NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Shoot 'em up

A shoot 'em up (or shmup for short) is a computer and video game genre in which the player controls a vehicle or character and fights large numbers of enemies with shooting attacks, usually of a highly stylized nature. In Japan, where the genre remains most alive, they are known simply as "shooting games" (シューティングゲーム). It has same meaning as "shooter games" in English-speaking countries, and it is not limited to shoot 'em ups. However, many Japanese gamers think shoot 'em ups when they hear "shooting games". During the peak of their popularity, they were commonly called simple shooters, but as games broke into three dimensions, this term came to be more inclusive. Image File history File links Mergefrom. ... A run and gun (also known as run n gun or for some variants, overhead shooter) is a sub-genre of video games that incorporates elements from shoot em up games and platform games. ... Scrolling shooters are a type of video game, a subgenre of shoot em up . ... Grand Theft Auto A top-down shooter (sometimes shortened to TDS, and also known as a top-view shooter) is a genre of computer and video games in which the player is displayed from above, or a top-down perspective. ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Michael Davis or Mike Davis may refer to: Michael Davis (philosopher), (born 1943) author, Professor of Philosophy at Illinois Institute of Technology, areas of interest: philosophy of law, applied ethics, political philosophy, and moral theory Michael Davis (philosopher), (born 1943) author, Professor of Philosophy at Sarah Lawrence College, areas of... Shoot Em Up is a 2007 action/thriller film written and directed by Michael Davis. ... Screenshot from the arcade game Galaga, stage one. ... Galaga is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1981 (and also licensed to Midway). ... This article is about Namco, a Japanese leisure company and game developer. ... 1981 1981 in games 1980 in video gaming 1982 in video gaming Notable events of 1981 in computer and video games. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Shooter games cover a fairly broad spectrum of sub-genres that have the commonality of controlling a character who is usually armed with a firearm that can be freely aimed. ...

Shoot 'em ups originated in the arcades with Space Invaders usually being credited with the genre's birth. They peaked in popularity during the late 80s and early 90s, primarily as arcade and console titles. As the use of 3D graphics became more common in video games, the simplicity and arcade sensibilities of the genre slowly relegated their popularity to that of a niche. Today the genre still retains a small but loyal following, particularly among Japanese arcade goers, and there are still a number of companies devoted to their development. Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... Space Invaders ) is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978. ... Game console redirects here. ... The rewrite of this article is being devised at Talk:3D computer graphics/Temp. ...

While these games often appear very similar, and indeed the genre is steeped in rigid convention, there are many diverse schools of design, ranging from "manic" shoot 'em ups that test player's reflexes, to "methodical" shooters that challenge players on memorization and strategic approach. There are also many diverse themes in the genre, including science-fiction themed games like Gradius and R-Type, whimsical "cute" shooters like Fantasy Zone and Parodius, historically set games like 1942, and fantasy-based titles like Espgaluda and Guwange. For the song from The Rocky Horror Show, see Science Fiction/Double Feature. ... The Gradius series, first introduced in 1985, is a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms, and has since its inception become synonymous with the phrase Shoot the core! []. In many games in the series the player controls a... R-Type is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. ... Screenshot from the game Fantasy Zone. ... This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, tone, style, and voice). ... 1942 is a vertically scrolling shoot em up made by Capcom that was released for the arcade in 1984. ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... Espgaluda is a manic shooter by Cave, released in 2003. ... Guwange is an arcade game released by Cave in 1999. ...

History

Early years

The first shooter was called Spacewar!, one of the very earliest computer games. There were a number of early discrete logic games that featured various space and flight-themed shooting. Combat for the Atari 2600 could be considered one of the first home video gamer shooters, as it featured two-player, one-on-one air battles with freely maneuverable aircraft. Spacewar! is one of the earliest video games for a digital computer. ... A logic gate is an arrangement of electronically-controlled switches used to calculate operations in Boolean algebra. ... Atari Combat warfare involving two enemy tanks Combat (video game) was an early dedicated video game console by Coleco (called Telstar Combat!) in 1977 featuring battling tanks. ...

Despite those early advances, it wasn't until 1978's seminal Space Invaders that the genre took off. Space Invaders is notable for pitting the player against many on-screen enemies that came from the top of the screen. This convention still exists today, with nearly every vertically oriented scrolling shooter having the player facing the top of the screen, with enemies coming from above. It also introduced the basic "dodge and shoot" mechanic that remains the foundation of the genre today. Space Invaders ) is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978. ...

Space Invaders was also a massive commercial success, even causing a coin shortage in Japan. It was quickly imitated by nearly every major arcade manufacturer at the time. Some of these imitations, like Space Stranger and Super Invader Attack, were clones which added little, if anything, to the Space Invaders formula. Others, like Namco's Galaxian took the genre further with more complex enemy patterns, and richer graphics. Space Invaders ) is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978. ... Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade game by Namco. ...

