Passion Against Reason: A Shmup Documentary

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Here is the link for the bonus footage of the uncut interviews with the players: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJ7Nd5-epbaSg8U

[@Kira-ji2ft]

"I personally think that games are not just for having fun; they could also be called a form of competition, of gamer vs. game. When you watch a story unfold in a game, it can be moving. However, when you clear a game that has a reputation for being impossible to all but the most dedicated of players, then you will experience something that is distinct from what narrative games offer." -Tsuneki Ikeda, lead designer at Cave

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Top tier quote, love it! thank you so much for sharing this, and yes Ikeda is spot on as usual.

[@fluffy_tail4365]

System erasure kind of melded those two together in ZeroRanger

[@videogamevlogs3765]

💯

[@jerm5466]

I don’t always agree with your reviews but by god if you aren’t one of the best gaming channels on the planet. Keep it up brother

[@Vidmastery]

I ADORE your "asynchronous competition" analogy. As primarily a fighting game player, I daydream all the time about hopping in a time machine and playing SF2 against the greats of 1992, 1994, etc. But I never made the connection you did on scoring-- It's incredible that as long as a game is played, a competitor will live forever through their scores. I should play more DOJ.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much my dude! Yes it s a really unique aspect of scoring that isn't obvious about it s competitive implications at first ha. But it s really cool how you can compete with people over time at their best

[@NostalgicRuckus]

"Being a fan of shmups makes no sense." I'm so glad I'm here. I'm so glad I found it.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Ha yes that sentence was sort of the guiding thesis for writing and putting the documentary together. Glad you found the doc as well, I am really hoping it helps connect more people with the genre.

[@NostalgicRuckus]

​@@TheElectricUnderground I actually meant finding the love of the genre not the doc. I have known and been waiting for this haha. Planning on watching the whole thing tonight! Thanks Mark.

[@abbasidanny]

I'm glad too, and thanks so much @TheElectricUnderground for all your hard work and dedication As good as this video is, I feel like it's more of an extended video essay and a summation of Mark's ideas rather than a documentary. It's a many-pronged argument for why shmups are an important genre. Rather than "against reason", it's a very reasoned argument detailing what is good about shmups and why they they might be worth your trying if you never have before (cool title, though). As well as this expository doc/video essay I'd be really interested, too, to see a "fly on the wall"-style documentary about why shmup players pursue this passion (besides their dissatisfaction with other game genres), what their lives are like, what it's like practicing and working toward a 1CC of a game, what it's like at shmup fests and other events where players get together to compete and share this passion. The Pumping Iron or King of Kong of shmups, basically (and if there's an Arnold or a Billy Mitchell of the shmup world I'd love to know who they are! 😂). Ecstasy of Order about Tetris does a great job of explaining the appeal of the game before getting into the people's stories, the drama I know Mark's shared stuff from shmupfests and there are players talking about their experiences in this video; would love to see more of that stuff. Maybe as a shmup player himself Mark's too close to the subject to make the film I'm thinking of, but someone should... Thanks again @TheElectricUnderground , @ShmupJunkie and others in this community who have shared their passion so generously

[@cyriak]

Really interesting video, thanks for making it. It really makes me think about the whole tug of war in game design between realism and abstraction. All games seem to tend towards abstraction as challenge becomes the focus, whether its sports or word puzzles or whatever. Bullet hell shmups are a good example of this, where the gameplay becomes an exercise in negotiating pure positive and negative space, almost like a Go board. Score itself is like the ultimate abstraction in that it reduces the game experience to a numerical value. When I think about the kind of shmups I enjoy though, its the ones that retain some connection to reality. Explosions that fill the screen with ornamental flying shrapnel. Enemies that shoot things other than colourful blobs. Scenery that takes me on a journey somewhere. Score that isn't just numbers at the top of the screen, but physical objects that you collect as you play. These things have no effect on your performance, and calling them a part of the gameplay is kind of subjective I guess. But it is interesting to think about that balance, and how it relates to the challenge.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes exactly my dude :-) I think shmups are an extremely abstract genre that strike at the heart of what video game combat is fundimentally. Which is a competition based on spacing and the battle of hitboxes :-)

[@MarsEsRojo]

Wow, Cyriak is a shmuper! Been a fan of your work since Off The Air. I agree on your take, and I can always appreciate when developers can squeeze in some immersive art direction without sacrificing the core mechanics necessary for a balanced and fun game.

[@PEG]

This is an incredible documentary. It perfectly explains the world of shmups and the reasons we love them against all odds. What an achievement!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you so much peg! that means a lot coming from a genre veteran like yourself :-)

[@elseifgames129]

I find it interesting how the story of the western developed shmup parallels neatly with the history of the western developed visual novel. They're practically opposites in terms of genre, but have a similar history. Niche games often considered "uniquely japanese," with a relatively low barrier to entry for developers, leading to a period of western indies trying to make their own without proper genre knowledge. (I remember seeing a video from a visual novel development channel open a video with "A lot of visual novel game devs tend to jump right into making their first game before they even really read a visual novel" and wanting to scream) Combine that with a mass audience that, understandably, is unversed due to the majority of these games languishing untranslated, and you have stuff like Doki Doki Literature Club being treated as this innovative genre defining masterpiece instead of what it actually is: a well made but limited short form experiment (That is walking in the footsteps of the more ambitious "Kimi to Kanojo to Kanojo no Koi/You and Me And Her") It's a situation that's getting better, but there's still releases that advertise themselves as "this isn't like OTHER visual novels," seemingly ashamed of its own genre space and railing against the image of it in their head, as if releasing a shmup and selling it as "This isn't like those unfair quarter munchers, this one is actually GOOD." and the stuff that breaks containment and gains popularity tends to be the stuff that, even when done genuinely well, is also optimized for streaming/lets plays. I guess that this is mostly a cry that, across genres, both devs and players should at least try to learn their history.

