Danmaku

弾幕, often translated as "barrage" or "bullet curtain", is a sub-genre of shoot-em-up games. I usually use the term 'danmaku' to refer to the entire shmup genre, as it sounds exotic and cool, and represents the genre taken to its logical conclusion. Top-down, space-themed shooters have essentially existed since the dawn of video games, and for many people the term 'video game' will immediately conjure images of steadily approaching space invaders or exploding asteroids. Shoot-em-ups are ubiquitous, yes, but they lacked an identity that would set them apart from the wider gaming landscape; each game would inevitably be replaced in the public conscious by the latest graphically-superior simulation of spaceship combat, ad infinitum.

The solution? Video game logic. Take the established bullet-dodging and enemy attack patterns and exaggerate them to saturated extremes; forcing those tense, joystick-clutching moments to the forefront of gameplay. Games that followed this mold would soon prove mesmerizing for both spectators...

"[...] in the danmaku game, orb- or arrow-shaped projectiles form the atomic units of pulsating, multi-hued latticeworks and arabesques. Sometimes these designs will manifest as screen-swallowing circles with equidistant radii or spokes, or will wheel across the entire screen space in the form of undulating tendrils, or on other occasions will rain down like multi-colored confetti streamers. They will coalesce into individual strands of menacing webs, or spin wildly in double helix formations. In worst-case scenarios, such as the final battle of Cave’s 2004 hit Mushihime-sama [虫姫さま、“Insect Princess”], an uncountable number of angry magenta orbs settle into an oppressive rolling fog, with seemingly no gaps through which to escape."

...and players alike...

"Arcade gamers must learn very quickly, in order to make their sacrifice of 100-200 yen a worthy one, to view these tantalizing clusters of glowing globules or phosphorescent spear tips as the primary focus of their visual attention: no matter how well rendered the digital landscapes are in which the action takes place, or how intricately detailed any of the in-game objects may be, they must be treated as a kind of extraneous visual noise."


 * The Danmaku Game As A New Optical Art
 * Bullet Hell: The Globalized Growth of Danmaku Games and the Digital Culture of High Scores and World Records by Mark R Johnson

Early History

 * Spacewar! (1962)
 * Galaxy Game (1971)
 * Computer Space (1971)
 * Space Wars (1977)
 * Space Invaders (1978)
 * Asteroids (1979)
 * Galaxian (1979) / Galaga (1980)
 * Defender (1980) - Stargate?, Eugene Jarvis
 * Centipede (1980) - Millipede?
 * Phoenix (1980)? - One of the first VG bosses
 * Tempest (1981)
 * Scramble (1981) - Gradius precursor
 * Xevious (1983) - First shooter with levels/progression (afaik)


 * Twinbee (1985)/Fantasy Zone (1985) - "Cute 'em Ups"
 * Space Harrier (1985) - "2.5D Super Scaler"
 * Blaster (1983) - Rare, earlier game by Eugene Jarvis


 * Takahashi Meijin and the History of Caravan Shooting
 * Complete List of Shoot-em-ups (TG-16, PCE, SGX, PC-FX, LA) / THE TURBOGRAFX-16 / PC ENGINE SHMUP LIBRARY: PT 1 (EXCLUSIVES)
 * Naxat Soft's Summer Carnival


 * Toaplan - ''"After Toaplan closed its doors in 1994, several former employees formed or were involved with the following companies, many of which were dedicated to arcade shooters:
 * CAVE
 * Raizing/8ing (Also formed by ex-Compile employees. When Raizing was folded into 8ing, some employees left for CAVE.)
 * Gazelle (creators of Air Gallet and the Sailor Moon arcade game; both distributed by Banpresto. Gazelle did not last long; after its closure, some employees left to join CAVE.)
 * Takumi (creators of Giga Wing and Mars Matrix, published Twin Cobra II after Toaplan's closure. Current status unknown.)"''

Twin-Stick:
 * Gun Fight (1975) / Boot Hill (1977)
 * Sheriff (1979)
 * Mars (1981)
 * Space Dungeon (1981)
 * Robotron: 2084 (1982) - Eugene Jarvis
 * Smash TV (1990) - Eugene Jarvis
 * Total Carnage (1992) - Eugene Jarvis


 * Geometry Wars

Gradius & Parodius
http://shmuplations.com/gpg-gradius/

Touhou Project

 * The Illusory Land of Gensokyo
 * Rensenware - "A ransomware trojan on Microsoft Windows. It shows a picture of Minamitsu Murasa which is an official artwork from the game and a message which tells the user to play Touhou 12: Unidentified Fantastic Object to get the user's files back."

Treasure

 * Radiant Silvergun
 * Ikaruga
 * Ganbai-o

ABA Games/Kenta Cho

 * http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/
 * http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6TjYvjtoLpQh-LrfeL4Xiw


 * Noiz2sa (2002)
 * rRootage (2003)
 * Slow-paced boss rush
 * "Psy", "Ika" and "GW" modes inspired by Psyvariar, Ikaruga and Giga Wing, respectively
 * A7Xpg (2003)
 * Not danmaku, arcade-style game
 * PARSEC47 (2003)
 * Fast-paced, procedurally-generated
 * Emphasis on constant, screen-wide movement
 * TUMIKI Fighters (2004)
 * Remade as Blast Works
 * Torus Trooper (2004)
 * Tempest-clone
 * Gunroar (2005)
 * Unique naval-theme, twin-stick shooter
 * Player dictates the pace of the game
 * Multiple game modes and control schemes
 * Mu-cade (2006)
 * Combination of danmaku, Snake and sumō
 * Titanion (2006)
 * Galaga-clone