Open Forum: What even is a SHMUP anymore?

So yeah SHMUPs! Why am I bringing those up? Well I am glad I am writing it as if some one asked.

That’s because of the STEAM SHMUP FEST!

So what is a SHMUP? Supposedly it was shorthand for SHoot’ eM UP. Now I have always considered those to be like old ass top down games like the earliest memory I can think was like River Raid on the Atari. Oh yeah I am a bit old. Then stuff like the few Galaga demo on Tekken for PlayStation 1 or Space Invaders.

However I guess first person and third person shooters are also under the umbrella according to Steam. I mean i guess when you boil it down. simply Shooting as a main method of action makes a game a SHMUP.

This is just a few of the sub genres under SHMUP: Here list of Steam Sub-Genres under Shoot ‘Em Up, Bullet Hell, Twin Stick Shooter, Side Scroller, Roguelite, Arena Shooter, Flight, On-Rails Shooter, Hack and Slash, Exploration, Dungeon Crawler, Hero Shooter, Looter Shooter and more.

I picked up a ton of demos I hope to get to them after work a few at a time.

Anyway talk amongst yourselves and maybe watch this video.