[@Dukstless]

Reminds me of how Tokimeki Memorial is the thing that popularized dating sims, but in hindsight feels like a critique of the genre it spawned.

[@kani-licious]

only because americans got tainted with ironic humor, which is also prevalent in almost are of their modern entertainment

[@dj420praiseit8]

Oh yeah, I wanted to mention that Boghog's advice to future developers is totally on point. I used to make countless development documents, wherein I'd plan out almost everything in advance. I'd imagine all the fun mechanics in my head, and figured that the process would mainly be about bringing my inner-vision into reality. It just doesn't work out that way, because it's so difficult to account for the potentials of variance in almost every step of the development process. You really do have to develop each aspect of the game step by step, because it's only through the process itself that you learn what works and what doesn't. The interview with the Blue Revolver developer was really great too! I'm so glad that there are people out there with the skill, dedication, and passion to create modern quality shmups.

[@marmosetfreund8506]

I owe you and ShumpJunkie a lot for introducing me to this hobby. I feel like an idiot for only playing them here and there when growing up. Now I've got a big collection on Saturn, PS2, PS1, and PC. Not to mention a PC Engine Mini. Your point at 11 minutes in, is SO TRUE!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh I was right there with you for years. Growing up I was vaguely aware of them, but didn't play them that much either. It wasn't until I got into metal slug and then dodonpachi, that I started to appreciate their design. I think that's natural though, you do need to mature into the games a bit over time. Since they are so unwieldy when you first try them, they do take some time to appreciate.

[@UltimateNinja-fe6yh]

Hey everyone. I just platinumed rolling gunner on my PS5.

[@revvvedrez546]

Congrats! Such a phenomenal game!

[@kirbdini]

I've got two trophies left myself. Expert clear and some score related one. Congrats, always feels good to pop a platinum. Hopefully DMC 5 will be my next.

[@UltimateNinja-fe6yh]

@@kirbdini u got the platinum comin soon too! Nice!

[@SilviusFlavius]

Kudos

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh that's awesome my dude! Rolling Gunner is a great time.

[@legless8528]

Hey Mark. I might not be the biggest grinder or even that active with shmups right now, but know what you've built. I looked up "Electric Underground" on a whim after the shoutout at Gus's Mushi Futari run at AGDQ, and have been so glad to be part of our community of one of the best genres of pure gaming passion. The phrase "passion against reason" is honestly true not only for shmups, but of mostly everything else worthy of love and respect, at least to me. The mainstream is too boring and too easy to get recognition for, filled only with dumb trends and cash grabs. Let's dig into intrinsic motivations and love what we love.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Hey my dude! Glad you were able to tune in and check out the documentary! If you watch the credits, i believe your name is in them :-) Yes, with the title and thesis of the documentary, I really wanted to capture that the appeal of the genre is more of an artistic appeal that connects with people in different ways, rather than being this sort of cool new fad. That's one problem I have with gaming documentaries sometimes, where the basis of the doc is that the game will always be popular or something like that. But with shmups, I really wanted to highlight that their value does not come from their popularity, but rather from the strengths of their passion and game design :-)

[@iaspis74]

I hope that this shmup renaissance will stay strong for many, many years to come. Thank you for making this video. Greetings from southeast Europe.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I am hoping that myself, I think we are seeing promising development in the western indie shmup scene. The japanese indie shmups are absolutely beasts of course, just look at Universe that came out last year, but sadly the japanese indie shmups tend to really sneak under the radar a bit too much ha.

[@domovoi_0]

You've convinced me brother. I've had run ins with shmups in the past and I've been playing relfex of late after watching some of your videos but after this I'm diving in. Love and blessings!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh that is so cool to hear! I really hope the section about pattern visualization is useful, because once I realized this it helped me grasp how to play the genre a lot better.

[@backlogsensei9295]

I always enjoyed shmups as a genre but never knew there was a deeper level beyond the surface. Before this channel I enjoyed shmups in a very ignorantly innocence kind of way. the same way someone who loves watching movies but couldn't tell you a thing about pacing, principal cinematography, world building or character/plot development.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm really happy to hear the documentary has helped explore the genre's depths a bit more for you. Because one reason why shmups are so often viewed as simple games is because the chips are stacked against them to begin with. There are decades of reviews and articles that don't understand them and downplay their design. Just look at old IGN reviews of shmups ha.

[@Silverset_]

This was great. Thanks for this! As an older gamer I remember the great arcades of the past. My friends hated Shmups and I tried to explain the draw. I was alone with my love of the genre…. As arcades died and I had less time for video games, I found myself drawn again to the genre again due to how quick it is to pick up and play one. In 2008, I watched a video of Perfect Cherry Blossom and was blown away! Soon after I was a CAVE junkie! I even started importing games! (Something I have never done) It was great hearing your section about how the genre began growing again because I remember visiting those websites and watching those videos years ago. Thanks again for your contributions to this awesome genre!

