Why are Shmups so Unpopular?

My first contribution to Continue is this updated version of an article I wrote back in 2008. You can look forward to more features and reviews of shmups from me in the future – among other things!

I think it’s fair to say that 2D scrolling shoot ’em ups, or “shmups”, don’t sell nearly as well as they used to.  Back in the days when arcades were the ultimate hang-out spot and the Super Nintendo’s Mode7 effects were impressive, it seemed like every game was either a platformer or a shmup.  Nowadays, mainstream reviewers and gamers alike seem thoroughly disinterested in the genre.  What the heck happened?

Let’s take a quick look at Metacritic scores here, shall we? What follows is just about every american-released shmup that has an average score listed on Metacritic. I’ve selected review excerpts from most of them that really annoyed me, not because they just criticized the game, but because they displayed ignorance of shmups as a genre.   I in fact left out any negative review excerpts that criticized the game and made a fair point about it – even shmups aren’t perfect all the time.  I also obviously left out positive review excerpts, of which there were several for each game.   Keep that in mind as you read on.

Raiden III (2007) – Metascore 61
-Review excerpts that piss me off:

“A purebred ’80s throwback, Raiden III hasn’t a chance of competing with exciting modern shooters – or even the classics of yesteryear.”

(The original Raiden came out in in 1990, not the ’80s)

“The game is too short, and doesn’t sport enough play options to keep it fresh past a few hours of play. “

“The game doesn’t take long enough to beat, there’s no real reason to play it again, and there isn’t anything even remotely special about the experience.”

Gradius III and IV (2000) – Metascore 64
-Review excerpts that piss me off:

“Only enjoyable if you equate fun with frustration, but most gamers have long since outgrown that philosophy, as have most games. Yet Gradius III and IV clings to its roots like a long rotting tooth.”

“Two arcade perfect ports of games that will get stale within a short few minutes. Back then, way back then, this may have been revolutionary but on the PS2 it’s almost like an insult to the grown intelligence of gamers.”

“Old-school graphics and unprecedented difficulty level make this one a loser for all but the most dedicated retro-game freaks. ”

(Those of us who enjoy difficult 2D games are “freaks”, apparently)

Chaos Field (2004, 2005) – Metascore 61, 63 (DC, GC respectively)
-Review excerpts that piss me off:

“It’s like fighting a fireworks display. Sometimes the enemy blows up. Sometimes you do. There’s no strategy; no hook that makes you think about how you’ll do better next time.”

(Obviously the reviewer doesn’t understand the deep scoring system, nor the hitboxes or attack patterns, which demand loads of strategy)

Triggerheart Exelica (2008) – Metascore 63
-Review excerpts that piss me off:

“Despite the enjoyment of slinging bad guys around like giant wrecking balls, Triggerheart’s indecisive difficulty, average looks and short length render it a bad choice for any but the most devoted shooter fans.”

“Like most arcade shooters, the experience is brief. The challenge is there for those who would like to memorize attack patterns and master the five levels, but there isn’t anything that feels exciting.”

“I enjoyed Triggerheart, but the game’s length is both a good and bad thing — it has only five levels, and most players will be able to beat them all in about 30 minutes.”

(Short length is clearly a common complaint about the genre; read on for more on that)

Castle Shikigami 3 (2008) – Metascore 67
-Review excerpts that piss me off:

“If this were a downloadable title on WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, or PlayStation Network, it’s a safe bet that we’d be telling you to go fire up your console and start it downloading right now.”

(Why does the reviewer believe the game is not really worth more than $10?)

“Castle of Shikigami III is a great title for people who enjoy the occasional classic, arcade-style game. However, it has a decided lack of content and doesn’t offer much beyond the initial experience.”

“The mere fact that it fills a niche on the Wii doesn’t excuse this disappointing lack of substance. ”

Gradius Collection (2006) – Metascore 76
-Review excerpts that piss me off:

“Twenty years ago, it would have been worth forty bucks. But today, it’s just another obsolete space ship, grounded in favor of better, faster rockets.”

(Nevermind the fact that the Gradius games have always been among the best horizontal shmups in existence)

“If you love slow, old-fashioned gameplay, you’ll be in heaven here. ”

(Gradius games have been called many things, but “slow” is not even remotely a fair description)

“The Gradius Collection will mainly appeal to fans who want to relive those old school memories; I can’t see many new gamers being hooked on Gradius, even though it’s a fun experience.”

Gradius V (2004) – Metascore 82
-Review excerpts that piss me off:

“Even though its more visually polished than some of the other shooters out there, the lack of innovation and the small number of seven stages makes Gradius V a must for fans of the series only.”

