Rail Shooters

[kallbrand]

I'm currently really enjoying sin & punishment (just discovered how far n64 emulation has come just now) and the original snes starfox... so what other good rail shooters and similar games are there besides the obvious recommendations (panzer dragoon, etc) , any hidden gems? I'm interested in arcadey flight and space sims too... colony wars? 8)

[Yakumo]

How about Rail Chase 1 and 2 ? Rail Chase one can be played on mame.

Yakumo

[SharkSkin-Man]

Gamera 2000 and Omega Boost are OK if you like that kind of thing.

[Applefiend]

If it's not too obvious Namco Star Blade is awesome. Available for Mame, 3DO, and if you play Tekken 5 on PS2 and finish on all the fighters it unlocks the game for free.

[Matteh]

Starblade is also on the SegaCD isnt it? Theres a listing for it on ign but I dunno if its the same one.

[Applefiend]

Googled it, here's a picture

http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/scans3/starblade.jpg

That's the one. PS1 also.

[Duddyroar]

The Mega CD version of Starblade is terrible, it's like playing the original through the bottom of a milk bottle. Avoid.

[Matteh]

Cheers for the link applefied.

And whats bad about the megacd verision of starblade duddyroar? I'll probally just get the playstation verision. Didnt release it was on the playstation actually. Thought it was just on the 3DO and SegaCD.

And forgive my ignorance, but it meant by the term "rail shooters"?

[Applefiend]

You have no real freedom of movement and follow a predestined path. It's kinda like being on a rollercoaster ride with a gun, happens every day in america.

I played the 3D0 version to death. It's funny, the more I think back on it, the more I realise I had a killer time with my 3D0. Damn the haters...

[Samurai Matt]

cheers. Does that inculde Light gun games like house of the dead and time crisis etc?

So is the PS1 verision of starblade the same as the 3DO verision?

[Molloy]

Is Elemental Gearbolt (the lightgun railshooter) on the PSOne any cop? Always wanted to play that.

[Rebelli0n]

doesn't the PS1 version of starblade have a remixed mode with an improved texture mapped CG backdrop video playing, with textured 3d enemies, in addition to the original Flatshade version.

These games might be short lived, but Starblade in the arcades, in it's time was an awesome experience. I'he never played it, but Galaxian 3 also looked like a great blast.

Also does the original Silpheed count ? I still like to pop that on the MegaCD from time to time (ok, i know tecnically the original silpheed was a PC88 game ).

Silpheed on the MCD is an odd one, it's not strictly playing video in the background, but yet, nor is it playing realtime 3d, it's sort of streaming poly coords from the disc. Basically the bulk of the 3d calculations have been precalced, and then are streamed from CD and rendered in the frame buffer as it goes.

it couldn't do those 3d visuals in a proper 3d real time game. (if it could, why even bother with the 32x) .

It is of course doing the Stuff on the top layer in real time

[buster_broon]

doesn't the PS1 version of starblade have a remixed mode with an improved texture mapped CG backdrop video playing, with textured 3d enemies, in addition to the original Flatshade version.

Starblade in the arcades, in it's time was an awesome experience,

i still like it and you get a wee shot at the loading screen on Tekken 5

smashing

[Silanda]

doesn't the PS1 version of starblade have a remixed mode with an improved texture mapped CG backdrop video playing, with textured 3d enemies, in addition to the original Flatshade version.

The 3DO version has this too.

Silpheed on the MCD is an odd one, it's not strictly playing video in the background, but yet, nor is it playing realtime 3d, it's sort of streaming poly coords from the disc. Basically the bulk of the 3d calculations have been precalced, and then are streamed from CD and rendered in the frame buffer as it goes.

Isn't there still some argument over how it is done, or has the question been answered conclusively? Personally I think it is simply streamed video of CG that was originally rendered using the MCD's colour pallete to avoid artifacts, how you describe it being done is much cooler though.

[Rebelli0n]

The 3DO version has this too.



Isn't there still some argument over how it is done, or has the question been answered conclusively? Personally I think it is simply streamed video of CG that was originally rendered using the MCD's colour pallete to avoid artifacts, how you describe it being done is much cooler though.

Quite possibly yeah. I admit i don't have the catorogorical proof .
it's obviously not any form of mpeg or similar style compression codec. The 3d parts are way too clean.

Rendering the video Using the megadrive colour pallate wouldn't avoid artifacts, as compression artifacts are independent from the palatte used , they are result of the reduction of information in the video, with a lossy codec.

However, it could be argued it's using some form of lossless compression, that because it's all flatshaded, and low colour (and yeah rendering it out in native pallate would help here) it maybe is effecient/low bandwidth enough to be viable on the megaCD. on the flip side, You could argue that the polygon method is itself a form of video compression.

I don't know though, you look at a screengrab like this:


and what i've said before about the polys, seems unlikely. Unless it's possibly a mix of both techniques. I'm 99% sure it's something cleverer than just streaming video. but i may be wrong

but, what ever it is, you can't go far wrong thinking of it as video really, it's only the people who think it's a shining example of why the megaCD is a misunderstood 3d powerhouse who are wrong (e.g. whoever wrote the current wikimedia silpheed page )

I really do recall reading several things saying it was done the polystreaming way in the past, but i can't prove it or anything

I recall various amiga demos that would play several minutes of video, from one or two 880k floppy disks (State of the art, 9 fingers) and those were done the way i've said (based on interviews with the coders in diskmags). it is a real technique, rather than the product of my deluded psyche