Shmups 101

"Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!" It's likely you've played a shmup in your lifetime. Shoot 'em up (also shooting game (“STG”), or “shmup”) is a very loose term that encompasses many different subgenres such as run and guns (Contra, Metal Slug), fixed or arena shooters (Space Invaders, Geometry Wars) and rail shooters (Star Fox, Panzer Dragoon). Shmups originated on the arcade with the explosive success of Space Invaders and have since manifested in many different ways. When people talk about shoot 'em ups in this day and age though they're probably speaking of scrolling shooters. These types of games have a very basic premise: you scroll vertically/horizontally, shoot and kill a few things, then die. Without understanding the essence of arcade shooting this deceptively simple concept will seem like hollow enjoyment, but with quintessential rules and the very nature of the arcade business model the genre transcends the mundane and becomes immeasurably more engrossing.

History
Arcades are dead. If you grew up in the '80s or '90s this may be a hard pill to swallow, but in the West the reality is apparent: arcades have become an antique of the past. It was around the mid-nineties when the shift to consoles became increasingly apparent. Console technology was advancing, 3D graphics were on the rise with polygonal models dethroning 2D sprites, the internet was thriving; there was no reason to go to a video arcade and play what you could in the comfort of your own home. Developers of arcade games scrambled to stir the pot with flashy titles like Sega's 3D Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA and Bemani's Dance Dance Revolution - but it wasn't enough. With more costly hardware came pricier admission (costing upwards of 50c-1$ per round), drawing the focus away from the traditional teenage crowd who were cautious of buying in. This was the dawn of the end for arcades in the West.

In America there are very few dedicated video arcades today that aren't side attractions of movie theaters or other entertainment venues. The same can be said of the European arcade scene, though with its density and relative proximity to Asia there may be more secondhand outlets to play games beyond DDR, Time Crisis and House of the Dead. In Japan, however, video arcades are abundant and have woven into the very fabric of Japanese culture. They're called “game centers” there and you can find them just about anywhere in the gaming mecca that is Tokyo, though the Akihabara area is of world renown in regards to arcade gaming. Everything from slot and pinball machines (pachinko) to the latest arcade releases, game centers have something for everyone.

In these game centers teenagers, middle aged people and even older salarymen line the cabinets, putting down their yen for a chance to unwind after the day's happenings. There's unspoken codes of conduct that are meant to be followed, two main ones being: A.) You wait in line. Some games have huge lines for newer, popular releases. And B.) One credit only. That's it. Unless you're alone at a cabinet with no one expressing interest in taking your spot, you have to get up for the next person - no continuing. I'm sure that second point has left you bewildered, thinking “I can't clear ANY arcade game with one credit”, and that's the reason you're a limp-wristed, credit-feeding piece of shit. While you and your friends spend a few dollars on a single session getting to the second Queen encounter in Alien vs. Predator, some old guys in Japan have honed their technique to win on a single credit through repeated losses. It doesn't take an otaku to admire that kind of perseverance.

Arcade games are a very different breed when compared to modern home console games. When a developer makes an arcade title they must balance the interests of both the player and the operator/arcade manager. The game has to be pretty enough to attract prospective players, yet hard enough so those players are beaten down mercilessly and squeezed of their precious quarters, providing profits for the arcade owner who bought the game. You don't play arcade games - they play you. It's this unique balance that has made arcade games so distinguished in the gaming world. It's also the reason they're still relevant today: while the challenge is naturally steep and unforgiving, these games are kingdoms of intricacies meant to be conquered.

Without the efforts of W.T. Shmups, Youmu Konpaku and that Cave fanatic (SPC had the right idea but.. yeah.. nah, you're a cunt) there would be next to zero awareness of shmups on /v/. This genre isn't meant to be a niche one - it's meant to be bustling with competition and interest, and not just from those non-gamer Touhou retards on /jp/. The online communities are still going strong and there's plenty of room for new players to etch their mark on the leaderboards. It's my hope that if you've made it this far you're at least moderately interested in the topic at hand, in which case read on intrepid pilot and see if shoot 'em ups are right for you!

Why you should play
Let's face it, we're regressing into a terminal casual state with exposure to current market trends. If the front page of /v/ is any indicator, people don't much care for developing skill anymore. Whatever happened to the games that tossed you to the wolves? Ones where you carved out your own achievements and goals instead of having them handed to you? The games where success wasn't equated to how much time you could throw at it, but through how well you could exercise ability? Unfortunately the world has moved on to new paradigms and these titles have been tossed to the bargain bins due to their rigid, complex texture. Shoot 'em ups may not be lauded in the same breath as fighters, twitch shooters or real-time strategy games due to the dynamic element of multiplayer, but it doesn't negate the fact that all of these games have astronomically high skill ceilings. It takes a lot of practice, willpower and skill to master a shmup, and infinitely more to display that mastery consistently.

