# Bullet hell > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bullet_hell > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bullet_hell.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_hell > Source revision: 1356231503 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Video game genre}} {{Redirect|Danmaku|the type of subtitle|Danmaku subtitling}} [[File:Danmaku in Taisei Project.png|thumb|Danmaku in ''Taisei Project'', an [open source](/source/Open-source_video_game) [fan game](/source/Fan_game) of ''[Touhou Project](/source/Touhou_Project)'', featuring the character Marisa Kirisame]] {{Action video games}} thumb|Noiz2sa - little hard {{nihongo|'''Bullet hell'''|弾幕|danmaku|literally "barrage" or "bullet curtain"}}, also known as '''manic shooter''',{{Cite web |last=Patterson |first=Blake |date=2010-05-07 |title=Cave Raises the Bar with Stunning Shooter 'Espgaluda II' – TouchArcade |url=https://toucharcade.com/2010/04/11/cave-raises-the-bar-with-stunning-shooter-espgaluda-ii/ |access-date=2023-04-07 |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407190802/https://toucharcade.com/2010/04/11/cave-raises-the-bar-with-stunning-shooter-espgaluda-ii/ |url-status=live }} is a [subgenre](/source/subgenre) of [shoot 'em up](/source/shoot_'em_up) video games with large amounts of projectiles the player is required to dodge. Introduced in 1993 with ''[Batsugun](/source/Batsugun)'' and initially limited to [vertically scrolling shooter](/source/vertically_scrolling_shooter)s, bullet hell elements were later added to other genres. Pure bullet hell games remain a niche genre due to their high level of difficulty. == History == The origin of the bullet hell genre is attributed to [Toaplan](/source/Toaplan), a now-defunct Japanese video game studio that developed [arcade](/source/Arcade_game) shoot 'em ups. In 1993, the studio released ''[Batsugun](/source/Batsugun)'', an innovative game that, after the first level, featured increasingly complex and hypnotic bullet patterns. In order to make the game more fair to players, only a small part of the player's ship served as the [hitbox](/source/hitbox), rather than the entire vessel itself. This remains a tenet of bullet hell shooters, allowing players to navigate through seemingly impossible swarms of bullets. The company collapsed soon after, but former employees started a different studio, [Cave](/source/Cave_(company)), that continued to develop bullet hell games.{{Cite web |last=Davison |first=Pete |date=2013-06-08 |title=Curtains for You: The History of Bullet Hell |url=https://www.vg247.com/curtains-for-you-the-history-of-bullet-hell |access-date=2023-04-05 |website=[VG247](/source/VG247) |language=en |archive-date=2023-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405235433/https://www.vg247.com/curtains-for-you-the-history-of-bullet-hell |url-status=live }} The 1995 ''[DonPachi](/source/DonPachi)'' added more twists to the formula that continue to be reflected in the genre going forward. It added a [fighting game](/source/fighting_game)-style [combo](/source/Combo_(video_games)) system that forced the player to defeat enemies quickly or lose score. Around this time, the ''[Touhou Project](/source/Touhou_Project)'', the most well-known and prolific fan-made shooter series as recognized by ''[Guinness World Records](/source/Guinness_World_Records)'', was also conceived. Largely the work of a single [doujin soft](/source/doujin_soft) developer, [ZUN](/source/ZUN_(video_game_developer)), he had begun developing the games to showcase his [musical composition](/source/musical_composition)s. The second game in the series, the 1997 ''[Story of Eastern Wonderland](/source/Story_of_Eastern_Wonderland)'', was its first bullet hell shoot 'em up. The 2002 ''[Embodiment of Scarlet Devil](/source/Embodiment_of_Scarlet_Devil)'' marked a large step forward for the series, and, due to its [Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows) release, gained massive popularity with a new Western audience. In 2001, ''[Ikaruga](/source/Ikaruga)'' gained significant attention outside of Japan due to its release on the [GameCube](/source/GameCube). It was many Western players' first experience with bullet hell, and gained a respected place in gaming culture. In the modern day, more bullet hell titles have been released on mobile platforms than ever before. While it is still a heavily Japan-centric genre, there have been some Western-developed exceptions, such as ''[Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony](/source/Jamestown%3A_Legend_of_the_Lost_Colony)''. === Bullet hell hybrids === Some games began incorporating bullet hell elements despite being different genres, muddying definitions of what exactly the genre is. [RPG](/source/Role-playing_video_game)/bullet hell hybrids include ''[Knights in the Nightmare](/source/Knights_in_the_Nightmare)'' (2008), ''[Undertale](/source/Undertale)'' (2015), ''[Nier: Automata](/source/Nier%3A_Automata)'' (2017) and ''[Deltarune](/source/Deltarune)'' (2018–2025) which have combat systems featuring bullet dodging. ''[Enter the Gungeon](/source/Enter_the_Gungeon)'' (2016) is a [twin-stick shooter](/source/twin-stick_shooter) [roguelike](/source/roguelike) with "smart" bullets.{{Cite web |last=Al-Aaser |first=Amr |date=2017-09-20 |title=What Other Games Can Learn From the Bullet Hell Genre |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/bullet-hell/what-other-games-can-learn-from-the-bullet-hell-ge |access-date=2023-04-05 |website=Paste Magazine |language=en-US}} ''[Returnal](/source/Returnal)'' was cited to have injected the bullet hell style into a [third-person shooter](/source/third-person_shooter) [roguelike](/source/roguelike).