Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun video games, slang A shoot-'em-up.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Phonetic contraction of shoot-'em-up.

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Examples

  • Whilst short, the inclusion of a shmup is a complete stroke of genius and plays very well indeed.

    Cubed3.com News 2010

  • I was perusing one of these lists, looking to continue my investigation of how war games represent the political and social climate surrounding war through Genesis roms (a careful study of General Chaos and Urban Strike says wonders about the ill-at-ease America of the 90s, where war was a distant game that had become distant only recently) when I found a shooter, or more accurately perhaps, a "shmup", that piqued my interest.

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • I was perusing one of these lists, looking to continue my investigation of how war games represent the political and social climate surrounding war through Genesis roms (a careful study of General Chaos and Urban Strike says wonders about the ill-at-ease America of the 90s, where war was a distant game that had become distant only recently) when I found a shooter, or more accurately perhaps, a "shmup", that piqued my interest.

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • The game takes the best aspects of the "shmup" genre, including 360 degree movement and firing, and revolutionizes the action with a truly HD experience, so players can fight off an onslaught of enemies with precision and clarity.

    Game Info Wire 2008

  • We've had our romance with the side-scrolling platformer, with the shmup, and with the point-n-click adventure.

    The New Retro Greg Tannahill 2009

  • Star Prince - a fairly easy mid-1980s style shmup though the requirement that you play through it twice to complete it makes it harder

    Retro Game Challenge tenshi_a 2009

  • It'd be interesting if the game explored some or all of the various more unusual sins, but it could quite easily end up being just another gory shmup set in hell featuring a ton of cookie-cutter scary-things.

    December 2008 Alice 2008

  • It'd be interesting if the game explored some or all of the various more unusual sins, but it could quite easily end up being just another gory shmup set in hell featuring a ton of cookie-cutter scary-things.

    Dante's Inferno: The videogame Alice 2008

  • There are segments of play that include side-scrolling, and even a mini shmup used for one of the lead-up levels.

    Archive 2008-01-01 Steve gaynor 2008

  • The music files, which add an element of coin-collection to the standard shmup fare, are released and float around with a timer attached to them, decreasing in value the longer you leave them uncollected.

    Suttree » Casual Games, Social Software » Review: Pop Pirates 2005

Comments

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  • shmup, n.

    The Guardian, 05 May 2016:

    If any game genre is most synonymous with difficulty, it is the arcade 2D shoot-‘em-up, known today as the shmup. And it is developer Cave that pushes devotees of the form like no other. Which Cave game is the hardest is highly subjective, but in terms of undiluted difficulty, the insect-themed Mushihimesama’s infamous Ultra mode might take it. There’s less of the mechanical intricacy that makes other releases by the studio perhaps as demanding, but through the sheer number of bullets that fill the screen, Mushi Ultra delivers an onslaught that is as bewildering to watch as it is demeaning to play.

    May 5, 2016