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Bullet hell

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1021: 54: 509:. It was many Western players' first experience with bullet hell, and gained a respected place in gaming culture. In the modern day, more bullet hell titles have been released on mobile platforms than ever before. While it is still a heavily Japan-centric genre, there have been some Western-developed exceptions, such as 588:
Bullet heaven or reverse bullet hell are terms for games in which, rather than attempting to dodge enemy projectiles, the player's character or vessel generates the bullets, typically in the manner of an auto shooter, in order to take out waves of enemies while the player moves. These games often
435:, rather than the entire vessel itself. This remains a tenet of bullet hell shooters, allowing players to navigate through seemingly impossible swarms of bullets. The company collapsed soon after, but former employees started a different studio, 431:, an innovative game that, after the first level, featured increasingly complex and hypnotic bullet patterns. In order to make the game more fair to players, only a small part of the player's ship served as the 1188: 580:
due to a lack of human drama, as well as a belief that highly-skilled Japanese players are "gods" of the genre, causing fewer Western players to pick them up.
405:, bullet hell elements were later added to numerous other genres. Pure bullet hell games remain a niche genre due to their high level of difficulty, akin to 348: 564:
with "smart" bullets. Due to the "die-hard" nature of pure bullet hell fans, such hybrids open the genre to a new audience who might never seek to try one.
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have the player choose power ups from a random selection to improve attack and passive abilities. Such games became popular with the release of
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Some games began incorporating bullet hell elements despite being different genres, muddying definitions of what exactly the genre is.
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added more twists to the formula that continue to be reflected in the genre going forward. It added a
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The competitive bullet hell scene is defined by hyper-fast reflex gameplay with a focus on achieving
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system that forced the player to defeat enemies quickly or lose score. Around this time, the
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gained significant attention outside of Japan due to its release on the
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release, gained massive popularity with a new Western audience.
788: 462:, the most prolific fan-made shooter series as recognized by 735:"An Insider Look into the World of Competitive Bullet Hells" 492:
marked a large step forward for the series, and, due to its
1413: 551:(2018) which have combat systems featuring bullet dodging. 421:, a now-defunct Japanese video game studio that developed 30:"Danmaku" redirects here. For the type of subtitle, see 685:"What Other Games Can Learn From the Bullet Hell Genre" 391:
video games featuring large amounts of projectiles the
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The origin of the bullet hell genre is attributed to
476:, he had begun developing the games to showcase his 1834: 1750: 1714: 1676: 1570: 1563: 1488: 1404: 1379: 1329: 1294: 1266: 1228: 1219: 1157: 1127: 1097: 1054: 1028: 955: 932: 867: 844: 835: 733:Johnson, Mark R.; Orlando, Alexandra (2017-03-18). 486:, was its first bullet hell shoot 'em up. The 2002 468:, was also conceived. Largely the work of a single 439:, that continued to develop bullet hell games. 372: 658:"Curtains for You: The History of Bullet Hell" 395:is required to dodge. Introduced in 1993 with 366: 800: 342: 8: 425:shoot 'em ups. In 1993, the studio released 1567: 1225: 841: 807: 793: 785: 480:. The second game in the series, the 1997 377:, literally "barrage" or "bullet curtain") 349: 335: 36: 622: 44: 296:List of freeware first-person shooters 760:Bolding, Jonathan (August 13, 2023). 7: 651: 649: 647: 512:Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony 25: 1019: 595:in 2022, and include games like 52: 630:Patterson, Blake (2010-05-07). 281:List of fighting game companies 1: 708:Wadeson, Danny (2015-07-07). 527:/bullet hell hybrids include 403:vertically scrolling shooters 301:List of third-person shooters 291:List of first-person shooters 683:Al-Aaser, Amr (2017-09-20). 656:Davison, Pete (2013-06-08). 