The challenge isn't the only reel shooting games have going for them. Truth be told, it's just a lot of fun blowing shit up. Not to mention the fact that you can pop a few credits in whenever you want instead of wading through tutorials and cutscenes, as there's a decidedly thin barrier between you and the gameplay. Most of these games have only 30 minutes to an hour of content, but reaching the end of that content legitimately is a lot harder than you'd expect, and you will probably be spending upwards of 30-50+ hours understanding the ins and outs of each game. Add in unlockables, multiple ship types/options and a multi-faceted difficulty system and it becomes easy to see why people spend so much time in STGs.

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See that? That could be you. Due to the quick pace and short levels all it takes is a few hours practice each week until you can pull off these things. Though the road to attaining this level of concentration and finesse is a solitary one, it's undeniably rewarding. When someone like this showed up in the arcade his presence was magnetic. Onlookers would crowd around to watch the relatively superhuman spectacle while others who played the game would observe how he carried himself, safe boss patterns and what scoring techniques he used. Though this rare occurrence fades out with the death of the arcade you're not completely left in the dark without a compass or recognition. With the advent of sites like Youtube, online leaderboards and lively STG forums you have more ways than ever to embrace the community and improve yourself.

It's up to you to stretch your own limits. The “one-credit rule” is a self-imposed one that instills the competitive spirit needed to fully immerse yourself in the shooting genre. Self-imposed, key word there, as no one can enforce this hardcore mindset but you. Shmups will never hold your hand, but they sure won't cheat on you either. Every mistake and plateau you face will always come down to your ability as a gamer and your willingness to improve and overcome them. Ultimately it will define who you are: if you just play for fun, or if you play to win. Even if you aren't keen on adopting this mindset there are plenty of entry-level games available to whet your appetite, but you should always be reaching higher as a gamer—and, more importantly, as a human being.

GO PLAY A SHOOT 'EM UP.



How you can play
Due to their low production costs, ease of development and portability, shooting games are available on practically every platform in existence, though there are some platforms with more illustrious libraries than others. While it's possible to emulate nearly every shmup released before 2005 you'd do well to support your favorite (non-defunct) developers, as actually owning a game lets you develop attachment to it, further compelling you to beat it.

Arcade emulation

 * MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) - The most well known emulator. Has an array of utilities and an expansive library of games that is ever-increasing with breakthroughs in driver support. MAME accurately emulates the minor nuances of an original PCB straight down to load diagnostics and graphical/input glitches. Where to get the ROMs? Hint, hint: look for the Pleasuredome.
 * Shmupmame (original thread) - Lagless gameplay for a lot of popular titles, with a few compiled drivers not emulable in the original MAME release.
 * WinKawaks - Neo Geo/Capcom specialized emulator with netplay support. Very few STGs, but what it can do it does well.

Important tip: as you have probably noticed, many arcade shmups have a portrait display (or "tate", vertical in Japanese). So you either accept the bigass black bars on the sides, or flip your monitor sideways! It's not hard to find FDMI-compatible stands or wall mounts that let you do so. And many high-end monitors do come with a rotating stand out of the box (brotip: Dell's UltraSharp line usually does, and they're pretty good).

Console emulation
It would take a long time to compile every good emulator here. Just know that console emulation is a pretty good option with backups lasting a lot longer than physical media. There's also usually save state support, quite a few aesthetic options (e.g. scanlines, filters, etc.) and the ability to use a non-native controller via USB.

Consoles
Nintendo
 * NES / Famicom - The most successful machine at the time, so it got a ton or arcade ports.
 * Super NES / Super Famicom - Several fine shmups can be found here.
 * Nintendo 64 - almost no shmups for it.
 * Gamecube - not many, but a handful of nice shmups.
 * Wii -
 * Wii U -
 * Switch - Many shmups here, and some even support portrait mode (get a Flip Grip for that).
 * Game Boy / Color A nice handful number of shmups were available on this portable. Some were ports, others original, but you have to respect a well done shmup on this when you consider the limited hardware.
 * Game Boy Advance -

Sega:
 * Master System - Surprisingly had some pretty fair arcade ports. Some content was removed, some added, and some even use the FM chip for some totally tasty tunes.
 * Mega Drive / Genesis - A great system for shmups, you will find many original titles and arcade conversions for it.
 * Mega-CD - Not a huge library, but a bunch of very nice shmups.
 * Saturn - Tons and tons of great shmups, but most are Japan-exclusives.
 * Dreamcast - Short lived console that saw quite a few iconic STG exclusives. Due to its similarities with the Sega NAOMI arcade system board it was a bastion for arcade ports that ran on NAOMI/Capcom CPS-2 hardware.
 * Game Gear - Had a few original shmups, though not a lot.

