Bullet hell

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Bullet hell (弾幕, danmaku, literally "barrage" or "bullet curtain"), also known as manic shooter,

In 2001, Ikaruga gained significant attention outside of Japan due to its release on the GameCube. 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 Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony.^[2]

Bullet hell hybrids

Some games began incorporating bullet hell elements despite being different genres, muddying definitions of what exactly the genre is. RPG/bullet hell hybrids include Knights in the Nightmare (2008), Undertale (2015), Nier: Automata (2017) and Deltarune (2018) which have combat systems featuring bullet dodging. Enter the Gungeon (2016) is a twin-stick shooter roguelike with "smart" bullets.^[3] 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.^[4]

Competitive play

The competitive bullet hell scene is defined by hyper-fast reflex gameplay with a focus on achieving

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 are often roguelike in nature, having the player choose power ups from a random selection to improve attack and passive abilities. Such games became popular with the release of Vampire Survivors in 2022, and include games like Brotato, 20 Minutes Till Dawn, and HoloCure – Save the Fans!.^[6]

References