489:Embodiment of Scarlet Devil 483:Story of Eastern Wonderland 373: 271:List of battle royale games 236:First-person shooter engine 1908: 1017: 29: 827:List of video game genres 822: 610:HoloCure – Save the Fans! 401:and initially limited to 367: 1119:Digital collectible card 714:Kill Screen - Previously 530:Knights in the Nightmare 316:List of maze video games 1887:Bullet hell video games 1204:Roguelike deck-building 1112:Roguelike deck-building 576:. It has not become an 311:List of light gun games 465:Guinness World Records 321:List of platform games 306:List of survival games 286:List of fighting games 1446:Tactical role-playing 1211:Tactical role-playing 1826:Vertically scrolling 604:20 Minutes Till Dawn 478:musical compositions 276:List of beat 'em ups 1456:Turn-based strategy 1361:Submarine simulator 1167:Action role-playing 1074:Interactive fiction 519:Bullet hell hybrids 40:Part of a series on 1857:Video game modding 1799:Nonlinear gameplay 1461:Turn-based tactics 1429:Real-time strategy 559:twin-stick shooter 32:Danmaku subtitling 1892:Video game genres 1874: 1873: 1870: 1869: 1862:Video game remake 1770:Emergent gameplay 1441:Real-time tactics 1400: 1399: 1339:Flight simulation 1069:Graphic adventure 1015: 1014: 816:Video game genres 592:Vampire Survivors 554:Enter the Gungeon 359: 358: 16:(Redirected from 1899: 1852:Video game clone 1568: 1564:Related concepts 1371:Vehicular combat 1226: 1099:Digital tabletop 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125: 123: 120: 118: 115: 113: 110: 106: 103: 99: 96: 95: 94: 91: 90: 89: 86: 84: 83:Battle royale 81: 77: 74: 73: 72: 69: 68: 65: 60: 59: 55: 51: 50: 47: 43: 39: 38: 33: 19: 18:Manic shooter 1847:Toys-to-life 1787: 1780: 1732: 1677:Player modes 1641:Personalized 1626: 1615: 1583: 1489:Other genres 1419:Auto battler 1387:Falling-sand 1349:Lunar Lander 1159:Role-playing 1142: 1084:Visual novel 1046:Metroidvania 1038: 992: 924:Third-person 901: 897:Shoot 'em up 882:First-person 771:. Retrieved 765: 755: 744:. Retrieved 738: 728: 717:. Retrieved 713: 703: 692:. Retrieved 688: 678: 667:. Retrieved 661: 635:. Retrieved 625: 608: 602: 596: 590: 587: 571: 557:(2016) is a 552: 546: 540: 534: 528: 522: 510: 500: 498: 487: 481: 463: 457: 443: 441: 426: 416: 396: 389:shoot 'em up 380: 361: 360: 231:Cover system 173: 169:Shoot 'em up 157:Third-person 142:First-person 76:Metroidvania 46:Action games 1763:Hypercasual 1684:Multiplayer 1600:Educational 1550:Programming 1545:Photography 1518:Incremental 1314:Kart racing 1258:Virtual pet 1089:Walking sim 1064:Escape room 963:Beat 'em up 902:Bullet hell 773:October 14, 574:high scores 545:(2017) and 472:developer, 470:doujin soft 362:Bullet hell 208:Vehicle sim 174:Bullet hell 93:Beat 'em up 1881:Categories 1804:Open world 1715:Production 1636:Nonviolent 1319:Sim racing 1286:Government 1221:Simulation 912:Twin-stick 846:Platformer 746:2023-04-06 719:2023-04-05 694:2023-04-05 669:2023-04-05 637:2023-04-07 617:References 179:Twin-stick 122:Action RPG 1590:Christian 1578:Advergame 1466:Artillery 1199:Roguelike 1177:Soulslike 1056:Adventure 892:Light gun 562:roguelike 548:Deltarune 536:Undertale 499:In 2001, 442:The 1995 251:WASD keys 241:Free look 152:Light gun 132:Artillery 64:Subgenres 1842:Minigame 1794:Masocore 1740:Fan game 1610:Licensed 1535:Non-game 1406:Strategy 1276:Business 975:Fighting 934:Survival 919:Tactical 767:PC Gamer 539:(2015), 533:(2008), 507:GameCube 445:DonPachi 428:Batsugun 407:masocore 398:Batsugun 385:subgenre 203:Survival 162:Tactical 112:Platform 88:Fighting 1809:Sandbox 1651:Serious 1584:Bishōjo 1501:Fitness 1473:Wargame 1331:Vehicle 1304:Fishing 1243:Farming 1143:Sokoban 1007:Stealth 993:Pac-Man 869:Shooter 598:Brotato 502:Ikaruga 494:Windows 452:-style 419:Toaplan 413:History 409:games. 383:, is a 374:danmaku 198:Stealth 127:Shooter 1758:Casual 1751:Design 1733:Doujin 1646:Sci-fi 1622:Sexual 1595:Comedy 1571:Themes 1555:Typing 1528:Rhythm 1506:Horror 1344:Combat 1309:Racing 1296:Sports 1253:Social 1238:Dating 1189:MMORPG 1129:Puzzle 837:Action 607:, and 578:esport 433:hitbox 423:arcade 220:Topics 191:Racing 186:Sports 117:Rhythm 1835:Other 1788:Kaizo 1781:Gacha 1727:Indie 1689:Co-op 1628:Eroge 1616:Otome 1605:Girls 1540:Party 1523:Music 1380:Other 1354:Space 1041:clone 1002:Snake 995:clone 956:Other 877:Arena 663:VG247 454:combo 264:Lists 137:Arena 1735:soft 1666:News 1496:Cozy 1424:MOBA 1230:Life 987:Maze 907:Rail 887:Hero 775:2023 740:Vice 437:Cave 147:Hero 1775:FMV 1722:AAA 1699:PVP 1694:MMO 1656:Art 1268:CMS 1248:God 525:RPG 474:ZUN 387:of 1883:: 1414:4X 764:. 737:. 712:. 687:. 660:. 646:^ 613:. 601:, 515:. 371:, 368:弾幕 808:e 801:t 794:v 777:. 749:. 722:. 697:. 672:. 640:. 365:( 350:e 343:t 336:v 34:. 20:)

Index

Manic shooter
Danmaku subtitling
Action games

Subgenres
Action-adventure
Metroidvania
Battle royale
Fighting
Beat 'em up
Hack and slash
Platform fighter
Platform
Rhythm
Action RPG
Shooter
Artillery
Arena
First-person
Hero
Light gun
Third-person
Tactical
Shoot 'em up
Bullet hell
Twin-stick
Sports
Racing
Stealth
Survival

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