The origin of the bullet hell genre is attributed to Toaplan, a now-defunct Japanese video game studio that developed arcade shoot 'em ups.
In 1993, the studio released Batsugun, an innovative game that, after the first level, featured increasingly complex and hypnotic bullet patterns.
Around this time, the Touhou Project, the most prolific fan-made shooter series as recognized by Guinness World Records, was also conceived.
The 2002 Embodiment of Scarlet Devil marked a large step forward for the series, and, due to its Windows release, gained massive popularity with a new Western audience.
RPG/bullet hell hybrids include Knights in the Nightmare (2008), Undertale (2015), Nier: Automata (2017) and Deltarune (2018) which have combat systems featuring bullet dodging.