Yeah, that's what I was going for.
Many older shoot 'em ups were arcade games, where you continued by paying coins. The pc and console versions of those let the player use coins by pressing a button. But many players try to do them with a single life (1cc), even if they don't have to. So basically anyone could beat the game, but the community creates their own challenges.
So most shoot 'em ups either
- use a coin metaphor, which doesn't really make much sense outside of arcades anymore, or
- have limited lifes and Game Over, so non hardcore gamers can't see most of the game
I was thinking, how can I recreate the first type in a way that makes more sense for a pc game?