History of shoot-em-up games

With Time Crisis 4 due on PS3 we've been revisiting happy memories of the noisiest kind of videogaming there is by far. What's that? Sorry, can't hear you!

Keep your Nintendogs, Viva Piñata and SingStar guys. The most accessible computer games always have and will be shoot-'em-ups. You press a button, something goes boom. What's not to understand?

Nothing shakes off post-work stress like a few retro levels of R-Type on Wii Virtual Console, or a session on Call of Duty 4 online - arguably the finest multiplayer arena available anywhere. I have been wondering, though, where my fascination lies, prompted by Time Crisis 4 which comprises all the main elements in one package.

Back in the day (we're talking early 80s) videogames were, well, basic. Space Invaders didn't even have a joystick, just three buttons: left, right, shoot. Aside from the appeal of brand-spanking-never-seen-anything-like-it newness, Space Invaders had wicked sound effects and a look that we already knew was classic. We wanted more aliens, so we got them in spades. Galaxian (swan-diving aliens), Galaga (swan-diving aliens that stole your blaster!), both managed with the same three-button layout.

I guess it was the arrival of Defender that things got kind of serious, with so many buttons that I can't remember. Some kids learned piano. I just about figured out where hyperspace was on this thing. When Missile Command and Centipede arrived with tracking-ball controllers, the future had arrived! Games surely couldn't possibly get more complicated than that, and if you had enough 10ps to master these monsters you were a living god... among similarly stupid kids anyway.

Meanwhile, savvy ‘amusement' manufacturers were re-purposing fairground shooting galleries to capitalise on the videogame ‘fad' (ho-ho-ho). Numerous Wild West themes tested who was quick on the draw, and simple Tin Can Alley stuff even enticed Mum and Dad (handy because they were around to pester for more 10ps). Although ‘light-gun' games had existed in numerous arcade forms beforehand, it was Nintendo's Duck Hunt for the old NES that brought the fun home. Shame you could never shoot that sniggering dog!

Sega's Virtua Cop (1994) first bridged the gap between sci-fi videogame shoot-'em-ups such as R-Type, the giants of first-person shooting such as Doom and Quake, and clear-cut scenarios to attract a casual audience. Anyone who enjoyed Lethal Weapon or even The Bill could reach for the holster to embark on a thrilling series of cops and robbers missions. It paved the way for other manufacturers to offer up their own variations on the theme. Sega itself emerged with a zombified departure called House of the Dead, which you can now play on Nintendo Wii.

The big innovation came with Time Crisis in 1995, with a slightly funkier time travel theme and a pedal that allowed players to duck behind cover at will. Superb! Over the past decade or so Namco Bandai has developed the Time Crisis series adding shinier grpahics to the pick-up-and-play action.

So how does TC4 play? The control system isn't ideal, but the action is never short of frantic - crashing helicopters, rush hour pile-ups. Reviewers sometimes get too hung up on technical detail and forget that games like TC4 are like roller-coaster rides, as opposed to stuff like Team Fortress where precision skills are essential. 

You've probably noticed that my memory is quite hazy regarding shooting-game chronology. Perhaps you've got a favourite that I overlooked? Or maybe you think all shooting games are appalling and should be banned?! Let's hear it.