[@MURD3RWAVE]

We love to play your vids in background at work. We played almost all his vids. Better then random podcast.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That's awesome!! I love the idea of my vids helping get through the daily grind

[@slimynaut]

We are blessed to have you championing this genre Mark

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much slimy, I am hopeful this doc and my channel generally can help bring the genre to more players who will love shmups, but just aren't aware of their strengths and design principals.

[@SayakaSTG]

Enjoyed the documentary! And I'm glad you're part of that niche community. Love y'all. Also, you're doing such a fantastic job. Keep up the good work.

[@deus_nsf]

Just loving that part where you tear gachas down! Fun fact, I was supposed to become an actual game developper at some point, and when gachas started to rise a good decade ago, I kind of saw the path the gaming industry was starting to take, and decided to stay faaaaar away from it! Careful with Vampire Survivors though, as it had been expressed many times by Poncle (the original developper) that the basic nature of the game and the over emphasis on shiny loot box mechanics was actually made on purpose to attack the gacha market, I recommend you to watch his documentary it's fascinating.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Watching now my dude!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That's awesome! I'm hoping you enjoy it! It'll be fun to hear what you think about it, considering you've been working on the toaplan documentary which I am sure is an absolute beast when it comes out.

[@SpidersSTG]

I barely have words. This is like the Avengers movie of The Electric Underground Cinematic Universe of Rants. I’ll probably comment every time I watch this - will definitely be watching many times! - but first viewing I feel like you nailed it on so many ideas you’ve been working through for years. Hope you feel that way too. Congrats brother. This was great work!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Ha yes, it does feel like the ultimate culmination of a lot of the subjects I've been talking about on the channel over the years. As I was writing and putting the doc together, I was thinking people are probably going to be a bit surprised at how in depth the subject matter of the documentary goes. I hope it does help connect more people with the genre.

[@fightaman7]

Except this documentary isn’t just a cash grab and has depth unlike an Avengers movie 😂

[@doggosupremme]

I feel like you really get to the essence of a lot of points you've been making about shmup game design and the appeal of shmups over the years in a very easy to understand way. Hearing other players talk about shmups was easy to resonate with, it's cool hearing people talk about why they love the games because while I may know why I love them, I've never had a conversation in real life where the other person could truly understand why they are so great!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That's great my dude! Yes, it's so fun to show some footage of these passionate players from the event, because getting a bunch of shmup players together is a fairly rare occurance ha. And it is fascinating to hear all the different inspirations that people have for loving the genre.

[@magicjohnson3121]

Told myself I was just going to watch a little bit of the video and ended watching the whole thing so well done.

[@pappatrue4015]

Mark's magnum opus! :D In all seriousness, that's a most wonderful documentary. Of course, it's primarily for fans of shoot 'em ups and demonstrates your undying passion for the genre, but there are so many vital and interesting points about video game design in general, this video alone makes all the IGNs of the world obsolete. Thank you for this marvelous gift!

[@psymagearcade]

I'm so glad you mentioned the differences between arcade and mobile games. Even some old school arcade developers like Eugene Jarvis don't seem to understand this as well as they should.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm glad you appreciate this section mage! Yes, i hear people comparing mobile games to arcade games all the time and it drives me up the wall, I think the comparison is a really fundamental understanding of what arcade games are designed to do ha. I think mobile games have much more in common with those ticket games at arcades ha, not beat em ups and shmups.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

I love what you've done, but I think your passion blinded you to the value of easier games. Dragon Spirit (NES) and Gradius III (SNES) both were easier than the arcade originals, but offered flexibility for many types of players. And their warm welcome allowed players like me to build up our skills to where harder games like R-type could become an addiction.

[@AxeMain]

Watching this while working on my Gana Blade 1CC. Thanks for the motivation

[@xHanabiran]

This is one of the best videos I have ever seen. I’m speechless. Congratulations on your hard work. I will be rewatching this so very often.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much otavio!! While I was writing it and editing it together, I was thinking "this is either going to be awesome, or insane" lol. So I'm really glad it came together by the time I got all the elements put together. It was a beast of a process, but I'm really proud of how it turned out.

[@tournaline3448]

I don’t know how, but you exceeded expectations with this one. I can’t thank you enough for articulating and presenting how many of us feel about not only shmups, not only games, but any expression of art in general. This is an absolutely stellar piece of work that I will come back to again and again. Thank you, Mark.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you for the kind words tournaline! I'm really happy with how the documentary turned out. I was thinking either this doc is gonna be awesome or insane, and wasn't sure which it would be lol. But during the final day of editing, when all of the elements were finally put together, I had a moment of real happiness for how it all came together :-)

[@dingo535]

This was great, I’m ashamed to say it took me long to finally watch it, but I knew it wasn’t something I just wanted to throw in the background while doing other things. I wanted to be in the the right head space to get the most out of it and I’m glad I did ultimately. As you obviously know by now (despite repeatedly failing at actually getting to the meet ups which kills me inside more than your know and I really hope more opportunities arise to make that happen.) but I have respect and admiration for everything you’ve done. From your very first podcasts on sound cloud that allowed me to get to know you and your passionate efforts to do big things for this genre we all love do dearly, but was also instrumental in me deepening my relationship with these games. Not only opening the door for better understanding of why I enjoyed such games, but then offering insights on how to pursue things that help allow for both greater understanding of the subconscious desires that fueled me to seek out a certain type of experience in games as well as insights into how to more effectively approach and pursue those challenges as well!

