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What are the best Rail Shooters on the Wii?

cantona222

Member
I need your opinion. I'm in the mood to play a rail shooter game on the Wii using the Wii remote as a gun. Some simple Arcady couch co-op fun. I have these games in mind:
-RE: The umbrella Chronicles
-RE: The Dark side Chronicles
-House of the Dead: Overkill
-Ghost Squad
-Special Air Assault Force/ LA Machineguns Arcade hits

What do you recommend? Let me know if there is another good game I did not mention.
BTW, each game costs around $15 shipped from Amazon. So I think this is a good time to catch up with Wii games.

Edit:
One more question. Is the zapper worth it for such games? A good 3rd party zapper costs $5 from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003WOFXEY/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_smxbub038VXSF.
 

Phil S.

Banned
Darkside Chronicles has A LOT of content, and it's my personal favorite, even not being a huge fan of the actual series. There's some parts where your character has erratic movement, shakiness, but those don't happen enough to ruin the experience.
 
HotD Overkill is fantastic, absolutely loved it.
Ghost Squad is pretty cool, it's arcade origins are very evident, but it's not really a bad thing as long as you know that.

[EDIT]
Also Dead Space: Extraction, if you're a Dead Space fan.
 

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
The Chronicles games are great. They're really meaty experiences for rail shooters, with lots of unlockables and upgrades. They're not bad retellings of the games, either. The RE3 segments are heavily altered, but they're still enjoyable.
 
Sin and Punishment 2.

Of the ones you listed, I liked ghost squad the best, but the RE games have a lot more content.
 

SkyOdin

Member
I'm not sure if it exactly counts as a rail shooter per your definition (since you have to dodge stuff in addition to the pointer-controlled shooting), but Sin and Punishment 2 is an amazing shooter.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Darkside Chronicles is the better of the two RE games

Dead Space was actually really well done

Also it's not a traditional game like those above, but shout out to Sin & Punishment 2
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Umbrella Chronicles for classic arcade fun with a RE skin, Darkside Chronicles for a more cinematic on-rail game with good budget and a number of cinematics, bosses, set-pieces, and a bit of a shakier cam (with a RE skin). HotD Overkill if you want cheesy grindhouse that's simple gameplay wise but over-the-top thematically and story wise, lots of style. Dead Space Extraction if you want a more challenging and coherent darker experience with atmosphere (though some areas rather cheap and finite ammo makes some bosses impossible with certain set-ups making you sometimes need to restart a level).
 
Seconding HoTD 2 & 3 and Overkill. Fantastic games. Sin & Punishment's fantastic, and Dead Space Extraction is a surprisingly awesome ride.

I'm a fan of Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns, myself.
 

Glass Rebel

Member
Sin & Punishment 2 is the best of its genre but closer to Blood Bros. and Wild Guns rather than what you're looking for.
 

cHinzo

Member
Darkside Chronicles had tons of content and was pretty good. Better than Umbrella Chronicles for sure. Thought Ghost Squad was way too short.
 
Ghost Squad was my favorite out of that list. Everything is pretty well done and polished, had a blast in 2-player mode. Never tried 4 player but heard it was pretty fun.

Also there wasn't a huge hassle in using the Z button as fire when using the zapper.
 

D_prOdigy

Member
House of the Dead Overkill sounds like it best serves your desires for kitsch co-op fun.

Dead Space Extraction is certainly an interesting one though.
 
I disagree. Typing of the dead is good, but if you want to play the shooter version, clicking on zombies with a mouse has got nothing on a light gun/wii remote experience.

There surely is a nifty little program out there that lets you use your Wiimote as your mouse. I'm pretty sure of it.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
S&P 2 of course.

come on treasure, you know you want to make another one
 

Durante

Member
Sin and Punishment 2 is one of the games which justify the Wii's existence.

HotD Overkill and Dead Space: Extraction are great fun in local coop.
 

dock

Member
Am I the only one that insists on playing without the cursor?

Gunblade NY is a lot of fun, and all of the Sega games.
 
The games in the OP are lightgun shooters, but Sin and Punishment 2 is a rail shooter, probably the best one in the history of rail shooters.

Don't forget that "House of the Dead 2 and 3 Returns" (a collection of both games) is on the Wii as well.

Get Overkill on PC if you can, that way you can play the Typing version, too.

To be fair, the typing version includes the original lightgun verson, too. But I agree that the game is great on the Wii, especially since it has the pointer.
 

Pikma

Banned
I have two recommendations for you, OP:

1. Sin & Punishment 2
2. Sin & Punishment (N64 Virtual Console)
 

Mdk7

Member
Dead Space Extraction is AWESOME.