{{Cite web |last=Manchester |first=Austin |date=2025-08-19 |title=Returnal is every bit as exhilarating now as it was four years ago |url=https://www.polygon.com/returnal-ps5-best-roguelike/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=Polygon |language=en}} Due to the high difficulty of pure bullet hell games, such hybrids open the genre to a new audience who might not have considered trying them otherwise.{{Cite web |last=Wadeson |first=Danny |date=2015-07-07 |title=The frenetic past and bright future of the bullet hell shooter |url=https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/frenetic-past-and-bright-future-bullet-hell-shooter/ |access-date=2023-04-05 |website=Kill Screen - Previously |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405233933/https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/frenetic-past-and-bright-future-bullet-hell-shooter/ |url-status=live }} === Competitive play === The competitive bullet hell scene is defined by hyper-fast reflex gameplay with a focus on achieving [high score](/source/high_score)s. Game scholar Alexandra Orlando claims that it has not become an [esport](/source/Esports) due to a lack of human drama, as well as a belief that highly-skilled Japanese players are "gods" of the genre, causing fewer Western players to pick them up.{{Cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Mark R. |last2=Orlando |first2=Alexandra |date=2017-03-18 |title=An Insider Look into the World of Competitive Bullet Hells |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/an-insider-look-into-the-world-of-competitive-bullet-hells/ |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=[Vice](/source/Vice_(magazine)) |language=en |archive-date=2023-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406001024/https://www.vice.com/en/article/vvjye3/an-insider-look-into-the-world-of-competitive-bullet-hells |url-status=live }} Approximately 90% of records are held by Japanese players. {{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Mark |date=2016 |title=Bullet Hell: The Globalized Growth of Danmaku Games and the Digital Culture of High Scores and World Records |url=https://www.academia.edu/31504343/Bullet_Hell_The_Globalized_Growth_of_Danmaku_Games_and_the_Digital_Culture_of_High_Scores_and_World_Records |journal=Transnational Contexts of Culture, Gender, Class, and Colonialism in Play |pages=17 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-43817-7_2}} ==Bullet heaven == {{Main|Vampire Survivors–like}} Bullet heaven or reverse bullet hell are terms for games in which, rather than attempting to dodge enemy projectiles, the player's character or vessel generates the bullets, typically in the manner of an auto shooter, in order to take out waves of enemies while the player moves. These games often have the player choose power-ups from a random selection to improve attack and passive abilities. Such games became popular with the release of ''[Vampire Survivors](/source/Vampire_Survivors)'' in 2022, and include games like ''[Brotato](/source/Brotato)'', ''[20 Minutes Till Dawn](/source/20_Minutes_Till_Dawn)'', and ''[HoloCure – Save the Fans!](/source/HoloCure_%E2%80%93_Save_the_Fans!)''.{{cite web | url = https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-a-free-shooter-for-fans-of-vampire-survivors-and-brotato/ | title = Here's a free shooter for fans of Vampire Survivors and Brotato | first = Jonathan | last = Bolding | date = August 13, 2023 | accessdate = October 14, 2023 | work = [PC Gamer](/source/PC_Gamer) | archive-date = October 2, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231002053243/https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-a-free-shooter-for-fans-of-vampire-survivors-and-brotato/ | url-status = live }} A common term for the genre, "survivors-like", stems from the popularity of ''Vampire Survivors''.{{cite web|url=https://www.gematsu.com/2024/10/survivors-like-roguelite-first-person-shooter-bloodshed-announced-for-pc|title=‘Survivors-like’ roguelite first-person shooter Bloodshed announced for PC|date=October 9, 2024|website=Gematsu|author-first1=Sal|author-last1=Romano}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gamespew.com/2025/02/jotunnslayer-hordes-of-hel-impressions/|title=I've found a new favourite Survivors-like in Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel|date=February 17, 2025|website=Gamespew|author-first1=Kim|author-last1=Snaith}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pocketgamer.com/astral-survivor/out-now/|title=Astral Survivor is a new anime survivors game out now|author-first1=Iwan|author-last1=Morris|date=June 17, 2024|website=Pocket Gamer}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/11/temtem-swarm-is-a-survivor-like-bullet-heaven-with-cute-creatures-to-evolve-out-now/|title=Temtem: Swarm is a survivor-like bullet heaven with cute creatures to evolve out now|date=November 14, 2024|website=GamingOnLinux|author-first1=Liam|author-last1=Dawe}} == References == {{Reflist}}{{Video game genre}} Category:Bullet hell video games Category:Video game genres --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bullet hell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_hell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_hell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.