GameOn - Shmups - Space Harrier 2

Watching some of the videos of Space Harrier 2 brought a sense of nostalgia of childhood back.

Source: Youtube Channel ACESpark

It was (and kinda still is) amazing seeing the illusion of 3D perspective of running on the planet at a fast pace and fighting monsters that can appear far and close.  Space Harrier 2 is of a sub-genre of Shmups called "Rail Shooters".  The screen moves on its own while the player shoots at whatever is on the screen that's incoming while moving their character around (if there is one) to avoid enemy fire.  It was so fun playing Space Harrier 2 flying around and running at a crazy speed while mowing down all sorts of weird enemies while avoid incoming pillars and obstacles.  Rail Shooters are more synonymous to arcades and so we don't see that many Rail Shooters on home consoles (though more of the gun shooters are still around such as Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles, Dead Space Extraction, and House of the Dead: Overkill).  Rail Shooters are unique in that they're more 3-dimensional more on the Y-axis and Z-axis than the Y-axis and X-axis (if you look at it in more of a grid format).  But one of the things that really got me pumped up for Space Harrier 2 was its catchy music.  The main theme for Space Harrier 1 and 2 is like 4 minutes long, which is an incredible length for games back then.  If you're interested in Rail Shooters such as this one, look for Sin and Punishment: Star Successor or Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (both on Wii).  I think both utilize the motion controller to aim.  Rail Shooters are rare these days, but they have a certain charm to them compared to other Shmups.