1980's Defender introduced a scrolling playfield to the shoot 'em up formula. It offered horizontally extended levels. Unlike most later games in the genre, this scrolling could go in either direction, and followed the player. This would be imitated by some later shoot 'em ups, notably Choplifter and Fantasy Zone. The following year, Konami introduced Scramble, a side scrolling shooter with forced scrolling. It was the first scrolling 'shooter to offer multiple, distinct levels, and laid the groundwork for Gradius. Konami has since retconned Scramble into the Gradius series to acknowledge this influence. Defender is a horizontally-scrolling shoot em up arcade game created by Williams Electronics in 1980. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Choplifter is a 1982 Apple II game developed by Dan Gorlin and published by BrÃ¸derbund. ... Screenshot from the game Fantasy Zone. ... Konami Corporation ) (TYO: 9766 NYSE: KNM SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines and video games. ... Scramble ) is a 1981 horizontally scrolling shoot em up, arcade game. ... The Gradius series, first introduced in 1985, is a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms, and has since its inception become synonymous with the phrase Shoot the core! []. In many games in the series the player controls a... Retroactive continuity – commonly contracted to the portmanteau word retcon – refers to the act of changing previously established details of a fictional setting, often without providing an explanation for the changes within the context of that setting. ...

Vertical scrolling shooters developed around the same time. While early titles like Galaxian offered scrolling star fields, they were merely superficial. Sega's Borderline(1981) was a vertical shooter with primitive scrolling. In March of the next year, Data East released Mission-X and Zoar, the latter of which was licensed from Tago Electronics. Both games were very similar, with Zoar being the more developed of the two, with separate attacks for airborne and surface-based enemies. This same year Orca released Funky Bee, which offered a more straightforward approach. These games would be overshadowed at the end of the year, when Namco released Xevious, a title often credited with being the first vertically scrolling shooter. This article is about the video game company. ... Data East (ãƒ‡ãƒ¼ã‚¿ã‚¤ãƒ¼ã‚¹ãƒˆ dÄ“ta Ä«suto) was a Japanese video game company, also known as DECO (Data East Corporation, ãƒ‡ãƒ¼ã‚¿ã‚¤ãƒ¼ã‚¹ãƒˆæ ªå¼ä¼šç¤¾ dÄ“ta Ä«suto kabushikigaisha). ... This article is about Namco, a Japanese leisure company and game developer. ... Xevious ) is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game by Namco, released in 1983. ...

1985 was a big year for shoot 'em ups, thanks to two major games. Tiger Heli was the first shooter from the developer Toaplan, who would become an important name in the genre over the decade to follow. Tiger Heli is perhaps most notable for introducing the "megabomb," a powerful limited use weapon, and one of the genre's most popular conventions. This same year saw the release of Konami's Gradius, another major innovator. Gradius introduced selectable weapons, as well as "options," small offensive pods that follow and aid the player. These conventions, would be frequently imitated in later shooters. Tiger Heli was one of the first games developed by Toaplan (a now defunct Japanese arcade game developer) and published by Taito Corporation in 1985. ... Toaplan was a video game developer from Japan. ... Konami Corporation ) (TYO: 9766 NYSE: KNM SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines and video games. ... The Gradius series, first introduced in 1985, is a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms, and has since its inception become synonymous with the phrase Shoot the core! []. In many games in the series the player controls a...

The following year, Compile would release their first shoot 'em up, Zanac, on the MSX computer and Famicom Disk System console. In the years to follow Compile would become one of the biggest developers of shoot 'em ups on consoles and computers. Sega also released Fantasy Zone, this same year, on their new 16-bit arcade hardware. The title would become very popular in Japan, and it introduced Sega's mascot Opa-opa. Taito also released Darius, the first in their flagship shooter series. Compile was a Japanese video game company founded in 1983. ... Zanac is an arcade-style video game; a vertically scrolling shoot em up. ... Sony MSX 1, Model HitBit-10-P MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s. ... Legend of Zelda Famicom Disk The Family Computer Disk System , FDS) was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral to their overwhelmingly popular Family Computer (Famicom) console in Japan. ... Screenshot from the game Fantasy Zone. ... Opa-Opa is the main character from the bizarre Fantasy Zone series of video games created by Sega. ... Darius (pronounced ) is a horizontally scrolling shoot em up arcade game released by Taito in 1986. ...

R-Type was introduced in 1987. The brain child of Irem, it became one of the major archetypes for side-scrolling shooters to follow, with vividly realized levels, and refined, methodical gameplay. Toaplan followed up Tiger Heli with Twin Cobra. This title introduced a system with a wandering power-up that changed colors to represent different weapons. This convention would become a staple of their games, as well as those of others. R-Type is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. ... Iram of the Pillars (sometimes Irem of the Pillars) is a lost city located on the Arabian Peninsula. ... Tiger Heli was one of the first games developed by Toaplan (a now defunct Japanese arcade game developer) and published by Taito Corporation in 1985. ... Categories: Computer and video game stubs | 1987 computer and video games | NES games ...

Golden Age

By this time the major conventions of the genre had been firmly established, and shoot 'em ups became the most popular action genre for arcade games. This period lasted into the early and mid 90s and saw the release of many popular shooters, including Raiden, a Toaplan-inspired game from Seibu Kaihatsu, Gun Frontier, Taito's attempt at a killer app, and many sequels to Gradius, R-Type, and other popular series of the day. Raiden (é›·é›») is Japanese for thunder and lightning; it may refer to: In video games: Raiden (series), a series of scrolling shooter arcade games. ... Seibu Kaihatsu is a Japanese manufacturer of arcade games. ... Gun Frontier (the arcade game) is a vertical scrolling shooter developed by Taito for the arcade and released in 1990. ... A killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is a computer program that is so useful that people will buy a particular computer hardware, gaming console, and/or an operating system simply to run that program. ... The Gradius series, first introduced in 1985, is a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms, and has since its inception become synonymous with the phrase Shoot the core! []. In many games in the series the player controls a... R-Type is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. ...

