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While rhythm games might be the epitome of mindless distraction, another genre of video game I enjoy is the shoot 'em up, or shmup for short. I recently ordered a copy of R-Type Final 2 for Switch, and it arrived in my mailbox yesterday evening.
My first experience with shmups was the Japanese game "Touhou Koumakyou~ the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil". The game was released in 2002, but I didn't play it for the first time until the late 2000s, when I learned about it through the StepMania community. Though the game's difficulty curve was infuriating, it was also addictive, and I spent countless hours being blown to smithereens in Gensokyo.
Almost fifteen years later, I'm still not that good at shmups, mostly because I don't practice them very much. A few months ago I rediscovered the NES version of Gradius, which rekindled my interest. Maybe I can work my way through Gradius, pick up some skills, and blast through R-Type with (relative) ease.
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[Last updated: 2021-10-28]