No game that made rails an integral part of the level design managed to pull it off well though - the amount of times the rail switching in SA2 has fucked up for me, especially in Final Rush. I am very good at the game, I know I want to move from A rail to B rail and I press the input to do it... It should work, not risk having me fly vertically down off the rail and into the abyss.
IN SA2, I used to just jump from rail to rail instead of using the proper mechanic just to reduce risks of falling down due to said input.
The trick i've found is so long as you aren't holding the crouch button, you will switch rails just fine in SA2. in hindsight, i think this works out as it gives you a reason to not just hold the crouch button the whole way through.
Tbh, I think the only place rails really don't work unless you're at a crawl in sa2 is the huge circular part in final rush. Just watch my video, you can see me struggling to use those rails.
