Loop

Looping a Game

A "loop" is a term referring to game completion in shoot-em-ups, and is commonly used when referring to CAVE and Toaplan games. When a game is looped, the player is sent back to the first stage of the game, but the difficulty is increased.

Arcade shooting games having two loops is fairly common, particularly in older games; some games go the extra mile and loop infinitely, challenging the player to see how far they can get before they run out of lives. In two-loop arcade shmups, the second loop typically ends with an encounter with a True Last Boss. Some games may require meeting certain conditions in order to access the next loop of the game, and occasionally the True Last Boss is also locked behind its own specific requirements outside of just making it to the second loop.