Shmup

What kind of game is a shmup?

Shoot 'em up

Gamers may use shmup as shorthand for shoot 'em up. In these types of games, players shoot at swarms of enemies, typically while piloting a spacecraft, airplane, or other type of vehicle.

However, gamers' exact definition of what constitutes a shmup varies. For example, while all gamers would agree that Space Invaders and Asteroids are shmups, they may disagree on whether "on rails" shooters like Time Crisis and Star Wars: Rebel Assault are shmups.

Example

What's your favorite shmup?
I always loved After Burner

Classic shmup gameplay

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Updated November 21, 2023

Shmup definition by Slang.net - The Slang Dictionary

This page explains what the abbreviation "Shmup" means. The definition, example, and related terms listed above have been manually compiled and written by the Slang.net team.

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