[@viewtifuljoe99]

I really enjoyed watching this while working on my shmup cabinet. To me, this video felt like the amalgamation of everything this channel has been working towards. My favorite content on the channel and on the patreon are the shmup and game design philosophy discussions and the sections in this documentary did a great job of pulling from all of those to help show the viewer why someone would prefer games that are so against the current modern trends. There are few channels and voices I follow online that have a consistent viewpoint and ideology to their critique, and that trait of this channel to maintain that consistency in the topics discussed despite the games covered is what I appreciate the most.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

thank so much for supporting the channel all this time my dude, did you spot your name in the credits :-) and yes, I did decide to try to use the documentary as a chance to highlight a lot of topics I have been talking about over the years :-D

[@viewtifuljoe99]

@@TheElectricUnderground I'm honored to be credited alongside the great Coke Zero.

[@flottenheimer]

Great, important video, Mark. I have high hopes for the STG genre to not only survive but to prosper. The main reason being that development requires far less than classic AAA titles. A great shmup can be created by only a few talented, passionate people (as most actually are), and development no longer requires renting office space, hiring CEOs, middle management, physical media, developing PCBs etc. Less costly development combined with what I feel like is growing interest, dedicated playerbase and understanding of the genre bodes well for the future of STGs, imho. Furthermore, the amount of potential revenue that game developers leave on the table in the form of missing (or way too limited, or hard to get) merch and fangear boggles my mind. At some point developers will have to learn from musicians in this regard. Just imagine how much money, say, Cave, could make from printing and selling posters alone for all their games... (yes, I did spot that DoDonPachi Resurrection bomber jacket in the video...). Really appreciate everything you are doing for the genre, Mark. A meaningful, next mission for the shmup community would perhaps be to convince Valve/Steam to create and label/tag SHMUPs correctly. Discoverability is essential.

[@wearethewearethewearethhe]

It’s not passion without reason: The reason is that you enjoy it obviously. This is passion without ego. Since no one else gives a shit, your passion is uncontrolled by ego entirely.

[@AlastairGames]

Interesting take! Although the ego can come back in if you're desiring to dominate others with your score :)

[@verygoodfreelancer]

yep!!! i play shmups to relax, they feel meditative like playing an instrument or a rhythm game

[@SpyffeYT]

Hey Mike, great video. This is a work of art in addition to being very informative. My friends and I thought about your comparison between arcade games and the new breed of f2p mobile games and I think we came up with a sharp distinction: the way the two types of games handle progression. An arcade game offers you the same experience when you put in a quarter, over and over again. To progress, you have to change yourself, by conforming to its expectations but also by finding your way of playing the game. A f2p mobage offers you new experiences constantly via seasons, gacha mechanics, etc. etc. There's so much new stuff in there that honestly you end up throwing much of it away. But it's all tied to your account, and progression is by simple interactions or paying. So although the mechanic of microtransactions is common to the two genres -- that's about all.

[@deltatango-six7941]

Beautiful job, Mark. You’ve summed up how many of us have felt for years. Personally, I play shmups because they give me the strongest feeling of nostalgia. IMO, shmups are the purest form of video gaming. The idea of “game genres” is slowly becoming a thing of the past. You used to have RPGs, platformers, action adventure games, puzzle games, first person shooters, shmups, etc. these days we’re moving to having games be an amalgamation of many genres. God of War, Forespoken, FF7R, FF16, The Witcher, etc have all become this mesh of 3rd person, action game with RPG elements. They all feel very samey and uninspired. I go back to Shmups because it reminds me of a time when we had choices. I miss RPGs that look like RPGs. Side scrolling platformers, shmups. I miss clearly defined genres.

[@djhyperkid86]

Arcade Legacy in Cincinnati used to have Shmup Wednesdays which would have high score challenges. Weekly leaderboards were also a thing too. So you could see who the top players were in the city. Great doc, glad to be a part of such a niche community .

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh that sounds like so much fun. I would love to have a local shmup scene like that!

[@bobbobbob321]

I've gone down the shmup rabbit hole for about a month now thanks to touhou, very illuminating and quality documentary, bringing up many good talking points I hadn't even thought about before.