“It’s just too bad that there isn’t much to it beyond the standard gameplay. ”

“About the only things that keep the game from scoring higher is the lack of any meaningful innovation in the gameplay and the fact that the game only has seven stages to play.”

(These all cite the lack of innovation, despite Gradius V being by far the most unique and innovative Gradius game with controllable options)

Ikaruga: (2002, 2003, 2008) – Metascore 81, 85, 88 (DC, GC, 360 respectively)
-Review excerpts that piss me off:

“As fun as it starts out to be, it gets old rather quickly. Fortunately or unfortunately, the game is extremely short, and on its easiest mode can be completed in about an hour.”

“A perfect example of why shooters have become such a niche genre. It’s a good game that’s well made. It’s even got an interesting hook to keep the hard core happy. But the insane difficulty will keep most players from getting past the first level before giving up. And with the ultra-short playing time, even shooter fans might not find enough to like here.”

(Even the generally favored Ikaruga received complaints about the length)

Summary of Criticisms:

• Shmups are too short

Most shmups are between 5 and 7 stages in length (not counting loops) which usually equates to about 30-45 minutes of gameplay time to beat it in a single run.  Criticizing shmups for this trait, however, shows a real ignorance about the genre and about arcade games in general. Sure, if you take a shmup and just play through it, continuing every time you get a game over, until you hit the end, you might think “wow, that was fast.” But that’s not how they are meant to be played. For arcade games, and shmups specifically, the aim is for high scores. To achieve the highest theoretical score, you will need to beat the entire game without using any continues because continuing resets your score each time. To truly “beat” a shmup, you need to beat it without continuing. This is called a 1CC, or “1-credit-clear.” Accomplishing this requires considerable skill and often memorization, but above all PRACTICE. While it’s true that you can continue through a shmup in 30 minutes, doing so requires no skill. To actually beat it properly by 1CCing it will take you considerable more time – often 20-30 hours of total play time, depending on your skill level. To put it into perspective, I played Ikaruga on the easiest possible settings for over 25 hours before 1CCing it. I don’t even consider that 1CC to be legitimate because it was not done at default settings. I played those 5 levels over and over and over until I could survive for longer and longer, and rack up longer chains to get a better score. When I finally reached the end of the game, the sense of accomplishment and self-improvement was indescribable, and it is a feeling not often achieved when reaching the end of a longer and easier modern game.

• Shmups are too difficult to be enjoyable

I can’t deny shmups are some of the most difficult games in existence. Some people don’t enjoy challenging themselves and improving their skills. These games are not for those people. Those people should not be reviewing shmups if they’re not willing to persevere and learn the games properly.  If a game journalist wrote a review about a game in a genre he didn’t like, and didn’t even complete the game, he’d never be taken seriously.  Yet this is exactly what happens every time a shmup is released.

• Shmups are all the same

Another complaint that originates from ignorance of the genre.  It would be quite easy to look at any real-time strategy (RTS) game and say “look, it’s just like all the others, you simply order groups of units around and build buildings”; or, one might look at any first-person-shooter (FPS) and claim “You just point and shoot at things in all of these games, there are only minor differences between any of them.”  Those of us familiar with a genre understand the significance of these differences between games, and the shmup genre is no different.  The average gamer will look at Dodonpachi and think it is the same as 1942: a vertically scrolling 2D shoot-em-up.  Of course, there are significant differences: Dodonpachi features markedly different level design, a much more manic approach with a lot of bullets, a screen-clearing bomb attack, the option of slower movement around the screen and concentrated firepower by holding down the shot button, and a strict enemy chaining system for scoring.  That’s why this complaint is baseless when leveled against shmups.  The games are somewhat similar because they are part of a genre!

• Shmups are only worth buying as $10 downloads

This common complaint draws from all of the ones explained above.  Gamers don’t think a 30 minute shmup has as much value as a 30 hour RPG. Of course, properly beating a shmup can easily take 30 hours of practice to achieve.  Many gamers also believe that a 30 minute 2D shmup must not be all that hard or expensive to develop, so it shouldn’t cost as much money as a 3D game with bloom effects and soft shadows.  This idea is both true and false.  It is cheap and relatively easy for just about anybody to create a shmup.  Xbox Live Indie Games are chock full of them, for example.  What many gamers don’t understand is how difficult it is to create a good shmup.  The difference between your average $1 indie shmup and a $50 Cave game like Death Smiles – recently released in the U.S. on the Xbox 360 – is monumental.  There is a massive amount of design work and testing on the levels, the scoring system and the bullet patterns which take years to perfect. The artwork for a good 2D game is also very difficult and time-consuming.

