by Adam Montgomery
Attack, defend and destroy. Then, you die.
It’s this never-ending cycle that lies at the heart of all Bullet Hell games. Required is a ballet dancer’s toe-tip grace to survive the characteristic blanket-fire that engulfs these game’s screens. Please refrain from recalling Ikaruga, as the game’s tactical element classes it away from the hardcore manic shooters – like the intimidating Batsugun, or Psyvariar.
On the surface, the genre is a band of anti-games: the very opposite of the defining empowerment at gaming’s core. You have a limited agency – a life before an assigned death. Most people will pick up and then immediately put down, startled and stopped by the mountain-like difficulty arc.
Claw away the outer shell, however, and you will find a shocking beast within – a therapeutic one. These games have no agenda to take power from the player, they simply pass it to the deserving. The joy of an underdog’s success is to be found within the relentless waves of a boss’s fire; you elate in your survival with a force few other genres can summon.
Progression, even in small steps, is the main source of reward in these games. Whether it’s getting to stage 4-2 or adding another 10,000 points to your top score, nothing beats topping a personal best. "The zone" is where the real fun lies. Usually you have dropped a few lives by now, but this time you have all your lives left to burn – this run is special. Eagerly, you shoot and navigate your way further, until...YES! You have done it. You’re there. Regular “zone” states, those minutes of unbreakable concentration, occur and you can traverse the landscape of adversity – as laid out by the cruel game master – with ease. Here, you have reached a state of tranquility. Games that pain others now bring you only satisfaction and peace; the hardcore becomes the casual as you become elite.
Then you start again and again. Paradoxically, the games that work the hardest to thwart you with taxing challenges will, without fail, draw you back for another attempt. It works like a sadistic RPG – it’s a grind of immediate action in the hope of attaining eventual strength. And, eventually, with enough effort, you do master it.
If your appetite’s whet for some manic action, I suggest you grab yourself a Dreamcast – unless you feel like buying several arcade machines. In fact, Sega formats are pretty good in general. For a softer introduction, Treasure’s shooters, while hard, are an accessible peek into a land of ramp-like difficulty.
So, get out today and author your own underdog story – written in bullets.
