exploding multiple times. Bosses undergo a Post-Defeat Explosion Chain that ends with a screen-filling explosion.
- Difficulty by Region: The Japanese version which is called Gunner's Heaven has infinite continues. The European version only allows up to nine.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: In several areas Axel and Ruka can use grappling-hook guns to grab on overhead ledges either for avoiding boss' attacks or accessing hidden secrets.
- Homing Projectile: The Homing Laser power-up Ruka and Axel can use on mooks.
- Humongous Mecha: Majority of the bosses pilot giant robots that takes up the entire screen.
- Jet Pack: There's a stage in the clouds where Axel and Ruka puts on hoverpacks to take on enemy aircrafts and hovering drones.With a flying ship serving as the stage's boss.
- Lightning Gun: One of the weapons Axel and Ruka can obtain, which fires a thick, straight bolt of blue electricity that even has Chain Lightning abilities which automatically homes in on enemy mooks, frying one enemy after another in blasts which spreads out from the weapon's barrel.
- Mecha-Mooks: Not all enemies are human, with robots showing up in quite a few areas.
- Mini-Mecha: One of the recurring enemy units Axel and Ruka consistently battles throughout the game, serving as Giant Mook-veriety of foes.
- Multiple Life Bars: Area Bosses have several overlapping life bars, going from blue to green (which is the color of the player's only life bar) to yellow and finally to red. There is also a digital counter, which helps show the damage you're dealing on tougher bosses whose blue bars won't start going down until they're more than halfway to destruction.
- Overly-Long Tongue: The Chameleon mecha boss will periodically use it's tongue to lash out like a whip, or use it like a grappling hook to swing all over the area, making him hard to hit without the homing lightning gun.
- Rollerblade Good: Axel and Ruka are both experts on rollerblades, with one notable level pursuing mooks in a Minecart Madness level on their skates.
- Slaying Mantis: The boss of a forest stage is a giant robot mantis which can spam Sword Beam attacks with its pincers.
- Smart Bomb: Axel and Ruka have a power-up that fills the screen with beam projectiles and clear off most enemies, also dealing severe damage on bosses.
- Spread Shot: Another available weapon Axel and Ruka can use to target multiple foes simultaneously.
- Warm-Up Boss: All three bosses in the first stage are this as they have easily readable and avoidable attacks.
- You Are Too Late: The Type-1 variety shows up in the Final Boss battle; as Axel and Ruka reached the cavern where the Valkiry is kept, they realize they're late and The Master had retrieved the Valkiry artifact, using it to empower her mecha. But they can still fight and defeat her, and claim the Valkiry after a lengthy boss battle.