[@gibdo7995]

This documentary is so good. I never realized how many dimensions there are. Great job Mark msx, I'm quite impressed

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you! Yes, I was hoping this documentary can dig into the design of the games more and explain a lot of aspects of their design that I don't think are well understood or appreciated :-)

[@thegobbojones]

Def gonna be one of those videos I'll have to come back to again and again. Well done Mark.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm really happy to hear that jones! That's one of the main metrics I aim for, to make vids that are not only fun at the time of the release, but are also worth returning to years later :-)

[@RandomGamingDouchebag]

Was watching this during my work shift. Great history piece on the appeal of the genre, love all the different interviews on what people admire about this genre along with all the input on their design philosophies. Admittedly I've only started to get semi serious into getting into shmups since i never really found it "possible" to get good at them, let alone bullet hells like Cave's releases. I think where my enjoyment of shmups started to take fold was getting into the PS Vita's library as well as playing a lot of Sin & Punishment for N64 which made me want to get more into Treasure's backlog of releases, but especially Radiant Silvergun. Your channel was also a big help when i was looking into the dozens of different shmups on the PS4 and I've now got my sights on every M2 Shottriggers release that comes along. Very well produced and well edited, mad props to all the people involved!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I was writing this documentary for people such as yourself in mind. Where I not only wanted to capture some of the more hardcore stuff for the shmup fans, but I also really wanted to help inspire people who are curious about the genre or just getting into the genre to dig in deeper. Because there is no doubt that the initial process of learning the games is brutal, so I wanted to show that there is a really compelling payoff if you can withstand the genre's initial walls of punishment ha.

[@beetlehorn]

Deathsmiles is a game I wanna spend time perfecting even into my retirement

[@adrianwalker4941]

This is really excellent Mark. You’ve clearly worked your arse off on this. Thanks so much.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much my dude! Yeah i put so much time and effort into this doc I really hope that it sticks with people!

[@BknMoonStudios]

I love gaming documentaries, specially those made by people with passion for the subject. I look forward to watching this when I come back from work. 😎👍

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes, they are a cool form of video :-) I hope you enjoy the doc when you get a chance to tune in.

[@hooksnfangs6006]

Worth the wait! Beautifully done on the documentary and great to finally see the players in person. You guys are awesome! 👏

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thanks so much hooks! I was really excited to go to spain and get some footage of these players in person, absolutely. I wanted to help bring a bit more of a human element with that sort of thing ha. The event itself was a really fun time and very much worth the trip.

[@GojiGuy]

Excellent video. It's been a pleasure watching this community grow and share a passion for such pure game design.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much Goji!

[@Mecharocca]

Your best video, to me shmups are the pinnacle of video game genres. Simple, to the point, highly challenging, infinitely replayability, it's powerful stuff. Strangely, to some degree, how niche it is kind of makes its focus feel retained. Loving shmups is absolutely absurd, so at the core we love shmups aware its not to make money when making or playing them or discussing them. We just love them.

[@jamerthegamer13]

honestly have been intimidated by schmups for a while, but after watching this i got some emulators up and running and have absolutely been loving my time, can’t wait to learn the genre!

[@jamerthegamer13]

specifically the chapter on reflexes helped me realize that it’s something you can learn

[@momofomomofo]

I really enjoy the way you present your arguments. Clear, succinct, content-packed.

[@TheMrWarm19]

Amazing video, one of the best schmup videos on the platform. Keep up the banger content.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much warm! I'm really proud of it, I hope people newer to the genre start coming across it, that would be cool to introduce them to the genre with this documentary.

[@simplepostman2034]

I love such niche documentaries! Especially by people who are so deep dived into something. This is an awesome overview of what makes shmups are at their core as a genre. Thanks Mark!

[@vincenzodbasilica]

Your work is priceless. Mark, you're a gentleman and a scholar, sir.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Hi Vincen, what an awesome comment! I will continue to strive to live up to my gentleman and scholar status :-D

[@uutarn]

Gotta be said, this documentary is well made mate. I was sceptical of a narrative bias (because of course there would be) but there wasn't; a balanced synopsis well executed and, tbh, just well executed throughout. Glad to have you championing the unsung hero of the arcade.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much my dude! I am really proud of how it turned out and I did try my best to be objective about the differences between shmups and other genres, though of course I strongly prefer their style of design ha.

[@crackadon86]

Just finished watching this in full and it's one of the best gaming documentaries I've ever seen. You should be proud of all the work you've done, Mark! Everyone involved as well. I first played some classic older shmups as a kid (Galaga, Gradius, Raiden, Twin Bee, etc)., but it wasn't until I played Strikers 1945 at a local arcade a few years ago that got me into the genre. I bought a copy of it, Sol Divide and a demo of Einhander for my PS1. It wasn't until I got a Switch a few years ago that I got the bug. I initially bought Danmaku Unlimited 3, Ikaruga, Shikhondo, Vasara Collection, but realized that I flat-out sucked at bullet hells. I would still pick up shmups, but was intimidated by bullet hells and thought I could never get good at them. Your channel not only inspired me to learn the genre, but made me passionate about the intricacies, level design and artistry of bullet hells. I've watched so many of your videos and have learned better techniques that have helped me improve. I never, ever would play a game on easy mode, but I'll start off on a new bullet hell on easy, warm myself up to it then play the game on normal. I've been wanting to play Cave's Esp Ra.De. Psi for years and finally got a physical copy recently, all thanks to your channel and videos. I absolutely love the game! Currently, I'm also playing Progear, Giga Wing, Aero Fighters 2, Pawarumi, Star Hunter DX, Raiden V, Astebreed, Binarystar Infinity, 19XX and the first shmups I picked up on my Switch. Would love to get physical copies of the Deathsmiles Collection, Dodonpachi Resurrection, Devil Engine, Radiant Silvergun, Drainus and more. Mark, your knowledge and passion has not only inspired/motivated me to learn the genre, but has inspired me to delve back into my other aspirations (in art, music, skateboarding, etc.) The work you put into all your videos truly is appreciated, brother. I may not have a 1cc under my belt yet, but I'm dedicated to keep growing and eventually get there. This message is super long, but I just wanted to thank you for everything that you do and for being the number 1 inspiration in my shmup journey. Much love and keep doing what you're doing. -Chris E

[@ZombiePicnic]

Only about 15 minutes in, but I can already tell this documentary is going to be great. I am somebody who has played shmups growing up, but never got into them seriously till now. I've been enjoying playing them on my newly purchased Hori Rap with a Seimetsu LS-32 I put in and my tateable monitor. Keep up the good work!