And Sin & Punishment 2 is one of the best games of the past generation. :D
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
To be fair, the typing version includes the original lightgun verson, too. But I agree that the game is great on the Wii, especially since it has the pointer.

What I meant was, buy it on PC and skip the Wii version--looks better, more content, plus Typing mode.

I disagree. Typing of the dead is good, but if you want to play the shooter version, clicking on zombies with a mouse has got nothing on a light gun/wii remote experience.

Wiimotes are nice but you're still just moving a cursor around, it's not really comparable to an actual light gun.
 

Ozium

Member
Sin and Punishment 2 is the GOAT Wii rail shooter.

Sin and Punishment 2.

Sin and Punishment 2 is an amazing shooter.

Sin and Punishment 2 (can also download the N64 original)

Sin and Punishment 2 is one of the games which justify the Wii's existence.

CJ8fx.gif


and if I missed anyone saying S&P 2 while posting this, you're awesome too!
 
There are light-gun style games and then there are rail shooters. There's a difference. Rail shooters typically give you control over your character within the rail (Rez being one of the few exceptions), games like Panzer Dragoon, Star Fox, Sin & Punishment. Light gun style games are the ones where you're just shooting, like Virtua Cop, Time Crisis, RE Chronicles.
 
Seeing all the S&P2 posts gives me hope in humanity.

If you're looking for a more traditional light gun experience go for HotD: Overkill. The best the genre has to offer IMO. Also the best version of the game on Wii. PS3 port was janky.
 

delume

Member
House of the Dead is seriously fun. Deserves a place in anyone's collection. Great production values, genuinely funny in places and a shooty rollercoaster ride from HELLLLL!!!!
 

Colombo

Member
Considering the actual good titles have already been named, try Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon. It's a rail shooter but with a cover mechanic. It's not great but it's unique.
 

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
Dead Space is awesome. whether you are a fan or not.
 

JimboJones

Member
I liked umbrella chronicles, it has some really annoying QTE moments though.
It will throw 2 different QTE's at you in two player, made for some frustrating moments where player one does the action correctly but player 2 fails (or vice versa) and so you die and have to try again ... a different button combination to press for both players too when ever it restarts the QTE!

Kinda funny when i think back, the amount of times where say player 1 gets the QTE 3 times perfectly but player 2 fails, then finally player 2 succeeds but then player 1 cocks up lol...ugh!
 
With friends and some drinks, Target Terror for Wii becomes 1 hour of pure hilarious fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7LKusYiupU

I second this just to see the spectacle. But be advised it controls horribly. The crusor movement is slow and choppy. You have to reload by shooting off screen which isn't good when you have to point back to the TV and see where the cursor shows up. There's also no button remapping so you're stuck with the defaults.

Target_-_Terror_Coverart.png
 
House of the Dead: Overkill has more content on PS3 or PC. Not sure if more really is better though. The Wii version has loading issues if you play it off disc (I think it stutters of slows down when it needs to load more). Replay value is a directors cut mode which changes levels. The dialogue has a lot of swearing (it becomes amusing) which some people might find offensive.

LA Machineguns Arcade hits is very short so I'd put in the bottom of the list.

Ghost Squad is short but has good replay value with multiple paths through stages and funny modes to unlock (the water pistol one with all the enemies wearing swimming trunks is an example).

Dead Space Extraction is pretty long and so might be less action packed. It is atmospheric though.
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
I need your opinion. I'm in the mood to play a rail shooter game on the Wii using the Wii remote as a gun. Some simple Arcady couch co-op fun. I have these games in mind:
-RE: The umbrella Chronicles
-RE: The Dark side Chronicles
-House of the Dead: Overkill
-Ghost Squad
-Special Air Assault Force/ LA Machineguns Arcade hits

What do you recommend? Let me know if there is another good game I did not mention.
BTW, each game costs around $15 shipped from Amazon. So I think this is a good time to catch up with Wii games.

My takes:
Umbrella chronicles is the best onrail shooter if you are interested in unlockable, secrets and storylines. It is an incredible spinoff for a RE fan.

HotD is the best "classic but brand new" onrail shooter. you'll find the classic gameplay of an onrail shooter, very arcade-ish, with brand new contents.

Darkside chronicles: the best onrail shooter visual-wise. incredible graphic for a Wii.

Don't forget: Dead Space Extraction: the best onrail shooter gameplay-wise. it has amazing controls and uses for the remote, included in a very solid story.
 
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