Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Shoot 'Em Ups
In a shoot 'em up, the player uses a gun or other projectile to kill nearly
everyone or everything in sight. There are a couple of additional sub-genres:
Hack-and-slash
games use only melée (non-projectile) weapons such as
swords and axes.
Beat-
'
em-up
games restrict gameplay to physical attacks with the hands
and feet only.
Double Dragon
(1987) is a well-known early beat 'em up.
Centipede
(1981) is a classic 'shoot 'em up'
game.
DoubleDragon
(1987) is a 'beat 'em up' game.
Fighting Games
The signii cant dif erence
between a i ghting game
and a beat-'em-up game is
that a i ghting game creates
a one-on-one physical
situation in which the player
competes against another
player or the computer.
Fighting games may involve
melée weapons or projectile
weapons (but usually not
guns). This genre includes
boxing games as well.
Gauntlet
(1987) is a well-known arcade
hack-and-slash game that could
accommodate up to four players
at a time.
Punch Out!!
from Nintendo in 1984, is a boxing variant
of a i ghting game. The player had a see-through avatar
so that the opponent's moves could be seen more
clearly.
Credit:
Jeremy Engel.
