Game Groups > Genre: Fixed-screen shoot 'em up

The initial form of shoot 'em ups was defined by the genre's progenitor, Space Invaders (1978): the player controls a character (usually a space ship) that can move within the limits of a single top-down screen. Traditionally, the movement is restricted to the sides only; shooters in which the character can be navigated up- and downwards within one screen also belong to this group, since the defining distinction of these games from other shoot 'em ups is the lack of scrolling and the inability to break the confines of one screen until all of the enemies on it have been eliminated and the player moves on to a new stage.

Related Game Groups

• Scrolling shoot 'em ups