[img width=700 height=704]http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/231228-life-force-turbografx-16-front-cover.png[/img] Now that, my friends, is box art. If it can't scare the cat, get a new picture. (Pic from mobygames.com)
From Space Invaders to Gradius V, the "little ship/guy/thingie dodging bullets and firing back" genre has been with us since the beginning and is just a hair younger than the "Avoid Missing Ball For High Score" genre. And in the same way that Virtua Tennis is no longer king of the hill, the shoot-'em-up or 'shmup' has gone from expected staple to rare appearance.
Though they have never disappeared altogether, shmups are definitely now a fringe category. No longer considered financially viable where less-than-an-hour gameplay is relegated to free or fleeting dollar distractions, new additions to the shmup genre are usually danmaku ("Bullet Hell") or indie homages. Long gone are the glory days of new masterpieces like Axelay or Einhander. Or are they?