Console and computer shooters became more common and were increasingly able to offer comparable experiences to their arcade counterparts. The PC Engine saw a whole slew of shooter titles released for it (in fact, PC Engine has by far the highest shooter/game ratio of any console in the postcrash gaming world) and the Thunder Force series brought arcade-style shooting to Japanese home computers and later the Sega Genesis. Games like Axelay and Bio-hazard Battle produced visuals and sounds worthy of their arcade contemporaries. The PC Engine was a video game console released by NEC, a Japanese company, in 1987. ... Thunder Force (also spelled Thunderforce) is a series of scrolling shooter type video games developed by the Japanese software company Technosoft (a. ... The Mega Drive/Genesis was a 16-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan (1988), Europe (1990) and most of the rest of the world as the Mega Drive. ... Axelay is a 2D shoot em up video game developed by Konami of Japan for the Super NES (SNES). ... Bio-Hazard Battle (Crying in Japan) is a scrolling shoot em up arcade game released by Sega in 1993. ...

During this period, shoot 'em ups did not evolve a great deal. The genre remained vital while reusing variations on the same gameplay ideas that had proven themselves. In the early 90s new genres began to emerge, and the market diversified. Fighting games reached new-found popularity in the arcades with the release of Street Fighter II. Meanwhile, many console gamers were turning toward games that could provide longer playtime and in-depth narratives, and shoot 'em ups began to decline in popularity. In 1993, Compile shifted its focus away from shooters. In 1994, Toaplan closed its doors, and the genre lost one of its most devout supporters. For many this would serve as a signal that the Golden Age of shooters had ended. Screenshot Kung-Fu, the first real fighting game Fighting games are video games in which players fight each other or computer enemies with martial arts. ... Street Fighter II ) is a 1991 competitive fighting game by Capcom. ...

Evolution and renaissance

The death of Toaplan would ultimately open more doors than it would close. Four companies would form from the ashes of Toaplan, and all remained even more devoted to the shooter genre than Toaplan. The first such company was Raizing. Raizing went as far as to continue to use Toaplan arcade hardware for their titles into the late 90s. Their first game was Mahou Daisakusen, the first title in their flagship trilogy. 8ing/Raizing (also called Eighting/Raizing, Raizing, Eighting or 8ing) is a Japanese video game company mainly known for its shoot-em-ups, but they have also ventured in the fighting genre with the Bloody Roar (AKA Beastorizer) series and the Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen series (based off the anime...

The following year another company formed from ex-Toaplan staff. Cave premiered with Donpachi, a game which expanded on the design of Toaplan's final game Batsugun. Batsugun is considered by many to be the starting point for a new breed of shoot 'em up. These games would come to be called "danmaku" (lit. "bullet curtain") in Japan, and "manic" shooters in the West. These games are distinguished by high bullet counts, and a small collision zone (or "hit box") for the player. Cave is a Japanese video game company, known in the West primarily for its incredibly manic shoot-em-ups. ... DonPachi ) is a vertically scrolling manic shooter arcade game, developed by Cave and released by Atlus in 1995. ... Monitor Orientation: Vertical Type: Raster, standard resolution (240 x 320) Notes None Batsugun is a vertically scrolling shooting em up or shmup hailing from the now deceased Japanese game developer Toaplan, it was their final release. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Cave and Raizing would have a bit of a sibling rivalry. In 1996, Raizing released Battle Garegga, an homage to Taito's classic Gun Frontier. It pushed the manic style a level further, which, in turn, inspired Cave to put aside their reservations and produce the most manic shoot 'em up yet, Dodonpachi. Cave continued to carry the Toaplan torch, embedding the message "Toaplan Forever" in the high score tables. Their next game, Dangun Feveron, would be a pastiche to Toaplan as well, made to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Truxton. Battle Garegga is an arcade game by Raizing/8ing released in 1996. ... Gun Frontier (ã‚¬ãƒ³ãƒ•ãƒãƒ³ãƒ†ã‚£ã‚¢) is an anime series based on the Captain Harlock saga. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Dangun Feveron (Also known as Fever SOS) is a vertical scrolling shooter game developed by Cave, and distributed by Nihon Software. ... The word pastiche describes a literary or other artistic genre. ... Arcade game developed by Toaplan in 1988, Truxton is a scrolling shooter set in space where you fly a small spaceship across several planets. ...

While their popularity was in decline, this was a creatively fertile time for the genre. In 1998 Treasure released their first arcade shoot 'em up, Radiant Silvergun. Treasure Co. ... Radiant Silvergun ) is a vertically scrolling shooter video game, developed by Treasure Co. ...

Possible rebirth of shmups

With the release of the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360's Live Arcade, and the Playstation 3's PSN network, the shmup genre may have another rebirth. Many TurboGrafx 16 titles are being re-released on the Nintendo Wii. The Xbox 360 brought the mega-popular Geometry Wars to the platform, as well as the brand new game released in January 2008 from developer Hudson, entitled Omega Five. This game achieved high sales in Japan, (but not quite as popular in North America). And on the PS3 service Everyday Shooter is a brand new title that is also receiving good sales as well. Housemarque has released and enhanced remake of Stardust, called Super Stardust HD in Playstation Network. Geometry Wars is a minigame created by Bizarre Creations as part of Project Gotham Racing 2 for the Xbox, accessible through the in-game garage. ... Typical gameplay screenshot. ... Everyday Shooter is available on Windows and downloadable game on the PlayStation Store. ... Housemarque is a Finnish video game company founded in 1995. ... Super Stardust HD is a downloadable game for the PlayStation 3 video game console developed by the Finnish company Housemarque. ... Official logo for PlayStation Network PlayStation Network, often abbreviated to PSN in the gaming community, is Sonys free online service provided for use with their PlayStation 3 [1] and PlayStation Portable video game consoles. ...

