Summary
Among the many types of beloved arcade games the TATE (vertical) shooter is a standout. The word “tate” simple means “vertical” in Japanese, but it also coincidentally sounds like “rotate”, which, as you’ll see, is pretty appropriate.
Arcade Games Could Be Vertical or Horizontal
Arcade cabinets that use CRT tubes can have two orientations for the screen. It can be a 4:3 horizontal display, or it can be a 3:4 vertical screen. It’s still the same screen, it’s just that the display has been mounted on its “side”, which is not what home tube TVs were designed to do.
This meant that games could be designed to take advantage of this alternative display orientation, and in games likePac-Manthis allowed for a maze that was longer vertically than horizontally.
Vertical Schmups Were the Best!
While early arcade games tended to use static screens, it wasn’t long before scrolling became possible. Smooth scrolling arcade graphics felt like a huge leap, and our home PCs certainly couldn’t do it at the time. Consoles like the NES and SNES were famous for bringing smooth scrolling in games likeSuper Mario Bros.into our homes, and later when PC titles likeJazz Jackrabbitcracked the code for smooth scrolling on PC it was yet again a big deal.
It’s here where we get to vertical scrolling “schmups” or shoot-em-ups. Games likeTwinBeeand1942put you in control of some sort of vehicle or character that moves across a vertical-scrolling playfield. Enemies come from above (or all directions) as you progress from the bottom to the top of the level. Usually there’s a boss fight waiting at the end of the level.
These games are exciting, and the vertical orientation of the screen and fast scrolling makes vertical schmups some of the most engaging arcade games to play, in my opinion.
Vertical Games Are a Problem on Horizontal Screens
These days, you don’t need to go to the arcade to experience these vertical schmups. You can emulate them using software likeMAME, but many of these games have official re-releases, often as part of a retro collection. My Nintendo Switch is turning into my arcade system of choice, especially since I got agreat arcade stickfor it, and that includes lots of vertical schmups.
The problem is that our modern screens are almost all 16:9 horizontal widescreens. Which means the vertical game only takes up a small sliver at the center of the screen. This is where TATE mode comes in.
TATE Modes Let You Literally Flip the Screen
So, in these games, there’s generally a TATE mode option in the menus that lets you rotate the screen, which means the game now takes up the full vertical space available or close to it. If you’re playing these games on a PC, Mac, or Linux system, and it doesn’t have a TATE mode, then you can just adjust your display settings to rotate the desktop to the orientation you want.
Monitors Are Easy To Rotate These Days
Lots of monitors now have stands that allow them to be rotated into portrait mode, so if you connect your console to one of these, or the aforementioned PC systems, you can play vertical schmups the way they were meant to be played.
If your monitor doesn’t have a stand that allows for rotation, you can always buy an inexpensive monitor arm that lets you rotate and orient your monitor as you please.
The Nintendo Switch Has Great TATE Mode Accessories
Because the Switch is a handheld console as well as a home console, you’re able to get accessories like my Switch Pro Controller handheld mount. This allows you to rotate the Switch, making TATE modes super-comfortable. There are many of these mounts on sites like Amazon, and they keep changing, but not all of them allow for rotation, so carefully check the description.
You Can Put Your TV on Its Side, but I Don’t Recommend It
I’ve seen some retro gamers simply turn their CRT TVs on the side to play games in TATE mode, but that’s not going to be safe or easy to do for many CRT models.
Modern TVs aren’t much better, and unless you have some sort of mounting system to rotate the TV, this probably isn’t a good solution. However, I’ve actually played TATE mode games on my big TV while simply lying on my side on the couch. Sometimes it’s the simplest solution that works best!