[@TheArcadeMonarch]

Your best work so far imho, a truly awesome doc! Though the volume of when the players at the event are talking is quite low, compared to when you are speaking. So I kept increasing/decreasing the volume. For me personally the pay-off with shooters is huge, compared to more mainstream games. The feeling you get when finally defeating the boss, finally surviving that one f&^% pattern, finally getting that 1cc. Its just so satisfying and rewarding, and really feels like you accomplished something.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much my dude!! I tried my best on the volume mixing with the player interviews, and it came out pretty solid. The difference is that with my voice over, that essentially a studio quality clean mix. Whereas the player interviews, those were more run and gun with a boom mic so a lot of background sound is just mixed in with no way to isolate and boost the interview audio without causing like audio issues generally. It could of course had been better, but I think it also turned out to be pretty clean audio considering I was recording the interviews in a really noise environment ha.

[@JohnnyCarhat]

Ay Mark, just wanted to say that while i played a couple shmups and arcade games when i was young lad (mostly metal slug at the local arcade, and a shmup whos name escapes me at my local pizza shop), I only recently 'got' the genre. This is on part because of a DaiOuJou review on nintendo life, which then lead me to your channel, and then down a deep, deep rabbit hole. Journey has been awesome so far, your insights have done a lot to demystify the genre for me. Currently working on my Mushi novice 1cc, with normal afterward. My Everest being DaiOuJou and garrega!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh that's really cool to hear how people come across my channel! Yes if one shmup will hook you into the genre, dodonpachi DOJ will do the trick ha! Glad you found my channel :-D

[@js200gb]

Great stuff, Mark! I can’t imagine how much work this took to produce, but the quality shows! Great to see faces behind the names in the community. Take it easy on that Coke Zero! Keep on SHMUPin’, dude

[@LawrenceAaronLuther]

You're right. Shmups do, by their virtue of being so damn awesome, make other game genres a slog to play. The only other games that give me a similar rush instantly are Dr. Mario on hardest or Panel De Pon.

[@Steve-Fiction]

I had to leave early on during the premiere, but I just sat down and watched the entirety of it in a single, beautiful sitting. It was a great experience and I'm feeling a little melancholic right now after those end credits and all. I thought I recognized that story from the beginning of the video (about Jaimers' pad) and went back to confirm that this is, indeed, audio from the Patron Podcast (the best podcast of all time). I love the "cockiness" that you had for this, unashamedly talking smack about mainstream games and the likes and rejecting the notion that shmups are simple.

[@PsychEmUps]

Great video. Ive always faded away into other genres but ive always found my way back to shmups. I found them as a kid playing Astro Warrior, Empire of Steel, R Type etc on my Sega and Amiga as a kid and played them in the arcades and through many generations. I'm always appreciative of what you have done to keep people interested and informed on the genre. Keep up the good work Mark and greatly appreciated your effort here. ~Psych~

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Hey psych! Thank you so much for tuning in and your kind words!

[@true12grave]

Just Beautifully executed Mark! Thank you very much!

[@alexandreandrade5365]

I grew up playing arcades in the late 80's early 90's, so this "passion against reason" doesn't resonate with me, cuz this genre was mainstream at that period. The newer fans are doing God's work for keeping what is now a niche genre alive. Here in Brazil we call shmups "navinha" (nave = ship, navinha = small ship). Congratulations for the amazing work!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh yes the arcades in the 80s were the golden days, money wise. No doubt about it. It's crazy how much revenue shmups could make during those days. Sadly, with the loss of the arcade being profitable, it has really damaged the monetary power of the genre. I am hopeful it can have a resurgence, to some degree, in the indie scene though, with proper development and respect towards its arcade design principals.

[@chkbkko7431]

Thank you for trying your best to keep this and the whole arcade genre alive, congrats on the documentary!! Was worth the hardwork

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much my dude, I sincerely appreciate the kind words, especially after how much of an undertaking this sucker was ha

[@magicjohnson3121]

Went to a modern day arcade recently. Mostly racing games and light gun games (and a couple rhythm games). It feels more like a theme park then the old school arcade experience. It’s a more casual experience.