Types

Although the shoot 'em up genre is more rigidly defined than most, there are a number of distinct sub-genres.

Fixed shooter

Fixed shooters represent the bulk of the earliest shoot 'em up games. They have simplistic premises and rudimentary controls, especially in terms of aiming. They are characterized by a static environment and a static number of enemies per level, although this stipulation does not preclude each level having a different number or enemies or a different setting, as is the case with Midway's Gorf. Image File history File links Kingball. ... Image File history File links Kingball. ... King and Balloon is an arcade game that was released by Namco in 1980. ... This article is about Namco, a Japanese leisure company and game developer. ... Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) is an American video game publisher. ... Gorf is an arcade game released in 1981 by Midway Mfg. ...

A fixed shooter, also known as its generic single screen shooter or gallery shooter typically only allows players their one or two-dimensional position on the screen. They play on levels that occupy only a single screen, and thus do not scroll. The direction of fire is also fixed, usually aiming at the top of the screen in vertically oriented games, or toward the right in horizontally oriented games. Space Invaders helped to establish this style of gaming, and was further popularized by games like Galaxian and Galaga. It is common for these games to only provide one axis of movement, fixing the player at the bottom of the screen. Since the entire level is on screen, progression does not involve reaching a goal, but rather clearing all the enemies on the screen. These games have declined sharply in popularity since the advent of scrolling, but later examples exist. Space Invaders ) is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978. ... Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade game by Namco. ... Galaga is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1981 (and also licensed to Midway). ...

Examples of fixed shooters include Space Invaders, Galaxian, Phoenix, Galaga and Centipede Space Invaders ) is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978. ... Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade game by Namco. ... Phoenix is a popular shoot em up arcade game created and manufactured by Amstar Electronics (which was located in Phoenix, Arizona) in 1980, and licensed to Centuri for US distribution, and to Taito for Japanese distribution. ... Galaga is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1981 (and also licensed to Midway). ... Centipede is a vertically-oriented shoot em up arcade game produced by Atari in 1980. ...

Tube shooters

Tube shooters, or tunnel shooters, are a small sub-genre, derivative of fixed shooters. These games give players a single axis of movement around the edge of an on-screen "tunnel." Gameplay is very similar to fixed shooters, except the level is, essentially, wrapped in on itself. This style originated with Atari's Tempest and was further popularized by Gyruss. This article is about the corporate brand. ... Tempest is an arcade game by Atari Inc. ... Gyruss is a shoot-em-up video arcade game developed by Konami, and released in 1983. ...

Tube shooters were largely succeeded by rail shooters which allowed for three dimensional gameplay. There were, however, a number of later games in the genre. Tempest 2000 helped to generate new interest in the genre. It also used a psychedelic presentation with colorful abstract visuals and throbbing techno music. Later games paired this approach to presentation with forward-scrolling movement, similar to rail shooter, resulting in games like N2O, Internal Section, and Torus Trooper. screenshot Atari Jaguar Tempest_2000, made myself. ... screenshot Atari Jaguar Tempest_2000, made myself. ... Tempest 2000 was a 1994 remake for the Atari Jaguar of the classic 1980 arcade game Tempest by Dave Theurer. ... Psychedelic Jeff Minter photo Jeff Minter at Assembly 2004 Jeff Yak Minter (born in Reading, April 22, 1962) is one of the most innovative and distinctive modern British computer/video game designers and programmers. ... Rail Shooter is a genre of shoot em up video games, deriving from the on-rails movement featured in such games. ... Tempest 2000 was a 1994 remake for the Atari Jaguar of the classic 1980 arcade game Tempest by Dave Theurer. ... For psychedelics, see psychedelic drug. ... iS: internal section ) is a video game developed by positron and published by Square and released in 1999. ... Torus Trooper is an abstract scrolling shooter game created by Kenta Cho. ...

Example tube shooters include Tempest, Gyruss, Space Giraffe, and Tube Panic. Space Giraffe is a fast-paced action arcade video game by Jeff Minter and Ivan Zorzin of Llamasoft. ...

Multidirectional shooter

Multidirectional shooters, also called arena shooters, allow freedom of movement and orientation in a two-dimensional environment. Most multidirectional shooters can be further put into two classes, based on their control system. Some restrict the player to moving up, down, left, and/or right, or, in some cases, diagonally only. Others use a more realistic, physics-based system of rotating and thrusting, perhaps via mouse control. A screenshot of the game Asteroids. ... A screenshot of the game Asteroids. ... Asteroids is a vector-based video arcade game released in 1979 by Atari Inc. ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... A contemporary computer mouse, with the most common standard features: two buttons and a scroll wheel. ...

The environments that these games take place in are fixed-size arenas that may or may not infinitely expand all directions.

Thrust-based games use simplified physics for the motion of protagonists and enemies, most commonly in a zero gravity environment ("pure" physics where forces such as drag are negated). The first game of this type was Spacewar!, which has the distinction of being one of the earliest video games ever made. This was followed up with a coin-op version called Computer Space in 1971. One of the most popular games of all time, Asteroids, was created by Atari in 1979 and has a similar setup, although it is single player. Much of the challenge in these games comes from careful use of thrusting, as there are no brakes in the zero-gravity environments presented. To slow down or stop, the player has to thrust in opposite directions. Zero gravity redirects here. ... Spacewar! is one of the earliest video games for a digital computer. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... Computer Space is a video arcade game released in November, 1971 by Nutting Associates. ... Asteroids is a popular vector-based video arcade game released in 1979 by Atari. ... This article is about the corporate brand. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...

