Ah, trains. The Iron Horse, an enduring symbol of the untamed frontier. While trains aren't the most efficient means of travel these days, there's a certain romance to coal engines that provides an enduring appeal. Trains are a symbol of power, perseverance, and fierce progress, whether they be locomotives, bullet trains, maglev trains, or hellfire-belching specters from beyond (the last of which happens weirdly often).
Trains may not be quite as plentiful in games as modern vehicles like cars, planes, or spacecraft, but that just makes the trains that do show up all the more impressive, doubly so when they're tricked out with special features like lavish living quarters or heavy artillery.
10 The Infernal Train - Alice: Madness Returns
When Alice returns to Wonderland in Alice: Madness Returns, she's surprised to see the realm even more fragmented than usual. This is due to the appearance of the Infernal Train, a gigantic cathedral/train hybrid that storms throughout Wonderland, spreading the effects of the Ruin under the orders of the Dollmaker.
The Infernal Train, like most of Wonderland, is a metaphor for Alice's mental state. Specifically, it's in reference to Dr. Bumby's efforts to erase Alice's memory and personality through hypnosis and abuse. Ironically, in the real world, it was a train that ultimately caused Dr. Bumby's death after Alice pushed him in front of one.
9 Wartrain Gouon - Bayonetta 3
Over the course of her career as an Umbran Witch, Bayonetta has tangoed with all manner of Infernal Demons, from giant dragons to infinite disembodied fists. In Bayonetta 3, during her jaunt through the multiverse, Bayonetta strikes up a bargain with perhaps one of the strangest demons she's ever seen: Wartrain Gouon, Charger of the Crimson Rim.
While this demonic locomotive is confined to its tracks, the tracks themselves can go absolutely anywhere, flying through the sky with hellfire blazing behind them. The Gouon is equipped with an impressive bevy of ballistic weaponry, not to mention gigantic side-mounted chainsaws. When it's in a feisty mood, the front pops open, revealing an enormous gaping maw.
8 The Number Nine - Grim Fandango
In the depiction of the afterlife shown in Grim Fandango, every departed soul needs to undertake a nine-year journey to reach the ninth underworld, the Land of Eternal Rest. It's a grueling journey to undertake on foot, but that's not the only option available. Through a combination of good karma and leftover funds a deceased soul was buried with, they can secure alternative means of travel.
These alternative means include a sports car, a luxury cruise, and for the goodest of the good, a seat on the Number Nine express train. The Number Nine shoots from the start of the underworld all the way to the Land of Eternal Rest in a mere nine minutes. Of course, anyone who attempts to cheat the system and ride with a fake ticket gets a one-way trip to the fiery depths.
7 Spirit Train - The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Long ago, the spirits of all things good and just in the world created a marvelous machine that could act as their avatar and chariot in times of need. This machine was the Spirit Train, and it was kept in the care of the Lokomo Tribe until Link and Zelda unsealed it in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Anjean, a Lokomo representative, loaned the train out to the duo to aid in their quest to restore Hyrule's fading Spirit Tracks and prevent the resurrection of the Demon King Malladus.
Not only is the main Spirit Engine extraordinarily tough and fast, but it can be equipped with a variety of different utility Train Cars, including cannons, passenger cars, and freight haulers. Link can also give the whistle a toot to empower the engine, allowing the Spirit Train to zoom down the tracks at high speed.
6 Barrel Train - Mario Kart Series
Through means that have long remained mysterious, Donkey Kong and his family seem to have the ability to fashion all manner of devices and vehicles from simple wooden barrels. One of the more stylish creations from this process has made several appearances throughout the Mario Kart series: the Barrel Train.
This heavy racer is equipped with a total of six wheels, plus a front-mounted steam engine. It's a bit on the heavy side, so it doesn't turn very well, but once it gets going on a straightaway, it's borderline unstoppable, particularly in the hands of an equally heavy racer like DK or Bowser.
5 Forever Train - Star Fox 64
Let nobody say that Andross' army doesn't know a thing or two about innovation. In Star Fox 64, the planet Macbeth serves as one of Andross' primary hubs of military development, churning out the many weapons and craft used to attack the Lylat System. Resistance fighters are aware of this, but the problem is that all weapons are stored on the Forever Train, an enormous locomotive that never stops rolling.
When the Star Fox team lands on Macbeth, they attack the Forever Train and its guards to stop the weapon shipment, prompting the conductor to deploy the train's secret weapon: Mechbeth, a flying drone tethered to the train itself. Unfortunately for the conductor, he wasn't paying attention when the team switched his track lines to the local fuel depot, which the train promptly plowed right into.
4 Excess Express - Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Long-haul passenger trains have never been the most comfortable way to travel. They're cramped, they're loud, and they never stop shaking. The Excess Express seen in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, however, is the art of passenger trains perfected. This gold-plated marvel of engineering features the latest technology and five-star accommodations for those lucky enough to ride.
Every passenger on the Excess Express gets a surprisingly roomy compartment to sleep in, plus access to a lavish dining room and a convenient onboard shop. It truly is one of the best ways to travel in the region, which is why it's a shame the passengers and crew got wrapped up in an elaborate whodunnit.
3 Razor Train - Half-Life 2
When the Combine first started setting up shop on Earth between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2, they wasted no time in establishing infrastructure lines for themselves. The key to these lines is the Combine's main form of long-distance terrestrial transport, the Razor Trains. These diesel-powered monsters are massive and almost monolithic, hauling troops to the battlefield and prisoners to their doom.
The Razor Trains don't feature any kind of weaponry, but they don't really need to. Due to a combination of the speed they run at and their thick, sloped design, they are virtually impossible to derail. Anything that gets a bright idea to stand in a Razor Train's way usually ends up a wet smear on the tracks.
2 Tommy - Killer Is Dead
Various world mythologies posit that inanimate objects, when well cared for, will take on lives of their own once their usage has ended. Apparently, though, that concept also applies to things that have been abandoned and neglected, because in Suda51's stylish cult classic, Killer is Dead, the TM-55 (also known as Tommy) is one seriously ticked-off steam engine.
Abandoned in a train yard after its age ended, a twinge of Dark Matter transformed the lurking grudge of this train into a massive railway monster. Driven by an engine powered by pure hatred, Tommy carves a path of fiery destruction through the countryside as revenge for its abandonment, necessitating a hit from Mondo and company.
1 The Green Train - Mother 3
Following the time skip in Mother 3, the Pigmasks establish a railway system to ferry workers from Tazmilly Village to the Clayman Factory. Lucas and company need to ride this train a few times over the course of the story, though each time they do, the conductor asks if they'd like to ride the green train instead of the usual brown one.
To ride the green train, you have to pay an inflated price tag, but in return for that, you get... the experience of having ridden a green train. The ride is almost identical to the brown train, but when Lucas gets off, he reflects for a moment about getting to ride in a green train. Truly majestic.