Rail shooters

gennss · Post by **gennss** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:24 am

why are rail shooters not considered shmups?

Aru-san · Post by **Aru-san** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:36 am

Rail shooters akin to that of, for example, the House of the Dead or Rez?

gennss · Post by **gennss** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:41 am

rez, panzer dragoon, starfox, etc.

i think they're considered borderline? true?

clp · Post by **clp** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:43 am

whats it matter ?

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:45 am

Shmumps in a Bump is narrowly defined because the three kids who decided to resurrect the stupid word ten years ago and control the definition happen to like a particular variety of 2D shooting game.

borderline

BORDERLINE

rez, panzer dragoon, starfox, etc.

3D SHOOTINGU

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:47 am

I really would consider Star Fox a 3D shoot 'em up, not a rail shooter.

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:12 am

Compare Starfox to something like DoDonPachi... not that similar, apart from the spaceships and the fact that bullets are being fired.

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:26 am

gennss wrote:rez, panzer dragoon, starfox, etc.

i think they're considered borderline? true?

Not at all. They are far beyond the border.

Off we go to off-topic.

gennss · Post by **gennss** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:29 pm

I mean when I played starfox other than maneuvering you're pretty much on rails, same as the others.

Reason I'm asking is I played an interesting rail shooter on xbla (demo) last night. Got a decent score and considered registering it. lots of shooting action. good rails, good maneuverability, lots of bullets.

Observer · Post by **Observer** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:48 pm

gennss wrote:I mean when I played starfox other than maneuvering you're pretty much on rails, same as the others.

Reason I'm asking is I played an interesting rail shooter on xbla (demo) last night. Got a decent score and considered registering it. lots of shooting action. good rails, good maneuverability, lots of bullets.

Wouldn't you mind to mention the name of said rail shooter? (I'm a fan of this kind of shooters, especially if they incorporate a lock-on system ala RayForce/Layer Section)

I also think that some rail shooters (not all of them) come 'close' to a regular stg. I'll pull the obvious and typical example: Omega Boost. You are placed inside a 3D spherical battle arena and released to fight the waves of enemies who sometimes end up covering it all in bullets, missiles barrages and what not. It even has 'tube' shooting sections (the Time Shaft stages, which include colliding with walls and other object) and a couple that put you literally into 3D pseudo-danmaku fights (the giant regenerating robot prior to the last level and the level 7 boss).

Screenshot attached (normal difficulty, in hard you probably have to multiply by 2 or 3 the amount of flak and you get a nice expansion wave-like bullet pattern, he also has a three bullet wide-spread pattern and a boomerang-like energy attack):

Yes, I know I'm repeating myself... I just love this damn game and wouldn't mind to get a second part or at least a spiritual sucessor.

kengou · Post by **kengou** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:32 pm

I'd say that rail shooters in which you dodge bullets are pretty darn close to a shmup. Star Fox and Sin & Punishment come readily to mind. They feel more like 3D Shmups than something else. I still wouldn't put them into the catagory of "shmup" simply because that word refers (for me, at least) to the genre of 2D scrolling shoot-em-ups. Rail shooters aren't really in that catagory, since they're 3D.

FIL · Post by **FIL** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:56 pm

I thought this was going to be another thread about trains in shmups.

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:10 pm

so naturally you clicked on it...

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:37 pm

gennss wrote:I mean when I played starfox other than maneuvering you're pretty much on rails, same as the others.

I mean when I play [any 2D shoot 'me up] other than maneuvering you're pretty much on rails, same as the others.

Herr Schatten wrote:Off we go to off-topic.

And Space Invaders Extreme isn't? Oh, you silly billies.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:50 pm

You might recall Novastorm for both the PC and PSX. That was another rail-based shooter.

And how about Namco's Lucky and Wild arcade driving and light gun shooting cabinet? Or Sega's Rail Chase or Rail Chase II deluxe full hydualic-motion induced shooting games?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Ruldra · Post by **Ruldra** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:33 pm

A bit off-topic, but I've always been curious why In the Hunt isn't considered a shmup (there's even a review about it on the main site), yet there's a Kiki Kaikai hi-score thread, and that one certainly isn't a shmup.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:43 pm

who doesn`t consider In The Hunt a shmup? It's a shmup to me, even with the lack of forced scroll.

Ruldra · Post by **Ruldra** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:04 pm

I remember reading around here somewhere that In the Hunt is considered a borderliner. Also, there isn't a hi-score thread of it, so I presumed that it isn't considered a shmup on this board.

If that's not true, then I could start a thread right away

UnscathedFlyingObject · Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:42 pm

Rail Shooters are not considered Shmups because they are Rail Shooters. Just like an apple is not considered an orange.

Different terms exist to differentiate different kind of games. We could just call them all games.

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:34 pm

Auto-scroll is just a 2D rail shooter.

That's why Out Zone and Metal Slug are better.

And Space Invaders Extreme isn't? Oh, you silly billies.

It's a neo proto post shchlunt.

FIL · Post by **FIL** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:55 pm

I thought it was static revival.

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:16 am

Avante Golden Age

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:22 am

TEMPEST is a rail shooter, correct? Xyanide?

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:39 am

Web Shooter. Do not mention it again or this thread will be banished to the dungeon below Off-Topic. Only qual -ity for shmups.com.

nimitz · Post by **nimitz** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:41 am

If In the hunt isn't a shmup, then is Defender a shmup?

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:48 am

Defender a shmup

Perpetual strata shnamp.

Observer · Post by **Observer** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:12 am

And Robotron or Geometry Wars? For some reason I wonder what they are, especially because Geometry Wars has a topic at the shmup discussion.

No_not_like_Quake · Post by **No_not_like_Quake** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:45 am

shooting game

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:49 am

Space Giraffe.

gennss · Post by **gennss** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:28 pm

eep i was just curious because i didnt understand the speration, to me a rail shooter is just a washington apple rather than a common apple. just tastes a little different