Example games include Sinistar, Blasteroids, Thrust (video game) and Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship. Sinistar is an arcade game released by Williams in 1982. ... Blasteroids is one of the sequels to the original 1979 shoot em up video game Asteroids. ...

Also, all three installments of the Star Control series have a multidirectional shooter mini-game, called Melee mode. Melee can be played as a separate game, against AI or another player. During the single-player campaigns of each game, melee mode was triggered frequently whenever combat ensued in the plot. Star Control featured a stretchable battlefield, which zooms in and out depending on the distance between the fighting ships. Star Control 3 features an option for isometric play during melee mode. The Star Control series is a trilogy of computer games with a cult following. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Star Control series is a trilogy of science fiction computer games with a cult following. ... Look up isometric in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Some multidirectional shooters use two joysticks as the input; one for movement, and the other for firing. This style was popularized by Eugene Jarvis in the several titles he created for Midway/Williams and is an effective means of allowing independent moving and firing. This unique input configuration often left console ports with only a crude approximation of the arcade controls, resulting in the use of four buttons as directional firing, or the use of both the first and second player controllers to achieve the desired effect. Some modern video game consoles may be able to avoid this problem, as some have two analog joysticks on the controllers. For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ... Eugene Jarvis at California Extreme 2006 Eugene Peyton Jarvis (born 1955) is a game designer and programmer, producing pinball machines for Atari and video games for Williams Electronics. ... Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) is an American video game publisher. ... Williams can refer to: Williams College, a liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts Williams (surname), a surname Welsh in origin, 3rd most common in the United Kingdom WilliamsF1, a Formula One racing team The Williams Companies, an oil and gas pipeline company Williams International, a manufacturer of jet turbines Williams... Game console redirects here. ...

Some titles in this genre are often considered danmaku, due to the large quantity of enemies on screen at any given time. The player has to avoid being surrounded by "carving" a hole out of the swath of enemies, while traversing the gameplay area. These games require extensive hand-eye coordination, as the player has to look and shoot in different places while analyzing the attacks of over a hundred enemies simultaneously. Today, the Xbox 360, through its Xbox Live Arcade has brought resurgent popularity to the multidirectional shooter subgenre. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved has become the top selling game on the service, with over 185,000 purchases and downloads as of July 21, 2006.^[1] Several Eugene Jarvis-created shooters are also available on the service, including enhanced versions of Smash TV and Robotron: 2084. Look up coordination in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... It has been suggested that Xbox 360 Elite be merged into this article or section. ... Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is an online service operated by Microsoft that is used to distribute video games to Xbox and Xbox 360 owners and from late 2007 to Games for Windows - Live users [1]. The service was first launched in late 2004 and offers games from about US$5... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Smash TV is a 1990 arcade game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams. ... Robotron: 2084 (often simply called Robotron) is an arcade game created in 1982 by the company Vid Kidz (Eugene Jarvis and Larry Demar) for Williams Electronics. ...

Examples of multidirectional shooters include Robotron: 2084, Time Pilot, Bosconian, Smash TV, Bangai-O, Geometry Wars, Sinistar, Desert Strike, Crimsonland, Zone 66, plobb! and Super Stardust HD. Robotron: 2084 (often simply called Robotron) is an arcade game created in 1982 by the company Vid Kidz (Eugene Jarvis and Larry Demar) for Williams Electronics. ... Time Pilot is a 1982 arcade game by Konami and distributed in the US by Centuri, designed by Yoshiki Okamoto. ... Bosconian is a multi-directional shooter arcade game that was made by Namco in 1981. ... Smash TV is a 1990 arcade game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Geometry Wars is a minigame created by Bizarre Creations as part of Project Gotham Racing 2 for the Xbox, accessible through the in-game garage. ... Sinistar is an arcade game released by Williams in 1982. ... // The name of the game is illustrated by this in-game shot Crimsonland is an arcade computer game, released in April 22, 2003. ... Zone 66 is a top down shooting video game released in 1993 for the PC, that initially was released using the Shareware model. ... Super Stardust HD is a downloadable game for the PlayStation 3 video game console developed by the Finnish company Housemarque. ...

Scrolling shooters

Scrolling shooters are a type of video game, a subgenre of shoot em up . ... Image File history File linksMetadata Ikaruga_01. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Ikaruga_01. ... Ikaruga lit. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...

Vertical

Vertical scrolling shooters, or vert shooters for short, are largely similar to horizontal scrollers, but the direction of scroll tends to force a different viewpoint on the game: vertical scrollers are nearly always viewed from above. This means that it is less common to have solid obstacles in these games, as the player is usually above them. Perhaps because of this difference, vertical scrollers tend to be more intense, focusing on shooting and dodging copious amounts of projectiles.