[@magicjohnson3121]

That being said in Japan games like mobile suit Gundam xtreme 2 boost are very popular.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah the state of modern arcades is depressing. It s all sad ticket machines and crap like that

[@Notester82]

Oh my gosh, what a documentary! :) Was excited to see that a whole documentary had been in the works when I saw this on my homepage and this didn't disappoint in the slightest! So much deep diving into what makes shmups tick and interesting comparisons to other genres~ The title alone goes hard, the prologue story with Jaimers and the wack setup but also seeing the in-person shmup exhibition was cool (seeing people sprinkled around in the seats with a majority of them being empty felt bittersweet, but I feel more happy for the dedication of these peeps than sad that it's not a big scene), I appreciate all the interviewing/conversations with other shmup players and getting to hear from shmup indie developers Bog Hog and Danbo (Bog Hog advising (newer) devs to just go at it with developing and letting things eventually fall into place especially hits hard as someone who's got a shmup in work-in-progress territory), all the insights about shmup design were intriguing, I like the visual style with the chapters and how it makes you feel like you're going through a shmup yourself, the lil jokes in the credits were fun, and the ending going full circle a little with referencing the title was perfect! Thanks to everyone involved with this!

[@jayme69]

Great documentary! Thanks for sharing and for all the hard work involved in pulling it all together. The best thing about playing SHMUPs is the small personal victories which make playing both worthwhile and fun. Keep up the awesome work!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes I agree jay. The genre is so meaningful as a player that even though a lot of victories end up being personal accomplishments, they still really resonate. That's why I threw in my clip of me clearing guwange live on that japanese stream, I don't think I've had a bigger on camera pop off lol.

[@jayme69]

@@TheElectricUnderground Yes, it's was great to see :-)

[@sorubro2193]

Loved this, comparison between shmups and other genres specially new ones could be percieved as antagonistic tho That being said, amazing work

[@DrBossKey]

So good! Man I love this shmuppin community. It's so weird to love a genre of gaming that I've grown up with that continues to give me so much joy! I'm also old and shaking my fist at gamers to come and see what all the goodness is about. When you get into the flow state everything else just melts away. A form of fun digital meditation :)

[@Jake14211]

Now we few, willing pariahs of the gaming community, have a quick response to family and friends who ask hey why do you like those silly old arcade shooters so much. This is the link. This is like a thesis statement for a Doctor of Shmups dissertation. Came in just expecting a cool event overview. Awesome work, man!

[@daserfomalhaut9809]

Honestly STG's really didnt even elude me. My very first game was SuperNova. And then the next was Gradius 3. I was 6. I never had a point where didnt know about or didnt like the genre. I grew up with them from the moment video games were made accessible to me. I have always loved these games.

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

Shumps I consider one of the big three video games genres alongside RPGs and Fighting Games. The fact that you're a lone spaceship against an onslaught of hostile invaders give me Last Starfighter vibes, which I very much like.

[@1CCJAM]

A thoughtful ode to the genre and some great analysis here. Nice work Mark.

[@travisshipley2609]

This channel is the reason I got into the genre

[@AndyC_111]

Fantastic video Mark (and friends) big thanks!;Its the freedom of movement throughout the entire screen in a shmup that is one of the key points for why I love this genre above all others.

[@knightofvirtue613]

Glad I found this video, this genre was one the first one I played. Tough as nails, they share DNA with a lot of classic FPS games: if you die it's your lack of skill/game knowledge. Raiden II, Gradius, 1945, Raiden Fighters Jet are some of my faves

[@KarnovJr]

Not 100% true. A lot of arcade games especially shmups and beat em ups are designed to make you spend money to win.

[@malaise_xoxo]

After being away for a while it’s great to see you’re still at it. You’ve really managed to articulate just what makes shooting games so special.

[@lunaria_stg]

Took me a while to get to this since I was busy the past few months, but I just wanted to say that this is REALLY well put together. A great entry point into what shmups are all about, a summary of all the game design analysis on this channel, and to top it all of, being able to see the people behind the superplays and awesome indie shmups. Shooting game never die!

[@arisumego]

you’ve done it. this is the definitive document. thank you for this

[@tubbiele2]

Looking super good. And I witnessed the face of Jaimers! Woo legends. STG will live in a distant future.

[@ChronoMoogle]

Really, really great documentary that manages to collect lots of insight into the genre, as well as opinions and mindsets of the developers and playerbase! Big kudos for putting this together.

[@zizirobinson]

I stumbled blindly into this genre through the music of Yousuke Yasui and Manabu Namiki. This along with your other videos have helped me gain a larger appreciation for the craft that goes into these games. Great watch, keep up the good work :3

[@joshb.9380]

Awesome work! Enjoyed the doc very much. Thank you and all who contributed.

[@_IHH_]

An exemplary piece of work. Well documented, well put together, a pleasure to watch. I know that the term "love letter" is used indiscriminately, but in this case, it's perfectly appropriate: this is a work of pure passion for the genre, for the people who give it its letters of nobility, and for those who keep it alive. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you do for the community. Thank you for being a witness. Thank you for your passion. Even if it's at the expense of all reason.

[@censoredterminalautism4073]

Very good analysis on the genre, or really, just gaming in general. And it's cool to see what all the different players have to say. Had to resist to not stop in the middle and go play some shmups, so, intended effect successful. Actually got me to fix my emulator setup. Had been using Mednaffe for PC-Engine but it just stopped working and interrupted my shmuping, so I set up Retroarch again and configured it to be less of a pain. Didn't know about the "advanced settings" being hidden, and the autoconfig was making my button configuration impossible.

[@positivevibrations5103]

This video is a masterpiece! Absolutely fascinating analysis. Loved every second! Thank you.

[@TheRestartPoint]

Thanks for all you hard work in making entertaining and deep shmup content, I have learned a lot from you.

