One of the nice things about being an outspoken fan of a niche genre like rail-shooters is that, now and then, someone makes one and sends it to you. Such is the case with Candy Rangers from solo-dev Mechano. While I went in completely blind, it was hard not to be immediately charmed by this highly original take on gallery style rail-shooters.

You play as a group of four rangers who set out to fight the Unna, a corrupt group of monsters roaming the world. The game is presented from a primarily isometric perspective. Your four rangers automatically march forward along a course leaving you in control of a crosshair. Each ranger’s weapon has a unique color and is tied to the A, B, X, or Y button. Different weapons ricochet off enemies in different directions. For example the red gun ricochets to the left and right after hitting an enemy. So if you’re approached by a line of enemies in a horizontal formation, shooting them with the red gun will quickly defeat them. The ideal weapon type is shown by a circular overlay on top of enemies that displays a color that also corresponds to the location of its assigned button. It took me a moment to get a hold of and I will note that without any colorblindness settings I was relying primarily on placement of the indicator for certain colors. It would be nice to be able to set my own colors but the indicator can be read without them.

As you get accustomed to blasting away large groups of enemies with optimal weapon choice, the game quickly begins throwing new mechanics at you. While your characters move automatically, you do get access to a dash and a brief stop which you can use to dodge hazards. You can also jump, double jump, and parry certain attacks. All of these actions are assigned to the triggers and bumpers. It is a lot to keep track of in the chaos of later stages but when you do manage to get a feel for it, it becomes extremely satisfying managing everything at once.

Progression is handled by a world map with occasional gates built around collecting medals in each stage. Some of these require replaying levels as they will occasionally be placed along diverging paths so it is impossible to get them in a single run, even if played perfectly. I’m not a big fan of slowing progression like this in highly arcade style games but Candy Rangers does it very sparingly. Oftentimes just for the last couple stages in an area.

Candy Rangers just feels good to play. Simple clean visuals are accompanied by an incredible soundtrack that at times feels like a middle ground between Sonic Adventure and Pilotwings 64. The whole experience is buttery smooth and pretty snappy. This is a unique rail-shooter with a lot of legitimately new ideas that I’ve never seen elsewhere. There are some mild colorblindness issues to be aware of if that is relevant to you, and now and then progression feels a little padded, but it is hard to complain too much when Candy Rangers is doing so many new things and doing them well.