12.9. Rail Shooter
Rail Shooters feature a “behind-the-shoulder” perspective, combining the free movement of V-SHMUPs with the 3D that defines Gallery Shooters.
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History
A Decade of Dominance (1980s)
As far as I can tell, there seems to have been no stopping Sega when it came to the first ten years of Rail Shooters. The earliest example I can seem to find is their Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom (1982), whose legacy to the subgenre is presumably obscured due to problems with licensing and rereleases.
With Yu Suzuki's work at the company, though, Rail Shooters would truly blossom. Space Harrier (1985) and After Burner (1987) would be the decisive model for others to follow. Other notable releases from Sega include the excellent Galaxy Force (1988) and Thunder Blade (1987), the latter of which seamlessly transitioned between V-SHMUP and Rail Shooter gameplay.
- Overall, this is a subgenre linked heavily with technological evolution, because lots of these arcade cabinets had the vibrating and weird controls and whatnot
Others of Note
Outside of Sega? There's something interesting about Devastators (Konami, 1988), where gameplay is on foot but still over-the-shoulder (almost like an early TPS!). Aqua Jack (Taito, 1989) is also very competent, limiting a traditionally free range of movement to navigating with a physics-based hovercraft.
RESEARCH MORE:
- What's up with Laserdisc games at the time?
- Look here: greatestgames.substack.com/p/the-classic-arcade-and-console-era-2b7
Transition to 3D (1990s)
For many Rail Shooter developers, the first half of the 1990s was still a tricky and experimental time. The seminal Xevious franchise briefly came to Rail Shooters in the form of Solvalou (Namco, 1991), and while not particularly notable for its gameplay, it used full polygons with a first-person perspective rather than the sprite scaling we have seen before. Games like Total Eclipse (Crystal Dynamics, 1994) and Soulstar (Core Design, 1994) both made attempts at richer, narrative-driven experiences but were bogged down by gameplay reminiscent of the Laserdisc days.
However, someone out there had the technical ability to challenge Sega's dominance of the subgenre. Argonaut Games, a British developer, had somehow managed to fit a 3D experience on Nintendo's Game Boy with X (1992). While X only released in Japan, it set the stage for the Super FX chip and Star Fox (1993) for the SNES. Sega wasn't necessarily out for the count, though, as the Saturn released with Panzer Dragoon (1995) and Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (1996) following soon after. Nintendo fired back with Star Fox 64 (1997), which is arguably the most well-known game in the entire subgenre.
The period that immediately followed seemed to be the first widespread Renaissance for the subgenre, with competent developers bringing a variety of ideas to the latter half of the 1990s:
- Treasure, the legendary group who had already found success with other Arcade Shooting subgenres, released the masterpiece of Sin & Punishment in 2000, though it unfortunately only came out in Japan and at the tail-end of the N64's lifespan
- United Game Artists, a division of Sega, released the synesthetic, trance-inducing Rez in 2001
- Gamera 2000 (Surveyor Corp., 1997), Omega Boost (Polyphony Digital, 1999), and Vanark (Bit Town, 1999) all showed some promise, too
Slow Death
Ultimately, I think those two dominant franchises embody the challenges Rail Shooters faced.
Rather than Panzer Dragoon seeing a traditional third sequel, the follow-up to Zwei was Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998), an RPG instead of a Rail Shooter. It's an unbelievably good game, but it saw a difficult development cycle and a release with little fanfare. By the time the next Panzer Dragoon came out with the original style, Orta (Smilebit, 2002), it was after the original team was disbanded and after Sega stopped manufacturing their own consoles.
Meanwhile, Star Fox had a similarly rocky story post-N64. The next release, Assault (2005), had its development outsourced to Namco and itself featured a mix of some on-foot TPS segments. Star Fox Command (Q-Games, 2007) on the DS incorporated strategy mechanics and then laid dormant as a series for nearly a decade after. When Star Fox Zero (PlatinumGames, 2016) released, it was criticized for gimmicky controls. Over and over, it seemed like Star Fox was trying to break away from the subgenre but couldn't ever quite stick the landing.
What else was there? Silent Iron (Phoenix Games, 2003), and the very unusual Killer7 (Grasshopper, 2005) which might not even be part of this subgenre.
- The new wave of downloadable digital titles was a boon for the Arcade Class more generally, which Sega took advantage of with After Burner Climax (2006)
Really, there are only two other incredible mainstream standouts, both of which are contenders for the best in the subgenre (or some of the best games ever?)
- A long awaited Wii followup, Treasure's Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (2009)
- Masahiro Sakurai reimagining the long-dormant Kid Icarus franchise with Kid Icarus: Uprising (2012), which seemed like the perfect modernization of the subgenre while being tarred by the control limitations of a handheld console
Anyway... then it's all indies. Ex-Zodiac (MNKY, 2022), Mirage Feathers (Oyasumi Workshop, 2024), , and so on. But with a recent remake of Star Fox 64, who knows...?
Super Subgenres
Don't think there are any major ones of note - though perhaps there could have been if any of the attempts to incorporate other genres were successful.
Alternates
There is not much to find here. Even the impact of Perspective is limited to Isometric super-scaling or full 3D.
A small - very small - number of games exist with Modifiers:
- Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo, 2019) adds Rhythm.
- Whisker Squadron: Survivor (Flippfly LLC, 2024) and Rogue Flight (Truant Pixel, 2024) add Roguelike.