Passion Against Reason: A Shmup Documentary

Channel:

The Electric Underground

Subscribers:

30,300

Published on January 31, 2024 7:00:10 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7RY0FHTI68

Game:

Battle Garegga (1996)

Duration: 1:45:14

28,412 views

1,820

Passion Against Reason: A Shmup Documentary. This documentary has been years in the making. Shmups are a unique and special genre because they are very respected on paper, but so underappreciated in practice. In this documentary, I travel to Spain and attend the Mikado event to meet up with my fellow shmup fanatics to play the games together and discuss our shared passion. This documentary is more than just a document of my trip however, as it is also a summation and exploration of what make the genre so different and important in terms of game design. Over the past six years on the channel, I have discussed this genre in depth and this documentary is my summation of these thoughts in a way that I hope can connect with not only my fellow shmup fans, but also people less familiar with the genre.
A lot of the core principals of shmup design are not only foriegn to the wider gaming world, but also contrary to the mainstream thought on what good game design is. One of my goals with this documentary is to show that the design principals of shoot em' ups, birthed in arcades, are extremely valuable to understand and carry into the future. Arcades are pretty much dead, there is no getting around that sad reality, but that doesn't mean the ideas and philosophy of arcade game design cannot live on and take root in a new environment.
The title of the documentary is Passion Against Reason because if you only view STG or bullet hell as commercial products, then they have no reason to continue existing. They do not match up with general trends or tastes at all and they make no money. In fact, they spit in the face of mainstream popularity in every way they can. However, I do not view arcade games as products. I see them as art, aggressive and brutal art, and what I think is beautiful about these games is that they are able to bring together a massive variety of players from around the world and different backgrounds. I think the reason why the shmup fanbase is so eclectic and global is because the appeal of the games is not rooted in any particular culture, but instead in universal and abstract design principals, very much like Chess.
If you are a fan of CAVE, Touhou, Raizing, Konami, Capcom, Toaplan, Taito, Treasure, Psikyo, SNK, and many more old school and bullet hell games, this documentary for you. If you are a fighting game player or speedrunner, this documentary is for you. If you are a hardcore shmup fan, this documentary is for you. And if you are curious about the genre, but find yourself struggling to get past the wall of difficulty, this documentary is definitely for you.
*Also I made a small mistake on the text overlay, Errpo is from Finland not the Netherlands*

Amazing thumbnail created by @boghogSTG

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00:00:00 Prologue - Being a Fan of Shmups Makes No Sense.
00:15:30 Chapter 1 - A Child of the Arcade
00:28:57 Chapter 2 - Shmups are FUNDAMENTAL Action Games
00:35:30 Chapter 3 - Difficulty PURIFIES Game Design
00:42:20 Chapter 4 - Autoscrolling is Perfect Pace
00:58:20 Chapter 5 - Scoring is MEANINGFUL Replay-ability
01:15:20 Chapter 6 - Rebirth, Shmups in a Post-Arcade Future
01:36:50 Epilogue - Final Word of Advice From Friends

#shmup, #bullethell , #documentary

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