While most histories of shooters focus on arcade games, most overlook River Raid (Atari 2600) as a possible progenitor to the vertical scrolling shooter genre. One of the first vertical scrolling arcade shooters was Xevious, released in 1982. This game introduced many concepts that are standard in scrolling shooters today, such as an episodic level structure, and bosses. It can be argued that very early games like Galaxian can be considered vertical scrollers, as they are set against a constantly scrolling starfield. However, they are generally classed as fixed shooters along with Space Invaders, as the stars are purely for visual effect and add nothing to the gameplay. Screenshot of River Raid (Atari 2600) River Raid is a Videogame and was released in 1982 by Activision for the Atari 2600, and later the C64, ZX Spectrum and MSX. The player controls an airplane in a top-down view over a river and gets points for shooting down enemy... Xevious ) is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game by Namco, released in 1983. ... Flag Ship from the video game Gorf A boss is an enemy-based challenge in video games that, once encountered, stops the games progression until the player is able either to surmount the enemy or is thwarted by it. ... Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade game by Namco. ...

When the "top-down" or "overhead" names are used, the line becomes blurrier. By this definition, Space Invaders would likely be the first game of the type – and indeed, many consider it the first true top-down shooter. As with their horizontal counterparts, some vertical shooters may allow a degree of free horizontal movement.

Example vertical shooters include 1942, Xevious, Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun, Raiden, Star Soldier series, Raptor: Call of the Shadows, Aero Fighters, Chromium B.S.U. and Tyrian. 1942 is a vertically scrolling shoot em up made by Capcom that was released for the arcade in 1984. ... Xevious ) is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game by Namco, released in 1983. ... Ikaruga lit. ... Radiant Silvergun ) is a vertically scrolling shooter video game, developed by Treasure Co. ... Raiden ) is a 1990 scrolling shooter arcade game that was developed by Seibu Kaihatsu. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Aero Fighters (known as Sonic Wings in Japan) is a vertical-scrolling shoot em up (shmup) arcade game released in 1992 by Video System, ported to the Super Famicom in 1993 and the Super Nintendo in 1994, and spawned two sequels for the Neo-Geo, one for the PlayStation and... Tyrian is a computer game developed by Eclipse Productions (later named World Tree Games) and published in 1995 by Epic MegaGames. ...

Vertical scrolling shooters come into two more varieties; Tate shoot 'em ups are those that are played on a vertically oriented monitor, and Yoko shoot 'em ups are those played on a standard horizontal monitor set-up. Tate shoot 'em ups usually begin as standard Jamma cabinets with Tate monitors. However, the screen orientation can be a potential issue when the game is ported to home consoles with regular TVs.

Image File history File links Gradius_04. ... Image File history File links Gradius_04. ... The Gradius series, first introduced in 1985, is a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms, and has since its inception become synonymous with the phrase Shoot the core! []. In many games in the series the player controls a... Konami Corporation ) (TYO: 9766 NYSE: KNM SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines and video games. ...

Horizontal

Horizontal scrolling shooters, sometimes abbreviated jokingly as "horzies", are played on an eponymously oriented screen, but there are a few exceptions - such as Darius, which uses more than one monitor to create an extensive playfield, and Stinger, which uses horizontal scrolling in a vertically oriented screen. As well as battling enemies, much of the challenge in horizontal scrollers tends to come from navigating the environment, as invariably contact with the level results in either the immediate death of or damage to the player's character (with the notable exception of R-Type Final). Some games, such as ones in the Gradius series always feature a maze-like level that is almost solely focused on avoiding collisions. Enemies are more likely to come from behind the player's ship in these types of games than their vertically scrolling counterparts are. Darius (pronounced ) is a horizontally scrolling shoot em up arcade game released by Taito in 1986. ... }} Stinger is an arcade shootem up released by Seibu Denshi on 1983. ... R-Type Final is a horizontally-scrolling shooter video game. ... See also: List of Gradius titles // Reoccuring Gameplay Elements There are several gameplay elements that are common to almost all the Gradius games. ...

Typically, the scrolling in these games is continuous, such that the player is led through a level by the game. There is also sometimes a degree of vertical freedom, in which the player can move up or down on a playing area which is taller than the screen itself. (Thunder Force IV and Dragon Breed are two games which take this to extremes). Image File history File links Stinger_(arcade_game). ... Image File history File links Stinger_(arcade_game). ... }} Stinger is an arcade shootem up released by Seibu Denshi on 1983. ... Thunder Force IV is a Scrolling shooter game developed by Technosoft as the fourth chapter of the Thunder Force series. ... Dragon Breed is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1989. ...

Almost all horizontal scrolling shooters view the player's avatar from the side, and present the level in cross-section, such that the player appears to be flying 'through' something, such as a landscape or a mothership. The first horizontal scroller was arguably Defender, released in 1980, although it shares few features with other horizontal scrollers. Horizontally scrolling shooters, along with their vertical counterparts, remain very popular today. Defender is a horizontally-scrolling shoot em up arcade game created by Williams Electronics in 1980. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...

Example horizontal shooters include Darius, Gradius, Jets'n'Guns, R-Type, Scramble and Thunderforce. Darius (pronounced ) is a horizontally scrolling shoot em up arcade game released by Taito in 1986. ... The Gradius series, first introduced in 1985, is a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms, and has since its inception become synonymous with the phrase Shoot the core! []. In many games in the series the player controls a... JetsnGuns[1] (also shortened to JnG) is a 2D, side-scrolling shoot-em-up computer game released in late 2004 for Microsoft Windows by RakeInGrass software. ... R-Type is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. ... Scramble ) is a 1981 horizontally scrolling shoot em up, arcade game. ... Thunderforce (also spelled Thunder Force) is a series of scrolling shooter type video games developed by the Japanese software company Technosoft (a. ...

