Torus Trooper (PC)
Kenta Cho is a legend in the shmup community. He makes his own games, including original titles and spin-offs of shmups like Ikaruga and Psyvariar. Most are done purely with vector graphics, which has its own charm, and you can’t argue with the price of free. Torus Trooper is incredibly fast, with twisting corkscrews and drop-offs that will test your reflexes as well as your stomach, and it’s backed by a scoring system that encourages you to let enemies pile up until you can’t hold out any longer.
Killer 7 (Game Cube, PS2)
You may have heard about Suda 51 and his reputation for crafting the bizarre. Killer 7 is the game that started it all. How do you explain a crew of assassins that zip in and out of existence through TVs, and are actually the psychological extensions of a wheelchair-bound sniper? How do you explain a talking, severed head in a dryer? You don’t. You sit back and enjoy the oddities surrounding you. Killer 7 blurs the lines between rail shooter and Resident Evil-esque adventure, and excels at neither. The lack of lightgun support is especially frustrating. Even so, Killer 7 manages to stand on the merit of a powerful plot and freak show charm.
Pokemon Snap (Nintendo 64)
Don’t be shy. There’s no shame in admitting that Pokemon are adorably cute, and Pokemon Snap is all about catching their fun antics on camera. It isn’t particularly hard, unless you want the best shots possible. It requires equal parts speed and patience, and a clever intuition for finding the pokemon. Snap can be tricky, because many of the pokemon can only be coaxed out of hiding with treats or the interactions of other pokemon, and the only way to find all this out is through trial and error or a strategy guide. The sense of discovery is what makes Snap so enjoyable. You can forget about lives and weapons, and have fun exploring.
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii)
Star Successor is a perfect match for the Wii’s remote and nunchuck combo. Although the perspective and bland color scheme can make it hard to see all projectiles, every second is a struggle for survival. Star Successor is hard, no doubt about it, and made harder by the fact that some levels are really boss battles chained together. Treasure always makes good shooters, and while Star Successor isn’t the best of the genre, it begs for yet another sequel.
Dead Space Extraction (Wii)
As much as I love Dead Space, making a rail shooting spin-off seemed like a dangerous prospect. Visceral Games pulled it off marvelously, and managed to advance the genre in the process. Dead Space Extraction is quite possibly the most tactical rail shooter created. It retains the multiple weapons complete with alternate firing modes, the need to dismember enemies limb by limb, the stasis and kinesis abilities, and adds a new melee attack that doubles as a shield. Having to fend off six or more enemies at a time, while reloading and switching weapons no less, is a frequent and wholly nerve-racking experience, in the best way possible.
Space Harrier (Arcade)
This is one of the games that started it all back in 1985. It was packed with color, excitement, imaginative enemies, and the pseudo-3D environments were incredible for the time. The gameplay still holds up and even inspired a rocket-boosting stage in Bayonetta. Unfortunately, the ensuing console ports were miserable by comparison, and (legalities aside) working files for MAME can be hard to find. To truly enjoy Space Harrier in its original form, you’ll have to unlock it within a few of Sega’s other games (instructions here).
Rez (Dreamcast, PS2) or Rez HD (Xbox 360)
Rez is an acid trip for the eyes and the ears. Much like BIT.TRIP RUNNER, Rez is not a game about making music. Instead, the electronic soundtrack builds with every enemy destroyed, enticing you to reach perfection. Rez is not as difficult as most rail shooters, but it does feature a provocative scoring system. You can move the game along at a rapid pace for a lower score, or dive deeper into sections in search of more enemies and more points. It can be a bit slow for my taste, but it should be experienced by everyone at least once.
Panzer Dragoon (Saturn)
While its roleplaying sibling, Panzer Dragoon Saga, gets most of the attention, this shooter hit the scene with a level of quality and originality that only Star Fox could match. I have to assume that the combat system, which lets you look in all directions and lock on to multiple enemies, was the inspiration for Rez. Compliments don’t get much better than that. It has unique enemies inside an imaginative world that, unlike most games of the era, still retains its beauty after all these years. And, I best not forget the stunning soundtrack. If you have problems locating or affording a copy, its sequels, Zwei for Saturn and Orta for Xbox, are equally as good, if not better.
Time Crisis 2 (Arcade, PS2)
Time Crisis did for rail shooters what Guitar Hero did for music games. The cover-mechanic meant that players finally had a shot at beating an arcade shooter with skill, instead of a roll of quarters, while the timer required decisive action and the use of destructible environments. Arcade goers also had the pleasure of force-feedback lightguns, which were accurate to one pixel, to add a dose of realism. Time Crisis 2 took everything that made the original so amazing and pumped it up with better pacing, multiple routes, and, on PS2, and extra set of challenge missions.
Star Fox (SNES)
I’ve seen fan-wars erupt over what genre Star Fox belongs to, but I call it a rail shooter, and an incredibly fine one at that. I was 12 at the time, and when I heard that the toy store at the mall had a demo, I lied to my parents, pedaled ten miles, and played for two straight hours. I lost count of how many times I rented Star Fox, or how many times I beat it after finally making a purchase, but it was just as good on every occasion. The Mode 7 graphics don’t hold up anymore, nor do they need to. The balance of action, pacing, smooth controls, and not to forget an incredibly memorable boss, combine to make Star Fox a timeless classic.
