Moving Too Fast

In shmups going slowly allows one to actually see the graphics rather than have them just flicker by. Big shots also obstruct the view and give the games artificial width. That width is not depth. My blogging style is based on the Noble Quran, it is a stream of consciousness that can't be easily broken into parts. 

Power-Up Slop

 This is another post about good game design, mostly in the shmup genre. I have noticed that in many mobile shmups many of them suffer from power-up slop which is that the power-ups that players naturally gravitate towards may actually be unwanted weapon changes or upgrades. All of the shmups in the mobile space are vertical, probably because horizontal usually implies a slower sense of speed that is less addictive. I have mentioned before that web games supported by banner ads are the best distribution system for games and this has been the way for decades. R-Type avoids power up slop except for the speed power up. Gradius avoids it with the buffet line. In addition graphics have been going in the wrong direction for decades. There is too much detail for sprites that just flicker by. Nothing memorable comes from that. The abstract approach or minimalist design or just plain slower gameplay complements the genre better.