Multi-scrolling shooters are a combination of several different types of scrolling shooters. Typically, it involves the combination of vertical and horizontal levels, but examples exist that use other types. For example, Gradius III has two levels where the player must guide the ship through a tube-like tunnel, avoiding collisions. Gradius III , lit. ...

Example multi-scrolling shoot 'em ups include Abadox, Salamander, Axelay, Vanguard, and Silver Surfer. The outer surface of the alien. ... Salamander ) is a scrolling shooter arcade game by Konami. ... Axelay is a 2D shoot em up video game developed by Konami of Japan for the Super NES (SNES). ... Vanguard (J: ãƒ´ã‚¡ãƒ³ã‚¬ãƒ¼ãƒ‰) is a 1981 arcade game developed by SNK. The game is known as one of the first scrolling shooters ever made and is additionally notable by being the first shoot em up where a player can shoot in four directions. ... Silver Surfer is a video game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, developed by Software Creations and released by Arcadia Systems in November 1990 in the United States. ...

Also known as a 3/4 view shooter or three-quarter perspective shooter, an isometric shooter uses vertical shooter's playing field that is modified for perspective. In a traditional scrolling shooter situation, the upwards/forwards is diagonal and the player simulates moving by the gameworld scrolling around diagonally. Perspective limits the size of the playing field, so generally there is additional focus on avoiding obstacles than shooting enemy ships. Isometric shooters are not limited to scrolling shooters, but can be multi-directional/area shooters as well. An isometric drawing of a cube. ...

These shoot 'em ups have not been a popular choice to date, although there have been a handful of popular titles. This type of shooter, much like the tube shooter, is more of an anachronism in today's games. These titles were remarkable in their times for their pseudo-3d graphics; when the hardware became sophisticated enough to fully render such graphics, these games had lost their appeal, in favor of the more traditional vertically and horizontally scrolling types.

Example isometric shooters include Zaxxon, Viewpoint and Blazer. Zaxxon is a 1982 arcade game developed by Ikegami Tsushinki and released by Sega. ... Viewpoint is an arcade game, designed by Sammy and released in 1992 by SNK for the Neo-Geo arcade platform. ... Blazer is an isometric perspective scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game that was released by Namco in 1987. ...

Rail shooter

Rail shooters are a related genre which some include as a form of shoot 'em up, and others do not. They share many of the same elements of shoot 'em ups. The main distinction between these games and classic shoot 'em ups is the use of a 3D or pseudo-3D view, usually either behind the player's character or vehicle or first person. Gameplay progresses along a pre-determined path, or "rail," lending a forced progression similar to scrolling shoot 'em ups. Often the player has some limited freedom to move laterally along this path without deviating from it, as in Space Harrier, Panzer Dragoon, Star Fox or Afterburner but other times the player simply manipulates a crosshair on screen as in Star Wars. Rail Shooter is a genre of shoot em up video games, deriving from the on-rails movement featured in such games. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Apidya is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up computer game released in 1992 by Kaiko for the Amiga. ... This article is about the family of home computers. ... The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. ... Kaiko was a remote control Japanese deep-sea submarine that sampled bacteria from the ocean floor of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest location in the world. ... Rail Shooter is a genre of shoot em up video games, deriving from the on-rails movement featured in such games. ... This article is about process of creating 3D computer graphics. ... Pseudo-3D is a term that means that something uses 2-d graphics to simulate three dimentional graphics. ... Space Harrier is a forward scrolling shooter game, released by Sega in 1985. ... Panzer Dragoon is a series of video games by SEGA, created first by its internal Team Andromeda and later, the Smilebit development team. ... Star Fox ) (also known as Star Wing in Europe due to trademark issues) is the first game in the Star Fox series of video games. ... Monitor Orientation: Horizontal Type: Raster, standard resolution Notes Possibly inspired by the contemporary movie, Top Gun The video game After Burner is a arcade-style flight simulator released by Sega in 1987. ... A drawing of different reticles used in telescopic sights. ... Star Wars is an arcade game produced by Atari and released in 1983. ...

Example 3D shooters include After Burner, Red Baron, Space Harrier, ThunderBlade, Star Fox, Panzer Dragoon, Sin and Punishment, Rez and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. After Burner is a 1987 Japanese arcade game by Sega. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Space Harrier is a forward scrolling shooter game, released by Sega in 1985. ... The Star Fox series ) is a video game franchise published by Nintendo. ... Panzer Dragoon is a series of video games by SEGA, created first by its internal Team Andromeda and later, the Smilebit development team. ... For other uses, see Rez (disambiguation). ...

Competitive shooters

Competitive shooters features two players playing simultaneously. 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.

Example competitive shooters include Harmotion, Twinkle Star Sprites, Quarth and Phantasmagoria of Flower View. Twinkle Star Sprites is a competititive shoot em up created by ADK in 1996. ... Quarth is a Konami game, created in 1990. ... An example of bullet hell in Perfect Cherry Blossom. ...

Run-and-gun

Run-and-gun shooters combine elements of scrolling shooters and platformers into one sub-genre. Game series such as Contra and Metal Slug demonstrate run-and-gun gameplay. A run and gun (also known as run n gun or for some variants, overhead shooter) is a sub-genre of video games that incorporates elements from shoot em up games and platform games. ... Look up contra in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Metal Slug ) is a run and gun video game for the Neo-Geo console/arcade platform created by SNK. It was released in 1996 for the MVS arcade platform. ...