Sony:
 * PlayStation - Many great shmups can be found in its massive library.
 * PlayStation 2 -
 * PlayStation 3 -
 * PlayStation Portable -

Microsoft:
 * Xbox -
 * Xbox 360 - The best modern console for shmups with a HUGE library. Inexpensive and intuitive dev kits make this the most appealing platform for shmup developers, in both cost and efficiency. XBLA's indie community is especially crowded with shmup goodness.

NEC:
 * TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine - The king of shmups at the time, surpassing even the Mega Drive, but most were left in Japan.
 * Turbo CD / PC Engine CD - Arguably, one could say this is this is to console shmups what Elvis is to rock n' roll. Hudson Soft championed this console with their shmups, but other companies had some nice inputs as well. Again, most games were not released in the west.

Other systems:
 * iPhone/iPod Touch - The touch screen is good in that you have perfect control over your ship. In fact, it's so good, it almost feels like cheating with Cave's ports. Unfortunately, your thumb sometimes covers a wave of bullets speeding towards you.
 * MSX / MSX2 - An oddball when it came to shmups. Due to scrolling issues, they had to make some creative compromises. One element of note is that some games have alternate stages and songs exclusive to their MSX versions.

Arcades

 * Arcade shmups

The arcades are a goddamn treasure trove of amazement. It has amassed the largest library of shoot 'em ups over its years, higher than that of any other platform. It may take a bit of searching to find a video arcade near you with even a handful of shmups, but you'll find that it's a very unique experience to behold. If you can't find the game you're looking for there's no shame in arcade emulation.

Cabinets (PCBs)
For the average person it's simply unfeasible to buy PCBs or assemble your own cabinet due to the prohibitive expense and maintenance required. A single PCB ranges from $200 to $1000+, while building your own cabinet from scratch would take around $400 to $1200++ (not to mention an Engineering degree). If you aren't rich there are ways to make an all-in-one MAME cabinet by installing a PC instead of a printed circuit board. This is a lot less expensive due to its flexibility, as you can gut and repurpose any old arcade cabinet with a PC that can emulate MAME.

Check out How to Build Your Own MAME Cabinet for more information.

Improving your skill level


Don't be discouraged by initial suckage when it comes to shmups. As you keep trying and keep practicing, your skills will improve. It just takes dedication.

One thing novices have trouble with is regulating bombs, in the majority of shmups that have them. Most people playing a shmup seriously do know that spamming bombs whenever something even remotely dangerous comes their way is not the best method to improving one's skills, but a lesser known truth is that sometimes, not bombing is almost as bad. Especially in games that provide you with a large number of bombs, like DoDonPachi or most Touhou games, knowing when the proper time to use life-saving bombs is part of being skilled at the game. Try to be able to quickly tell the difference between a situation where you can narrowly escape and a situation where you're certain to die, in order to bomb on the latter.

Another important factor to note is avoiding bullets. You don't want to look directly at your hitbox, nor even directly at the bullets. You want to look at where the bullets aren't, where they won't be, and move into that space. It's sort of strange to think about it, but you're not as much dodging the bullets as placing yourself where it will be safe.

Entry-level games
Games that can be considered entry-level generally have a low resistance threshold or a myriad of arrangements (through alternate modes and options). Due to the nature of these games there is no such thing as an “easy” shoot 'em up. As such, this is more a compendium of games that serve as good starting points to understand the basics for newcomers to the genre:

Resources

 * http://www.shmups.com/ - THE Shmup Database! Tons of reviews and coverage across all platforms
 * http://shmups.system11.org/index.php - One of the biggest forums dedicated to shmups
 * http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9665 - The Unofficial Shmup Glossary
 * http://www.super-play.co.uk/ - Repository of replays from professional players (“superplays”)
 * http://www.world-of-arcades.net/ - Fantastic tribute site for a few big name developers (Cave, 8ing/Raizing, Psikyo), with lots of assorted information and images
 * http://www.sk8tokyo.com/shmup/ - Doujin shmup emporium, purchase the latest software straight from Tokyo (shipped internationally)