ATTACK FROM PLANET TRIVIA #05 - SHOOT'EM UP! A Brief Flight Through the Genre

If you think about the Cathode-ray Tube Amusement Device, the first electronic game ever released in 1947, you reach the conclusion that the Shoot ‘em Up (or simply SHMUP) might be the oldest videogame genre ever. From the late 1970’s to the early 1990’s, this was one of the genres that dominated the golden age of arcades with classics like “Space Invaders” and “Asteroids”. It includes a large variety of styles, like the chaotic “bullet hell”, in which projectiles are coming from everywhere in different formations, to the “run ’n gun” in which the character is on foot instead of controlling an aircraft.

In the 20th century, the genre lost its widespread popularity, with studios and gamers aiming at more complex gameplay or hyperrealistic graphics and narratives. It was only in recent years that a sense of nostalgia emerged from indie studios with retrogaming and new releases trying to bring back the simple and straightforward characteristics of this beloved kind.

in this update, we’d like to present to you (or maybe remind you of) the SHMUPs that have close relations with “Squadron 51”.

GRADIUS (1985)

One of the most classic shooters of the Arcade era was introduced by Konami in 1985 and stablished some of the base concepts of the genre: sidescrolling; the weapon bar; customization; power up itens and specials. It became a powerful franchise, inspiring spin-off series, parodies and copycats. The narrative is simple: you take control of the iconic aircraft known as Vic Viper and must survive alien attacks to save the universe. “Shoot the core!” says the series’ call to action, referencing the pulsating inner energy chamber, the weak spot of nearly all Gradius’ bosses. Most of these concepts are also found in our “Squadron 51”, since Gradius was one of our major influences.
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R-TYPE (1987)

“R-Type” was released by Irem in 1987 in arcade platforms. While the gameplay was obviously inspired by Gradius, the monstrous aesthetic was influenced by the works of the artist H. R. Giger, that has also served as basis for the Alien movie franchise. In the time of its release, “R-Type” raised the bar for SHMUPs in terms of building atmosphere, with its bio-mechanical imagery, a large variety of enemies and mind-blowing difficulty.
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THUNDER FORCE (1983 - present)

Another free-roaming scrolling shooter franchise well known for kids of the 90’s is Thunder Force, created by female developer Kotori Yoshimura. Even if the original was a hit in the Arcade machines of the 80’s, it was in the consoles that this shooter found its niche. It had all the elements a Shmup fan looks for: thrilling action, challenging difficulty and screen-filling weaponry. One unique feature of the game is that the levels don’t just scroll from left to right, but also back and forward, up and down. The trick, as always, is to memorize the patterns.
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SINE MORA (2012)

This dieselpunk shooter was one of the benchmarks for the platforms and SHMUPs revival during the 2010’s. Featuring incredible set pieces, it takes all the classic concepts of the genre and adds another thrilling element to it: a ticking clock, that makes the player even more tense than most bullet-hell. This game features a more complex story than most arcade shooters, with all its dystopian narrative, monster bosses and Starfox-inspired furry like characters. This is something we’re also aiming to achieve in our game. Though we’re working in one of the simplest of games’ genres, we want to tell a rich and flashy story in our own way.
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CUPHEAD (2017)

When “Cuphead" was released in 2017, “Squadron 51”’s concept was already solid, and the development was in its early stages, so we can’t say that it was a fundamental influence in our process. However, that didn’t stop media and gamers from comparing the two projects, not only for its chaotic bullet-hell scenarios, but also for the research and fidelity to the vintage sources that inspired both games. While “Squadron 51” intends to give the player a full immersion in the 1950’s sci-fi vibes, “Cuphead”, created by the Moldenhauer brothers, is built around an incredible research on 1930’s animation’s aesthetic. A resounding success for critics and gamers, this ode for the Golden Age cartoons gets you hooked on its beautiful hand-drawn environments and bosses and on the challenging difficulty, based on the players’ skills in memorizing patterns and willingness to learn.
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