Blurred Lines: What makes a true 'Shmup?

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Just the other day i was drafting a script for a vid im making where i spoke about this topic, i wrote that most fans agree that a shmup is only the vert and hori types and while run n gun, tube, multidirectional/arena shooters are grey-area shooters, they arnt true shmups. Looks like im gonna have to alter what i writ

[ROBOTRON]

Can open. Worms everywhere.

all this stuff is debatable, your never really gonna get a clear definition of "shmup" thats why there are "shmups".....then under shmups you categorize "shmup types" for example, rail, vert, hori, etc. They can be broken down even futher when developers combine shmupping with the term "hybrid" which blurs shmuplines to a worse degree.

Thunderforce 2, and Axelay for example cannot (in my opinion) be categorized by calling them hori's or verts because they have elements of both. Tempest is a shmup, but is categorized as "rail" or tubesteak I think. Zaxxon, Viewpoint, ...... x_x Philosoma....wtf category is it??? First person, hori, vert, wqehfgv kjfbfjbfklj ........... does not compute.

syntax error.

reboot.


Dam I have a headache. I hope all that sh*t I said above makes any sense.

[monkeyman]

Hmmm, as has been said, SHMUPs encompass a few different sub-genres and there's a lot of difference between them. Look something like Mars Matrix and compare that to a fixed screen like Space Invaders or an arena shmup like Geomotry Wars and you have very different experiences. So that said, counting a 3d game like space harrier, thunderblade or something more (relatively) recent like panza dragoon as a shmup doesn't seem that unreasonable. Starfox specifically is a tricky one as you had a 1st person view option, and one thing defining all the others is that you can see your ship.

That said, run and guns don't count in my eyes.

Not so sure about games like Commando where you have to push scroll the screen, but what would you call a game like that?

Personally, I always think hori or vert games when I hear the term SHMUP (I'd certainly say they're the only 'pure shmups'), but I can see how some of the other sub genres fit into the general category.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

The diagram thats linked on this thread is about the same as i see it. While all types of shooters even fps are part of the shooting game genre, verts, horis and proto are shmups. I think the main problem is differenciating between true shmups and the genre as a whole.