Shoot ‘Em Up Games

Shoot ’em up games are one of the oldest genres of video games around and really got kicked off back in the day with Taito’s Space Invaders. Typically involving endless waves of fast-moving opponents, shoot ‘em up games have a linear difficulty curve that ramps up as players progress in the game.

The first wave of enemies might be mild but, as things progress, it will increasingly become difficult for the gamer to maintain pace. Featuring both a fixed screen and scrolling screen style, shoot ‘em up games are often some of the most challenging out there and preference mastery over casual gamers.

Though casual gamers can play and enjoy a shoot ’em up game, the really elite master these titles and compete for higher scores or any other manner of trophy marker in these notoriously difficult titles. Including everything from the aforementioned Space Invaders to games like R-Type, shoot ’em up games come in a variety of styles from cutesy, anime-inspired graphics to hardcore sci-fi, space-based adventures.

Weapon and enemy variety are the order of the day and often these games combine pattern-based gameplay with strategy in novel ways. Typically weapons are improved as the gamer goes along though not every weapon is suited to every purpose.

A lot of weapons form patterns just as enemies form patterns and often having the right response pattern is as important as having a good weapon to begin. Another huge element to shoot ‘em up games is that of arcade-style action. This is typically loud, fast, colorful, and intense.