Shoot ’em ups, a video game genre that’s unfortunately also known by the linguistically repugnant term “shmups,” is a category that’s graced the industry for decades. Like beat ’em ups, shoot ’em ups were arcade staples that have found new life on home video game consoles when cabinets began vanishing from laundromats, pizza joints, and bodegas. Thankfully, you no longer need to own a console for shooter action; the PC has become a red-hot platform for wrecking enemies with massive firepower.
For those not in the know, a shoot ’em up is a game that sees you take control of a craft—sometimes a character—and wage war against enemy forces, typically in horizontally or vertically scrolling aerial combat. They can be simple affairs that see you dodge, fire, return fire, and drop the occasional bomb; they can also be highly complex affairs involving counters, deflections, and combo systems. Think Battle Garegga, Gradius, R-Type, Super Star Soldier, or Thunderforce. The genre used to be referred to as “shooters,” but that name now applies to other shooting games.
The biggest difference between one shooter and another is its type. At the moment, the most popular shooter sub-genre is bullet hell, a style that destroys novice pilots. Enemies fill the screen with destructive colored firepower that makes pinpoint movement and spatial awareness a must, and relaxing your sphincter impossible. Still, if you’re up for a challenge, bullet hell shooters are addicting adrenaline rushes. There are also fixed, rail, tube, and many other shoot ’em up types that you can learn about at Racketboy‘s Shmups 101 page.
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Fortunately, there’s a wide variety of shoot ’em ups available to PC gamers, ranging from bullet hell to traditional. If you’re looking to explore what the genre offers, consider this guide a launchpad.
Sometimes you just need a good twin-stick shoot ‘em up. Cygni: All Guns Blazing has all the arcade thrills of blasting enemies out of the sky while chasing high scores. But it has ideas of its own, too. You can strategically divert energy to weapons or to shields to vary your offense and defense. Just try to keep up when the screen becomes filled with exploding particles.
Cygni: All Guns Blazing Review
Cave is a shmup developer that has many hits in its catalog, with Deathsmiles being one of the company’s finest. Deathsmiles is a supernatural shooter in which you play as one of five gothic lolitas who defend their land from a demon invasion using familiars and intense, enemy-wrecking magic.
The horizontally scrolling, bullet-hell shooter boasts six game modes, nonlinear progression, local co-op play, huge enemies, big explosions, a counter system, and a thrilling goth-rock score. All in all, Deathsmiles is a thoroughly enjoyable PC shooter, despite somewhat cramped environments and sprites that were already considered a bit dated at the time of its original 2007 arcade release.
Deathsmiles (for PC) Review
Yup, Cave strikes again with another classic shooter. In the vertically scrolling DonDonPachi Resurrection, you control one of three time-traveling pilots who seek to repair a past that’s been altered by a rogue android seeking freedom from human enslavers. Really, it’s a shallow reason to make hulking enemy ships and robots go boom.
This space shooter boasts high-powered offensive and defensive options for annihilating aliens, with three controllable ships, three attack styles, and the bullet-cancelling Hyper Counter System. The game also has eight gameplay modes, multiple endings, and local co-op play.
DoDonPachi Resurrection (for PC) Review
Top-down arcade shooters have been a video game staple for a long, long time. The 1980s saw Robotron: 2084 popularize the genre with easy to use twin-stick controls, while the 1990s added Arnold Schwarzenegger flair and Paul Verhoeven panache with Smash TV. Recently, the best shooter wasn’t newfangled fare like Halo or Gears of War, but a simple gem called Geometry Wars.
True to its title, Lucid Games’ Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions takes the addictive shape-shooting action into the third dimension with near-immaculate results. The game is rendered with Tron-like grids, wire-framed objects that explode into kaleidoscopic fireworks as a Daft Punk-ish soundtrack pulses in the background. It’s a feast for the senses.
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions (for PC) Review
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Treasure, the development squad that made its name crafting genre-defining and genre-breaking titles during the 16-bit and 32-bit console generations, applied its creative chops to the shoot-’em-up category in 2001 and released the renowned Ikaruga. It wasn’t until 15 years later that the game received a PC port, but the wait was worth it.
Ikaruga blends shoot ’em up and puzzle play by utilizing a unique color-switching mechanic that lets you absorb black bullets when your ship is black and white bullets when your ship is white. Those absorbed bullets fill a gauge that lets you unleash a massive attack that lets you dish big damage to the mechanical monstrosities. The only downside is that some areas exchange the game’s flying freedom for maze-like obstacle courses that slow the pace.
Ikaruga (for PC) Review
If you hate bugs, Mushihimesama isn’t for you. Unless, of course, you have wild fantasies of obliterating as many as possible. Cave’s insect-themed, fantasy shooter casts you as a princess who battles giant creepy crawlies across five vertically scrolling stages.
Mushihimesama has three game modes: Novice, Normal, and Arrange. Novice is for newcomers who may not be ready to dive into the full-on madness; it’s a more-balanced take on the bullet-hell experience. Normal is a faithful recreation of the Japanese arcade classic. Arrange is a remixed version of the game that starts you with maximum firepower and automatic bomb drops. You can customize your offense using three weapon types and two option types.
Mushihimesama (for PC) Review
On the surface, Vampire Survivors looks like shovelware, but this roguelite-shmup is a ridiculously addictive game, thanks to its simple concept and deceptively deep mechanics. Even in its Steam Early Access state, Vampire Survivors can take a big bite out of your day as you collect weapons and items and optimize your runs.
Vampire Survivors (for PC) Review
Whisker Squadron: Survivor
Whisker Squadron: Survivor is an homage to Nintendo’s famous Star Fox franchise. You play as adorable talking cats in space who pilot starships and blast down waves of enemies. However, unlike Star Fox, Whisker Squadron is a roguelike, so no two corridor runs are the same. Cool power-ups, a sleek art style, and charming characters encourage you to keep playing.
Whisker Squadron: Survivor Review
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