Manic vs. methodical

While many casual fans view all scrolling shooter games as being very similar, there are two primary polar opposite schools of design, which fans have termed "manic" and "methodical." Not all games clearly belong to one school or the other, but they represent the two extremes.

Manic shooter (Japanese : danmaku 弾幕, lit. "bullet curtain"; also commonly "bullet hell" or "curtain" shooters) is a school of design that has become increasingly popular in more recent years, as hardware is no longer a major constraint. While it is impossible to draw a line as to where the genre began, Batsugun is considered highly influential and helped to popularize the design. Image File history File links PCByukari140. ... Image File history File links PCByukari140. ... An example of bullet hell in Perfect Cherry Blossom. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Team Shanghai Alice , meaning Shanghai Alice Ensemble) is a Japanese dojin game developer specializing in 2D shooter games. ... Monitor Orientation: Vertical Type: Raster, standard resolution (240 x 320) Notes None Batsugun is a vertically scrolling shooting em up or shmup hailing from the now deceased Japanese game developer Toaplan, it was their final release. ...

These games have very high bullet counts, often filling the entire screen. In addition these bullets often travel in highly stylized patterns, following more complex paths than the straight patterns in traditional shooters. To help the player cope with this, they often feature a very small "hit box", the zone used for collision detection of the player's ship. Very often this is reduced to a single point, meaning only bullets that pass through the direct center of the ship will result in a hit.

Other elements are often streamlined in manic shooters. Bullet dodging becomes the primary focus, and environmental hazards are very uncommon. In Takumi's games, for example, the player can even pass over enemies, and only bullets can harm him. Takumi is a Japanese video game company that mainly develops arcade shoot em ups. ...

It's also important to note that the way that these games are played is important in categorizing them. Manic shooters are focused heavily on hand-eye coordination. They generally involve a very active approach, forcing the player to carefully weave through difficult spaces. This is key to defining the genre. For example, Ikaruga, which features the stylish bullet patterns and small hit boxes commonly associated with manic shooters, is not considered a manic shooter because its gameplay does not involve weaving between these bullets, but slow, precise, methodical movements more akin to classic horizontal shooters like R-Type and Gradius. Ikaruga lit. ... R-Type is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. ... The Gradius series, first introduced in 1985, is a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms, and has since its inception become synonymous with the phrase Shoot the core! []. In many games in the series the player controls a...

Example bullet hell games include Touhou Project, Mushihime-sama, Psyvariar 2, Batsugun, Giga Wing, and DoDonPachi Touhou redirects here. ... Mushihime-sama lit. ... Psyvariar 2 is the sequel to Psyvariar Medium Unit and Psyvariar Revision, both of which were released on Taitos G-Net Hardware, and ported to the PlayStation 2 console. ... Monitor Orientation: Vertical Type: Raster, standard resolution (240 x 320) Notes None Batsugun is a vertically scrolling shooting em up or shmup hailing from the now deceased Japanese game developer Toaplan, it was their final release. ... Giga Wing is a 1999 vertically scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Takumi and published by Capcom on their CPS-2 arcade system board and later ported that year to the Sega Dreamcast console. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

The opposing school of design is the methodical shooter. This style of design is based more on precise, slower, methodical movements. While they are still very difficult they are based less on navigating through clusters of bullets. They usually have larger hit boxes and firing patterns that consist more of solitary bullets rather than waves or clusters. They more often have environments that can be collided with, slower scrolling, and rely heavily on memorization.

Methodical shooters are most commonly associated with horizontal scrolling, but there are a number of popular methodical shooters that scroll vertically, such as Image Fight, Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga. Image Fight is a vertically-scrolling shoot em up arcade game produced by Irem in 1988. ... Radiant Silvergun ) is a vertically scrolling shooter video game, developed by Treasure Co. ... Ikaruga lit. ...

Example methodical shooters include Ikaruga, Gradius, R-Type and Einhänder. Ikaruga lit. ... The Gradius series, first introduced in 1985, is a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms, and has since its inception become synonymous with the phrase Shoot the core! []. In many games in the series the player controls a... R-Type is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. ... EinhÃ¤nder (ã‚¢ã‚¤ãƒ³ãƒãƒ³ãƒ€ãƒ¼) is a scrolling shooter game released by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) in 1997 and arguably the most successful non-RPG game produced by the company. ...

Glossary of shoot 'em up terms

Because shoot 'em up games currently have a small, and very dedicated following, there is a great deal of jargon particular to the genre. Some of the more common terms follow:

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In language, both dysphemism (from the Greek â€œdysâ€ Î´Ï…Ï‚ = non and â€œphemeâ€ Ï†Î®Î¼Î· = speech) and cacophemism (in Greek â€œcacosâ€ ÎºÎ±ÎºÏŒÏ‚ = bad) refer to the usage of an intentionally harsh word or expression instead of a polite one; they are rough opposites of euphemism. ... A portmanteau (IPA: ) is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning. ... Sexy Parodius ) is a scrolling shooter arcade game. ... The Gradius series, first introduced in 1985, is a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms, and has since its inception become synonymous with the phrase Shoot the core! []. In many games in the series the player controls a... Close_up of C64 Commodore 64 (C64, CBM 64) was a popular home computer of the 1980s. ... Newsfield Publications Ltd (also known as Newsfield) was a British magazine publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s. ... Raiden ) is a 1990 scrolling shooter arcade game that was developed by Seibu Kaihatsu. ... Categories: Computer and video game stubs | 1987 computer and video games | NES games ...

Contents