History Main / Bullethell

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' can become this if you meet too many enemies at once, in particular on [[HarderThanHard Nightmare!]] difficulty, which speeds up enemy projectiles and causes enemies to respawn on death. Even outside of Nightmare! difficuly, there are enemies that are happy to shoot you on sight, including homing missiles courtesy of [[DemBones the Revenants]], and hitscan enemies whose attacks you can't even dodge. Oh, and ''[[VideoGame/FinalDoom The Plutonia Experiment]]'' on Nightmare? There's a very good reason why it took ''19 years'' to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUBUYWIZUpE complete a single-segment run of it on Nightmare! difficulty]]. To get the full experience, try playing some [[TheWarSequence slaughter maps]], like ''Sunder'', ''Hell Revealed'', ''Sunlust'', and ''Okuplok'', that often send out hundreds of monsters at a time, and whose monster counts can often total in the thousands. See [[https://youtu.be/fEnOEzq8PuE this TAS run of Okuplok]] for a brutal example of figurative and [[TheLegionsOfHell literal]] bullet hell.

*** Someone made a ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' and a ''[[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Super C]]'' mod for this game. There will be a race for the Spread Gun.
*** Speaking of mods, they tend to do this. Really!

** Ladies and gentlemen, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL8KcX4Rds8 the Shroud Lord]].

Can (and more often than not does) overlap with CuteEmUp. Usually unrelated to PlatformHell - most of these games are consistent about following their own rules and don't depend on cruel surprises.

* In ''VideoGame/EryisAction'', [[spoiler:you fight the final battle this way on Ex Mode. Not only do you have Farta to deal with again, but should you beat her, you have to fight a UFO that's even worse, complete with an homage to Hibachi's "washing machine" pattern at the end]].

* ViolationOfCommonSense: You're supposed to dodge bullets by going ''into'' them. [[ItMakesSenseInContext It makes more sense]] if you watch pro videos. And you're supposed to do this extremely often on harder bosses.

** What happens when you take a Touhou game, take away the extra lives, disable bombs and continues, and add in several ClassicVideoGameScrewYous inspired by ''VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld''? You get [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_aQiKoe-RI Touhou - Unreasonable Mechanism]], a fan game that shows just how evil the genre can get.

* MookMaker: May have the usual type, or more commonly bullets that fire smaller bullets.

* NintendoHard: The whole genre looks difficult due to the sheer bullet count, and many games in the genre are, but not every single such game is. It should be noted that bullet patterns tend to be fairly slow and are easier to "sight read", compared to the fast and aimed bullets of more "classical" shooters that tend to invoke TrialAndErrorGameplay.

* ''VideoGame/{{Recca}}'', the UrExample. On NES. It goes even more hellish in the [[HarderThanHard Zanki Attack]] mode, where enemies explode into four or so [[TakingYouWithMe suicide bullets]] when destroyed, especially when they come in waves of ten to twenty. The main difference between Recca and most of the examples in this page, is that the bullets fill the screen '''AND''' ''they are absurdly fast''.

*** ''VideoGame/TouhouGouyokuIbunSuibotsuShitaChinshuuJigoku''

*** ''VideoGame/BarettofiriaTachiNoYamishijoOneHundredthBlackMarket''

* In ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvoltSeries'' there are two bosses that can release a barrage of projectiles; Viper and Hail. The former does this via his "Refulgence"[[note]]JP: Sunshine Nova[[/note]] where he scatters fireballs around the screen while he is coated in flames, and will later move from side to side with fireballs firing at the player's position. And the latter through her "Frigid Stasis"[[note]]JP: Stagnation World[[/note]] where she rains down hails of ice projectiles and releases drones that will shoot fast firing ice bullets that have to be dodged.

* Most of the bosses in ''VideoGame/IWannaKillTheKamilia'' do this by default, but the ''many'' Vocaloid segments take it [[UpToEleven Up to Eleven]].

** What happens when you take a Touhou game, take away the extra lives, disable bombs and continues, and add in several ClassicVideoGameScrewYous inspired by ''VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld''? You get [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_aQiKoe-RI Touhou - Unreasonable Mechanism]], a fan game that shows just how evil the genre can get when this trope is turned UpToEleven.

* Every other boss battle in ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}: Spyro's Adventure'' involved [[BigBad Kaos]] alternating between him attacking with spells that are basically full blown bullet hell patterns based around [[MakingASplash Water]], [[GreenThumb Life]], [[{{Necromancy}} Undead]], and [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] and spawning [[EvilKnockoff dark clones]] of three of the Skylanders of each of those elements, with the final phase of the fight having him do both at the same time. This gets cranked UpToEleven in the final battle.

** In the Binding of Isaac Afterbirth Expansion pack, it introduces a boss called [[spoiler: Hush]] which like [[spoiler: Mega Satan]] is another Bullet Hell fight turned [[UptoEleven Up to Eleven!]] A mix of teleporting bullet patterns, spawning rather powerful enemies and a shit ton of health. Even with game breaking combos, [[MarathonBoss this fight will take a long while.]]

* ''Pure White Giant Glastonbury'', a GameWithinAGame, found [[spoiler:on the way to the Rank 4 fight]] in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''.
** And again in the sequel with Bizarre Jelly 5. Notable for [[spoiler:its special difficulty, unlocked after clearing hard without losing a life. Reaching the end of this mode results in a BonusBoss fight against the Glastonbury. While tough on its own, it unleashes Bullet Hell upon reaching its last breath. Did we mention that you can't continue in this mode after losing your three lives?]]
* In ''Videogame/{{Ikaruga}}'' you can (and usually ''have'' to) absorb some bullets (due to the polarity system). The clouds of bullets that get shot your way often have no spaces between them whatsoever. One would think being able to flip your shield and plow through it would make the game easier and for the first level or two, it does. Then you realize that the next logical step is to shoot obscene clouds of ''both'' kinds of bullets at you ''at the same time''. [[NintendoHard Commence cognitive overload.]]
** "I've heard the Ikaruga can squeeze between bricks in a wall without touching them."
*** This is ''vital'' to do on at least one level for the Dot Eater rank. On the second stage, there will be blocks of various colours forced together. Managing to squeeze your way between them lets you progress without firing once. Other stages have something similar.

** Its SpiritualPredecessor, ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'', while not as bullet-happy as future offerings does have its fair share of danmaku, especially from certain bosses.

** ''VideoGame/FlyingRedBarrel'', which is like the above except [[RecycledInSpace set during the Golden Age of Aviation]]. And with dumping bombs on enemies for maximum points replacing the animal drones.

* ''VideoGame/VampireSurvivors'' is a game which proudly advertises itself at letting ''you'' be the Bullet Hell. You are surrounded by hordes of enemies, and the only way to fend them off is to bombard the screen with increasingly intensifying and dense projectiles, overwhelming everything with raw power and number of bullets.

* [[VideoGame/JustShapesAndBeats Just Shapes and Beats]] is a variant where all bullet patterns are determined by the beat of chiptune songs.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'', the fifth boss [[spoiler: Big Ape]] has an attack that consist of firing bullets at the player in certain patterns not unlike what you'd see in a bullet hell game. This one can get quite hectic, requiring the use of a shield or fancy footwork to brave the onslaught.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'', the fifth boss [[spoiler: Big Ape]] has attacks that consist of firing bullets at the player in certain patterns not unlike what you'd see in a bullet hell game.