Just as there are cheap $10 platforming games you can download on every console, people will gladly shell out $50 for New Super Mario Brothers Wii because they know the difference in quality means a difference in value.

And that’s why some people dislike shmups.  But just why do some people love them so much?  I think Winston Churchill has an answer to that question:

“There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.”

Raiden III: 61
-Review excerpts that piss me off:“A purebred ’80s throwback, Raiden III hasn’t a chance of competing with exciting modern shooters – or even the classics of yesteryear.””The game is too short, and doesn’t sport enough play options to keep it fresh past a few hours of play. “”The game doesn’t take long enough to beat, there’s no real reason to play it again, and there isn’t anything even remotely special about the experience.”Gradius III and IV: 64
-Review excerpts that piss me off:“Only enjoyable if you equate fun with frustration, but most gamers have long since outgrown that philosophy, as have most games. Yet Gradius III and IV clings to its roots like a long rotting tooth.””Two arcade perfect ports of games that will get stale within a short few minutes. Back then, way back then, this may have been revolutionary but on the PS2 it’s almost like an insult to the grown intelligence of gamers.””Meritless in terms of taking their genre forward or, worse even, invoking the warm glow of nostalgia. Spend £15 on a NES and the original games instead.” (I’d like to point out that neither of these two games were on the NES. Or on any home console until this collection on the PS2, in fact. And Gradius on the NES was a joke compared to the two masterpieces of Gradius III and IV)

“Old-school graphics and unprecedented difficulty level make this one a loser for all but the most dedicated retro-game freaks. ”

Chaos Field: 61, 63 (DC, GC respectively)
-Review excerpts that piss me off:

“It’s like fighting a fireworks display. Sometimes the enemy blows up. Sometimes you do. There’s no strategy; no hook that makes you think about how you’ll do better next time.”

Triggerheart Exelica: 63
-Review excerpts that pissed me off:

“Despite the enjoyment of slinging bad guys around like giant wrecking balls, Triggerheart’s indecisive difficulty, average looks and short length render it a bad choice for any but the most devoted shooter fans.”

“Like most arcade shooters, the experience is brief. The challenge is there for those who would like to memorize attack patterns and master the five levels, but there isn’t anything that feels exciting.”

“I enjoyed Triggerheart, but the game’s length is both a good and bad thing — it has only five levels, and most players will be able to beat them all in about 30 minutes.”

Castle Shikigami 2: 67

Castle Shikigami 3: 67
-Review excerpts that pissed me off:

“If this were a downloadable title on WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, or PlayStation Network, it’s a safe bet that we’d be telling you to go fire up your console and start it downloading right now.”

“Castle of Shikigami III is a great title for people who enjoy the occasional classic, arcade-style game. However, it has a decided lack of content and doesn’t offer much beyond the initial experience.”

“The mere fact that it fills a niche on the Wii doesn’t excuse this disappointing lack of substance. ”

Under Defeat: 67
-Review excerpts that pissed me off:

“Inarguably, what Under Defeat does, it does very well. The execution is perfectly pitched and it clearly ticks each and every box the developers drew up on the ideas table. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that this is ’80s gaming dressed in ’00s visuals running on ’90s hardware. The gameplay is sweet and eloquent but, underneath it also tired and relentlessly derivative.”

Thunder Force V: 70

Gradius Collection: 76
-Review excerpts that pissed me off:

“Twenty years ago, it would have been worth forty bucks. But today, it’s just another obsolete space ship, grounded in favor of better, faster rockets.”

“If you love slow, old-fashioned gameplay, you’ll be in heaven here. ”

“The Gradius Collection will mainly appeal to fans who want to relive those old school memories; I can’t see many new gamers being hooked on Gradius, even though it’s a fun experience.”

R-Type Final: 79

Gradius V: 82
-Review excerpts that pissed me off:

“Even though its more visually polished than some of the other shooters out there, the lack of innovation and the small number of seven stages makes Gradius V a must for fans of the series only.”

“It’s just too bad that there isn’t much to it beyond the standard gameplay. ”

“About the only things that keep the game from scoring higher is the lack of any meaningful innovation in the gameplay and the fact that the game only has seven stages to play.”

Ikaruga: 81, 85, 88 (DC, GC, 360 respectively)
-Review excerpts that pissed me off:

“As fun as it starts out to be, it gets old rather quickly. Fortunately or unfortunately, the game is extremely short, and on its easiest mode can be completed in about an hour.”

“A perfect example of why shooters have become such a niche genre. It’s a good game that’s well made. It’s even got an interesting hook to keep the hard core happy. But the insane difficulty will keep most players from getting past the first level before giving up. And with the ultra-short playing time, even shooter fans might not find enough to like here.”