[@Retro_Jet_Elite]

Beautiful documentary, Mark. You have a way with words. This is a piece of media the shmup world will enjoy for years to come. Thank you!

[@TransCanadaPhil]

I wonder, is it weird that I love both Shmups but also things like Euro Truck Simulator 2?; just a mellow driving game without any difficulty where you look at scenery and just chill. I can go back and forth between playing Shmups and slow simulators. It’s interesting that you have a very intellectual focus on your appreciation of Shmups, but to me I think I just like gaming at a purely visceral nature; aesthetics, mood, and feel. I like difficult Shmups, easy Shmups, platformers, and simulators. The only kind of games I don’t seem to like are very story-focused cinematic types games like the ones popular on PlayStation (basically the mainstream Triple A stuff), which I have no interest in. I think the common thread for me is, especially as I get older, is I don’t really care about Story or Narrative in my games. I like games I can step away from for 6-8 months, then come back to and still understand what I’m doing and not have to remember some story from before. Both Shmups and slow simulators (Euro Truck Simulator, Kerbal, Train Sim World), all do this. I love all these modern Shmups like Gunvein, Raging Blasters, or Drainus too!

[@CPS42069]

Nothing wrong with it. I also like racing games too although arcade type racer and simcades are more of my jam.

[@perrydimes6915]

we have never been so back

[@sigmapath1935]

Coming back 9 months later to rewatch this masterpiece.

[@Chris-yj7sr]

I really enjoyed this docu... and I don't even play shmups (yet). Goes to show you did a great job. Cool interviews, great inside info, and shmup mechanics explained perfectly. I feel like I understand the fascination about the genre now. Thanks bro!

[@kirbdini]

Once again thank you for putting this together. Its genuine to see people meeting and just having that connection. I miss the arcades for that reason. I met so many people then and now its only thru comments or forums. I may not ever meet most of the people in person but a few from forums I've known 12 years+ There doesnt seem to be a a section that breaks pace, which i know had to be tough. It feels shorter than it is and left me wanting the directors cut. Though to be fair in 2 years just re release the directors cut remastered. Lol

[@EEEasdfasdc]

Amazing documentary, I will need to rewatch this many times to arm myself for when my normie friends ask why I love playing shmups so much

[@NIMPAK1]

I think a part of me that helped me appreciate shmups in a better light is when I realized how positioning heavy it really was. That might seem like a no-brainer at first, and it probably is, but I always assumed that dodging was either about reaction or just pure memorization. Of course routing is an important aspect to getting good at these games but at their core I feel like they're about trying to get to the most advantageous spot possible while enemies are designed to push you away from that spot. Shmups even have the advantage in that you have the entire screen's worth of space to deal with. I'd even go as far to say that shmups probably have more in common with Go than Chess. In Chess you can move pieces back to previous positions and capture pieces, which means that the complexity of board positions can potentially stagnate or become simpler. There's also zugzwang which is basically a forcing move that you have to do even if it puts you at a disadvantage. In Go, the board state constantly evolves and instead of focusing how to get to a single target (the king), you have to manage different areas on the board. There's still moves that are objectively the best move, but humans aren't likely going to play 100% perfectly and memorization boils down to memorizing specific shapes as opposed to entire board positions.

[@BSG1991]

Mark this was amazing, after taking a break from shmups for a few months you lit my fire again great video.

[@gruesomesonofabitch]

Mark presents two terrific ideas which i wholeheartedly agree with due to their unflinching truth... 1. it made me laugh when he compared loving Shmups to mainlining drugs and how that forever changes the way you view all games. it's absolutely the case because the immediate power, intensity and challenge forever leaves you hyper aware of the smallest lulls in actively engaging gameplay within other genres. 2. that liking Shmups is illogical due to their high difficulty and how niche/small the genre is relative to what most people tend to play. more so than any other video games, enjoying Shmups has to be purely for fun and the player's own gratification in seeing themself improve (undeniably becoming a passion). thank you Mark for sharing your deep and introspective analysis of this video game genre that i love as well.

[@8bitDNA]

Congratulations, this is clearly a passion project. Well done, watched every minute of it

[@Zet237yt]

Wow, what a fantastic documentary! I have to admit, I do not frequent your channel very much, but from what I can see, you have gone a long way and your production quality has increased by a lot. I really enjoyed your thorough looks into design and meta of the games, especially! One thing that I would be more interested in is, how was the rhythm game genre influenced or inspired by shmups? While I am by no means a pro player, I did dive into highscoring of the game Thumper for a while (even did the commentary for a live showcase at ESA Summer 2023 last year) and found that the approach to the game from a low vs high skill level to be very similar to what you described for shmups. Good luck with the future of the channel, I hope you can make the full-time dream a reality!

[@bulb9970]

I'm a diehard Mega Man fan but I gotta admit you make a really good point here. There should be a reward for beating the bosses buster only and I wish Capcom implements that in the future (WHEN they make a new game that is). Great documentary btw, I just wanted to point that out.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh yeah me talking about megaman comes from a place of love, I like the series a lot as well. And if you saw that little interview post from the devs of megaman, they originally were gonna make it more of a shmup type of game, but ultimately changed it to a platformer because of hardware limitations. Crazy.

[@abevigoda69]

you are a hero of the SHMUP world. Bless you for all of your thoughtful content.