Shmups X Metaphor - Part 01 - Structures, Spaces and Myths

We love shmups because of what they feel like to play. The sensations of blasting popcorn enemies and dodging neon bullets. To live in the flow of the dynamics, created in the spaces between the rules, pushing at their edges to chase ever higher scores.

But these games also enthrall us through their fictional universes. Their worlds and narratives hook into the deeper desires and fears we have as human beings.

Beyond the visual blast of bombast and techno cool, like any form of art or design, shmup games are a response to the times in which they were (and are) created; they are a thread of the larger fabric of culture into which they are woven. We can see this through the visual motifs and structural tropes in shmups that tie into the wider zeitgeist of the 80s and 90s - the height of the shmup genres influence. What becomes particularly apparent is the nature of many of these games as a product of the specific cultural scenario of Japan in this time and place. 

In this series I want to unpack some of the common aesthetics and fictions tied to the shmupverse, how they relate to wider cultural histories and our fundamental human anxieties and desires.

Come take a flight with me.

*This series of articles originally appeared in Shmup_Lyf Zine Issue 02 - Metaphor. I still feel that it is some of my best work so I have taken the liberty of reproducing it here for more open consideration and discussion.

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Fundamental common structure

One of the interesting things about shmups is how similar they are at a functional level.

In the most basic terms, a shmup is constructed around a player object, a scrolling background, enemies to blast and projectiles to avoid. These elements have the potential to really be anything, from a spaceship to a cyborg dragon to a shojo riding a beetle. 

This is the ‘fiction’ component. Used in this way the term ‘fiction’ doesn’t specifically mean ’narrative’, it’s the uppermost layer that suggests what the fantasy is. It comes through the visual representation, the music, the world that is built and how these elements feel to experience. And the narrative as well.  (See Jesper Juul or the discussion around the Mechanics/ Dynamics/ Aesthetics framework in this issue).

Even before looking at the meanings tied to the fictional layer of different shmups, there are a number of meanings that can be taken from reading this common structural skeleton. The first has to do with the spatial metaphors that result from their shared geometry.  

Spatial Metaphor

Many games have a spatial quality to them, from chess to football to FFVII. We are naturally geared as humans to interpret meaning from spatial arrangements so such aspects are key. 

Also spatial metaphors can mean something to the culture in which they were built. The Roman Colosseum was a means to invert the relationship with the barbaric untamed world. Rather than it  surrounding Rome, through the ring like form of the arena, Rome could surround and control the barbaric.

So, what can we take from the common spatial qualities of shmups?- Shmups are about contest over territory. As a player you advance through a space owned by an opposing force and occupy it, cleansing and purging it of this ‘evil’ presence, making the world ‘right’ again.

Also, as you advance, horizontally or vertically, you move further from your origin point. Going further into depths, the intensity of the enemy swarm/negative force becomes more severe, or the sense of threat or claustrophobia more intense as you lose all connection to safe familiar territory.

Certain games, like Layer Section for example, play further with the suggestion of space by moving you through plains, going down a vertical stack. This moves things beyond a linear 2D gauntlet into multi dimensional spatial exploration.

Myths and Archetypes

One of the other primordial meaning systems that is at play in the background of shmups is the monomyth or archetype structure.

The mythologist Joseph Campbell studied legends from around the world and found commonalities in structure and character types.

This suggests that there is a common human narrative/fiction that has a greater significance to us, so as a consequence we gravitate towards this structure in the things we create and the experiences we wish to consume.

By using this lens it is possible to see the alignments between core shmup components and some of the key elements of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth model.

An enemy force

For a myth, narrative or a shmup to exist, the first thing that is needed is some form of conflict; something which throws out the natural order of things. An enemy invasion is always good, or a kidnapping that requires a daring rescue mission, or a revenge plot. In a shmup, this necessitates a hoard of opposing cannon fodder to blast as one works towards this goal, and of course...

The ultimate fiend

The enemy general, the core of the evil AI, the dragon empress. They are the reason for the conflict - they are also the linchpin - with their demise the war is over, the machines will be shut down, the rescue is complete, the desire for revenge is sated. But they are also the  strongest, using the duration of your onslaught to prepare themselves. In a shmup this is the final boss, often with multiple stages as they reveal their true powers, when pushed into a corner by ...

The Hero

The plucky young individual who is thrust into the limelight, the weight of destiny behind them. They must journey in order to learn and grow and ultimately defeat the fiend and return the world to its previous state. In shmups you often play this role as both player and character, gifted with prototype craft as a talisman, like a young knight entrusted with a great and enchanted weapon.

Threshold guardians

They are the monsters that guard the gates or the ultimate fiend’s most trusted generals. They are the warlords of their domains, and command with power. The hero must employ what they have learned to outwit and defeat them to move into the realm beyond. In the David and Goliath-like Boss encounters within shmups, one must use speed and wit to dodge devastating high yield barrages, pick off weak points and slowly eat away at these titans.

Hero helpers

The characters who are there to assist the hero in their quest by providing advice and enchanted  artefacts. From wizened hermits to magical creatures, these figures take a wide variety of forms.

In shmups there are a range of hero helpers, from shoujo loli-goth AI characters to the supply ships that drop power ups, and not to mention your trusty sidekick option fighters, by your side through thick and thin.

Journey through a world

The hero must journey to complete their quest, passing through strange lands and across numerous thresholds. 

A shmup experience is fundamentally a journey often told through spatial storytelling as you move from one environment to the next. In this way you move ever deeper into the lair or into foreign held territory and towards the castle of the ultimate fiend.

So overall, what do we get from this mythical viewpoint?

Interestingly the myth structure reinforces the spatial metaphors - a journey, with the aim of making things right, ridding the world of a negative force and returning it to a former state.

There is also a decidedly mythic quality of the single fighter against the hoarde. Not unlike Sampson with his jaw bone, or Guts with his broadsword,  in the realm of myth or shmups, a single talented fighter is capable of defeating an entire army of grunts single handedly.

Lastly, myths are fundamentally about crossing thresholds, moving into magical spaces, about the hero becoming stronger to overcome the challenges that confront them. This is shared by the character in a shmup game (travelling through the different domains symbolised by the different levels), but also mirrors the experience of the player. As shmupers, we cross the threshold from our material world into the digital one. Once the countdown timer hit zero there is no going back. As suggested in the opening epigraph, through play it is the player who is transformed, becoming stronger, like the mythical heroes, as they work to overcome their own trials.

In the next part we look at the commonalities in fictions used within the shmups and the key meanings that they had to both their creators and players at the time they were produced.

_DYR