Caltrops - Gamerasutra - Euroshmups and Arcade games

Forum Overview :: Gamerasutra

by Mischief Maker 07/29/2008, 4:48pm PDT

This is an article I wrote for a couple game developer forums in the hopes of encouraging better games to be developed. AI figured I'd post it here, too, even through ICJ is probably the only one who would care.

This was originally intended to just be a comparison of so-called “Euroshmups” verses J-Shmups, but a lot of the observations here could be useful for just about anyone making action games. There’s a reason dozens of innovative freeware platformers come and go every year, but good old Icy Tower is still at the top. I’m sticking with shmups because they’re the easiest genre to describe conceptually.

So ever since I’ve gotten back into shmups in a big way, I’ve seen several games referred to derisively as “Euroshmups.” The obvious follow-up question is, “what makes a shmup a Euroshmup?” To this question a laundry list of features may be listed, along with “general poor quality,” but in the end no satisfying answer is given, just, “I know one when I play one.”

But I have to admit that it’s not just slavish Otakuism. While Japan makes its share of bad shmups, side by side the best of the Euroshmups, like Jets ‘n Guns, always seem to fall short of the best shmups coming out of Japan. This is despite the fact that top Euroshmups usually have more content and as good if not better graphics and production values. Why is that?

In my opinion it’s because Euroshmups are designed with home systems in mind while J-shmups are designed with the Arcade in mind, even if the game will never see the inside of one. There’s nothing inherently cultural about this, it’s a difference in design philosopy. Stray from that Arcade philosophy, and even veteran Japanese shmup developers will create Euroshmups; R-Type Final is a perfect example.

So what is so special about making a shmup for the arcades that makes them turn out so much better than Euroshmups? 3 main differences:

1. Good Arcade games are built around a scoring system that rewards the player for taking risks.

2. Arcade games are intended to be over (or at least loop) in 30 minutes or less.

3. Arcade games must be difficult, yet fair.

Risk-Rewarding

Scoring may seem like an unnecessary anachronism on a home system, but it’s the heart of a good arcade game. And considering the success of modern games like Tony Hawk’s Pro skater and to a lesser degree the Devil May Cry series, it’s not that foreign a concept. When the scoring system rewards the player for taking risks, then when the player gets better the emphasis shifts from merely getting from point A to point B in one piece, to looking good while you do it. A well-designed and integrated scoring system gives the player options.

Think of it from an arcade designer’s viewpoint. The money a successful arcade game brings in comes one quarter at a time. You want both to keep the player dying and prevent them from getting bored. When a player starts getting good at the game and can beat the first couple levels no sweat before hitting the harder stuff later on, that’s several precious minutes where the player isn’t dying and is at risk of getting bored and losing interest. When you throw a risk-rewarding score system into the mix, a player going through the easier levels starts playing things dangerously to get an early boost to their score before switching gears to survival later on. This keeps the early levels from getting boring, since getting better at the game is actually opening up a whole new level of gameplay to take on.

From a design standpoint, building the game around its score system helps you to avoid a number of pitfalls that bog down Euroshmups. Some of the biggest complaints lobbed at these games include features that at best do nothing to improve the gameplay, at worst break the game, like inertia, weapon overheating, etc. The only justification is the same rallying cry for 99% of all bad game features: “It’s more realistic.” If instead the game is being built around rewarding the player for scratching bullets, then maybe inertia will need to be scrapped. Maybe if the designer really wants weapon overheating in the game, they can incorporate the overheating mechanics into the score system, maybe giving bonus points for the player keeping their heat level in the danger zone.

Short game time

Most arcade shmups are designed to last about 6 levels that are 5 minutes apiece. This sounds even more counterintuitive than playing for score on a single-user computer. Why is a shorter game a good thing? The reason is, it doesn’t give the designer any time to screw around, whatever goes into that precious 30 minutes must be fast and furious and good, and that means a lot of merely okay ideas will end up on the cutting room floor.

It’s funny how in an arcade a player who is only out a quarter will simply walk away from a game that gets dull, as opposed to a home-game player, who is out anywhere from $20-60, and will put up with tens of hours of crap in the faint hope that maybe something neat will peek out in the end. R-Type Final would bomb in the arcades. The dull and dreary first level, and the blah second level would drive most players and their quarters away long before things start to pick up in level 3. The same with Jets’n Guns Gold, which has tons of excellent and hilarious levels that are unfortunately interspersed between horribly dull levels (Like Ben Affleck’s wardrobe or the DNA-collecting level) that wear out their welcome before they’re even halfway finished. No arcade game could ever get away with boring the player like that.

Deadly, but fair

Eugene Jarvis, one of the designers of Defender and Robotron, once said that a successful Arcade game must threaten the player with death at all times. To that I would add, yes, but if the player does die, they must walk away satisfied that it was their fault. More than anything, the two biggest complaints about Euroshmups are that they are too easy AND that they will suddenly and unfairly kill the player with something they would have never seen coming. This does not mean you never give the player a breather or two, or never have something big and fast swoop in from offscreen. It does mean that you keep the challenges coming at a steady pace and make sure the player gets some kind of warning before something big attacks from offscreen. Tempo is an underrated facet of game design.

Keeping the three big facets of Arcade design in mind won’t guarantee your next action game will be a classic, but they can make the difference between finishing with a good game, and finishing with a great game. Designers of the west, let’s take back the word “Euroshmup” and change it from a mark of shame to a badge of honor!