Keepin' It Rail: The 10 Best Light-Gun Shooters Of All Time

Breaking news: First-person shooters pretty much dominate the industry today. So much so that if you don’t have one in your rotation right now, then you’re not a gamer in 2011. It’s as simple as that. And sure, we get it. FPSes are awesome. But you know what’s also awesome? LIGHT GUN RAIL SHOOTERS. You know the kinds of games we’re talking about here, people; the ones where you used to constantly point your gun to the floor so you could, reload, reload, reload! Yeah, those games were the shiiiiit. Scratch that, they still ARE the shit, and even though they're rarer than steak tartare, we still love them, and so we rounded up the the 10 best light-gun rail shooters we've ever played. Duke Nukem ain’t got shit on these titles.

By Rich Knight

One of the granddaddies of them all, this game surpasses other games of its era like Operation Wolf, mainly because it left more of an imprint on the genre. Who DIDN’T have this game packaged with Super Mario Bros. (And, if you were lucky, World Class Track Meet, too) for their NES? The concept of the game was simple. Shoot the ducks and try to hit them all. And for the ones you missed, your dog would pop out and laugh at you. Man’s best friend, our ass.

Shooting masked baddies in the face? Good. Shooting innocent bystanders in the face who would stand up like idiots when bullets were flying? Also good—they deserved it—but you lost lives when you did it. Thus was Lethal Enforcers, which also had a subpar Wild West follow-up that wasn’t nearly as good as the original. The beauty of this title was that it was so hectic at times that it was sometimes hard to keep track of reloading and hitting with accuracy at the same time. Oh, and it was also a two-player game...except 2P had to use a pink gun. That’s what people get for coming to the arcade late!

People often dismiss Area 51 and its spiritual successor, Maximum Force, as being cheesy arcade garbage—and we can't disagree with those who would call it cheesy. It was. The cut scenes were laughable, the bad acting was a joke, and the way the aliens were dressed up in orange and green jumpsuits was utterly ridiculous. So, yeah, it was cheesy. But it was not garbage. With a second player, this game was an absolute blast. And it truly WAS on rails, because you would have to stay in specific locations and shoot all the aliens before you could ever move on. Simple, yes, but also extremely satisfying. We miss these kinds of games today dearly. Aw, screw it, we miss the arcade in general! Playing at home just isn’t the same. Teardrop.

A light gun shooter that consists of nothing but minigames? How was this game not more popular in the arcades? In a lot of ways, this was a light gun version of the Wario Ware series, though, nowhere near as wacky. The whole game consisted of timed missions like shooting floating balls or paper cutouts of bad guys. You would also have to rush through all of the games and be as accurate as possible. Needless to say, it led to a lot of wet wifebeaters back in the day from us sweating in the arcades from all the pressure. Oh, and lots of swearing. Lots and lots of swearing. As cartoony as it was, that shit was tough! Not for the faint of firing on a clock.

Fulfilling all of our Saving Private Ryan Barry Pepper sniper rifle fantasies was Silent Scope, where we were actually able to get behind a scope and fire at enemies at will. The gameplay was intense, as you weren’t allowed to take as much time as a typical sniper would be allowed—but you also couldn’t rush too much if you wanted to get those much appreciated head shots. It was a lot of give and take, which was different for an arcade shooter at the time, and fun, too. And you truly had to use the scope as well, so none of that quickscoping nonsense you see in FPSes today.

Sure, the threequel had shotguns, but it didn’t have levels and pacing as great as the second one, which also had another spiritual successor that involved typing the zombies to death rather than shooting them. Think we’re joking? We’re not. What was so great about this one, though, was the variety and spontaneity of the different kinds of ghouls that would come after you. Some would flip all over the place, while others would lumber toward you and then break into a run, which all made for some nerve-racking shooting. And the voice acting…well, it was in a league of its own. In a bad way, but that’s what made it so great. G needs help!

Destroying the Death Star from Star Wars: A New Hope? Check. Blasting AT-AT Walkers on Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back? Got it. Shooting from a speeder bike on Endor from Return of the Jedi? You bet your ass that’s in this game, too. Hell, they even doubled the joystick as a lightsaber on bonus stages to deflect blasts from Boba Fett and battle Darth Vader himself. How could this game NOT be one of the greatest light-gun rail shooters of all time? A monument to Star Wars fans and light gun lovers alike, this sit-down (or stand-up) shooter was the kind of game that could only really work in the arcade. And wouldn’t you know it, there were no home ports of the game. Take that, couch jockeys!

Just like Virtua Fighter, we’re not quite sure why this barebones title is so enthralling to us, especially since it doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as the other titles on this list. It’s just a really satisfying shooter that one-ups its predecessor in every way. The levels are simplistic, and it doesn’t require much skill besides being the fastest gun in town, but damn it, we love Virtua Cop 2. Mainly for its simplicity, but also its stirring gameplay. It just seems to make sense to us. Aim, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, reload! Wash, rinse, repeat. We heart this game.

Gunblade NY is all about flying around and blowing shit up with a machine gun, great aiming not required. Basically, you manned a machine gun that would shake and rattle ridiculously while you fired it, and aimed it bad guys who would flip around and shoot back at you. It made absolutely no sense, but that’s what was so dope about it—just flying around and blowing seemingly mechanical terrorists away. No other arcade game matched the excitement of this title. Maybe it was the stellar camera, which would swoop around and come back to enemies you missed, allowing you to fire at any bastards you didn’t hit before. Or maybe it was just the pulse pounding feel of the machine gun on our fingers after we left it to play Mortal Kombat or something. Whatever it was, this is one of the best light-gun shooters of all time and one that we still fondly remember today. Ah, memories.

But if you want to talk REALLY fond memories of light gun shooters, then it's a no-brainer. This arcade gem was best played with two players, because unlike other co-op rail shooters, your partner would actually sometimes diverge and go on different paths, only to come back and provide you with cover while you reloaded. It was an excellent idea that appeared in its other two sequels, which were also good, but not nearly as innovative (even with the option of multiple loadouts). And let's not forget the pedal feature that was introduced in the first game. Before this title, reloading in other games always involved you shooting off to the side of the screen, but in this game, when you reloaded, you would also duck for cover, so it took a load off of the arms while also adding an extra element of strategy. We loved it. If the Call of Duty series is the pinnacle of FPSes (And yes, we’re well aware that many would debate that claim), then the Time Crisis series is the Call of Duty of light-gun rail shooters. There’s nothing else even close to it.