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Shoot 'em up

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A shoot-em-up (shmup for short in some areas, and also known as arcade shooter, twitch shooter, space shooter, or sometimes simply just shooter, with shoot 'em ups being the most popular subgenre of shooter), is a video game where the player has limited control of their character or machine and the focus is almost entirely on annihilation of their enemies. While the genre can have 3D graphics, the gameplay is almost exclusively in a linear, 2D style. The genre started in the arcades arguably with Space Invaders, and has experienced numerous different games on many formats. The genre still has a following today, with games like Ikaruga. Shoot 'em ups use a player score ranking. As mentioned previously, the genre is a subcategory of the overall shooter genre.

Types of Arcade Shooters/Shmups

These are what most gamers refer to as "shooters". Most games of this style come from the arcade. Some are console specific (e.g. Axelay), but they retain the spirit of the arcade.

Fixed Shooter

A fixed shooter has players only able to control their two-dimensional position on the screen and sometimes the direction they are facing. Fixed shooters have various degrees of movement freedom, sometimes only allowing control on a one dimensional line. Enemies usually also form in a gallery, and the game setup is often in a vertical orientation.

Famous fixed Shumps - Space Invaders, Galaxian, Phoenix and Galaga.

Vertical Scrolling Shooter

The scrolling shooter usually has the player(s) moving automatically through a level at a mostly fixed speed.

Vertical shmups come into two more varieties: tate shmups are those that are played on a vertically oriented monitor, and yoko shmups are those played on a standard horizontal monitor set-up. Tate shmups usually start as arcade games, with custom cabinets. But the screen orientation becomes a serious issue when the game is ported to home consoles with regular TVs.

There are four ways to adapt a tate shmup to home consoles:

  • turning the TV to the side - maximum fidelity to the original game; turning a big CRT TV may damage it.
  • black borders on the sides - hassle-free, but sacrifices screen size.
  • zooming into game area - seriously modifies gameplay; detested by most shmup aficionados.
  • turning it into a horizontal shmup - radically modifies gameplay; very rare, an optional mode in a few games such as Ikaruga.

Famous vertical shmups - Raiden, Ikaruga, 1942, Radiant Silvergun, Star Soldier

Horizontal Scrolling Shooter

Most horizontal shmups are played on a horizontally oriented screen, but there are a few exceptions - such as Darius, which uses more than one monitor to create an extremely long playfield, and Stinger, which uses a vertically oriented screen.

Famous horizontal shmups - Gradius, R-Type, Darius, Thunderforce, Blazing Star

Multi-Scrolling Shooter

Multi-scrollers are a combination of horizontal and vertical oriented shmups.

Famous multi-scrolling shmups - Life Force, Axelay

Tube Shooter

Tube shooters comprises of games where players move forward through a "tube", essentially a 2D scrolling shooter plane rolled into a cylinder or extended to a three dimensional volume. Movement is usually restricted to the ring formed by the edge of the curved plane.

Famous tube shooters - Tempest, Gyruss

Multi-directional Shooter

Multi-directional shooters allow complete freedom of movement (and shooting) in a 2D environment. The playing field may or may not be restriced.

Famous multi-direction shooters - Robotron 2084, Time Pilot, Bosconian, Smash TV, Geometry Wars

3/4 View Shooter

Also known as an isometric shooter; a vertical shooter's playing field is tilted, so that upwards/forwards is diagonal. The player simulates moving diagonally through the scroll. These shmups aren't a popular choice to create, although there have been a handful of popular titles.

Famous 3/4 view shmups - Zaxxon, Viewpoint

Styles of Arcade Shooters/Shmups

Standard

This is the shooter most people think of when they think of a 'Shooter'. Periodical enemies, firing at the player or simply being hazards themselves. This style is the normal amongst many shooter series.

Famous Standard Style Shmups - Anything above.

Bullet Curtain

A bit more obscure than what most people know. While standard shooters generally have a comparably few amount of bullets and a huge hitbox for the player, Bullet Curtain style shooters are the exact opposite. Many bullets fill the screen, while the player has a very small margain at which they are hit. Shmups of this style are almost always 'Vertical shooter' types, however, other types are known to exist.

Famous Bullet Curtain Shmups: The 'Touhou' series, Moedan

Competitive

This style of shooter features two players playing simultaneously. But instead of working together, the two players are trying to outlast and thwart the other player. The field is usually split-screen with a Vertical shooter type.

Famous Competitive Shmups: 'Twinkle Star Sprites'

Non-Arcade Style Shooters/"Action-Shooters"/Other Shooters

Sometimes non-shmups are described as "shooters". Although several of these types of games were released in arcades, these aren't always associated among hardcore shooter lovers as arcade shooters, and because of their non-arcadeish nature are often dubbed "action-shooters". This includes run-and-gun shooters and rail shooters. There are also first-person shooters, and light gun shooters.

Screenshots of Arcade Shooters/Shmups

Horizontal Scrolling Shooters

Vertical Scrolling Shooters

Multi-scrolling Shooters

Tube Shooters

Multi-Directional Shooters

3/4 View Shooters

See also

  • Shmups, Huge archive of shooter listings, including reviews and forums.
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