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[PS2] Dodonpachi Daioujou

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[PS2] Dodonpachi Daioujou

Unread postby chamchamtrigger » 26 Apr 2008 13:57

This is my first review ever so please bear with me here. Any criticism (the definition does go both ways) is welcome.

This is a review of the PS2 version of the game, as I never had the opportunity to play the arcade version.

I just have to say from the jump that this game is tough as nails. With this game being tough as nails, I also have to mention that this is a testament to the saying that difficult doesn't equal a crappy game, and that the overall enjoyment of a game is what truly makes it crappy or not. This game is tough, but it gives you the necessary equipment to be able to survive, so when you die (which is going to be a lot), you won't have anything to blame aside from your reflexes (did I mention how tough this game was yet?).

You pretty much have the conventional weapons of many Cave shooters, like your normal shot, your bomb, and your laser/power shot (activated by holding down the normal shot button). You also have something called hypers (which will be explained a bit later). I don't know about the arcade, but the PS2 version allows you to hold down another button so that you continuously shoot normal shots.

The normal shot is what you'd pretty much expect from a shmup, it's the weapon that you'll be relying on the most in the game (well maybe split down the middle with the laser depending on how you play). Given that the game has 2 ships (unlike the previous installments), part of the validation of these 2 ships lies in the different types of normal shots available to each ship. The type A ship fires the closest thing to a straight shot that this game has to offer, and the type B ship shoots more of a spread shot (of course with the slightly weaker power as a set back).

There are 2 types of bombs in this game. The first type is if you press the bomb button while you aren't firing a laser. This will activate a bomb that explodes in an area, while leaving your ship temporarily invincible and harming any enemies in the way (what I usually call the classic bomb). The second type of bomb is activated when you're using your laser. This type of bomb strengthens your laser for a short period of time, or until you stop using the laser (whichever comes first), leaving you invincible as long as its active, and destroying most bullets it contacts.

The last thing at your disposal is called a hyper (activated by pressing the bomb button when you have one) . The hyper is an item that lets your ship power up and you also become invincible for a short time like when using bombs. Unlike bombs, however, hypers are not in your arsenal from the start. You have to fill up a meter ( located on the upper left of the screen) by shooting a bunch of enemies, while chaining each kill together before the meter becomes empty (it starts to fall while you aren't hitting any enemies). Once you fill the meter up, this gold nugget looking thing will fall from the top of the screen. Once you collect that item, you will be able to use a hyper (you'll notice the item connected to your ship). You can collect a maximum of 5 hypers (no easy feat...at least not for me), and the more you collect, the more powerful the hyper will become. Unlike bombs, they don't work separately, but all at once. The catch (aside from the requirements to collect them) is that when the hyper is activated, enemy bullets will come at you faster than before. What's even worse is that these bullets will continue to come faster until you die or you shoot a bomb. Hypers don't come out during boss fights either.

You also have the ability to customize how your ship powers up just like in the previous games, though it is a bit altered. After selecting your ship, you have 3 characters to choose from who alter how your weapon powers up. The first character named Shotia, powers up your normal shot only. The second character named Leinyan, powers up your laser only and speeds up your mobility while using the laser. The catch is that you get a lower bomb stock than with Shotia using this one. The third character named Exy, powers up both your normal shot and your laser like a combination of the first two at the expense of an even lower bomb stock than Leinyan. When (if) you die, the priority weapon goes down only one level, while the secondary weapon (depending on which character you chose to power your weapon) will go to its default level. Choosing Exy results in a one level decrease for both weapons. Personally, I use Exy since I tend not to use bombs in smups often...though I have to say that I probably would last longer in the later stages if I did.

The controls for this game are pretty tight like other good shmups. I didn't really have much of a problem maneuvering, and like many other good shooters, your death is pretty much your own despite how many bullets are flying at you. Sometimes it's easier to dodge bullets by using slight motions rather than big movements all across the screen (laser shot often helps to make pinpoint movements). It would be nice if it was a little easier to figure out where your hit box lies exactly (at about the middle), but figuring it out the hard was is where most of the fun lies I guess.

I'm not too clear on the intricacies on the scoring system unfortunately. I know that there's a chain system where you gain more points for longer chains (as well as enabling you to get hyper enabling items), but as for scratch bonuses and the like, I'm not too clear on how that affects your score, if at all.

The game spans 5 stages (like ESP Galuda). At first they seem rather short, but once you reach the third stage, you realize that the stages are spread out reasonably. While the game doesn't have many stages, it definitely gives you your money's worth given the difficulty progression for the game. Then again, one of my gripes lies with the difficulty progression. The game seems to jump in difficulty by the third stage. The first stage is typical of most shmups, it throws enough bullets at you where you can look like a good player at an arcade, while in actuality, you're really not being given a hard time at all, so passing by without a death is fairly easy. The second stage seems to go up in difficulty slightly, and it's still not too hard to go through the stage without dying, at least after a few tries...but once you get to the third stage, it just goes to insane levels. There's no more smooth progression. Bullets are just flying at you everywhere and you have little space to move at times. This is where it becomes really important to know when to make big movements, and when you just have to deal with staying in an area, while slowly maneuvering through a wave of bullets. Don't get me wrong, I don't think stages 3, 4 and 5 are designed badly at all, but the jump may seem overwhelming to many people, especially when they first experience it. After a few days of feeling helpless, it can become a testament to whether you truly welcome a good challenge or not.

The graphics for this game were decent for its time, and I still enjoy the looks today. They're bright, colorful, and the effects don't get in the way of enemy bullets so there are really no cases of cheap invisible bullet deaths.

The ships (which look awful in my opinion) animate nicely as well. They don't seem to animate as smoothly as Tateha, and Ageha (from ESP Galuda) when moving from side to side, but I seriously don't care about any of that, because as long as the ships move smoothly so that I can dodge bullets (and not have any excuses when I die), I'm happy. There aren't really many notable things to say about the graphics. They pretty much just get the job done. Aside from the little mode 7 like effects here and there (like when your ship first enters the "playing field"), there isn't anything really noteworthy aside from them not looking like an NES game.

Once you beat the game and fulfill some requirements, you can play a second loop which is harder and allows you to fight an extra last boss...an extra nightmarish last boss who some people may be familiar with. You can get this extra loop by dying at most twice, collecting all of the bees without dying (those bees can be placed in ridiculous areas at times), or not using more than 3 bombs throughout the whole game. The game also gives you a few modes to mess around with. Aside from the normal arcade mode, you have an arcade simulation mode which lets you choose the stages you want to play in as well as alter some options like who you use, the power level you start at and so on. You also get a mode called Death label. Death label mode is sort of like a boss attack mode with some bonuses to your ship.

I usually think of myself as a competent serious gamer (I don't like to use the term hardcore) who's able to pick up a game in a couple of minutes, and possibly master it within a few months, if my interest is there. This game made me rethink everything. I figure that there are a lot of people who have probably 1CC'd the hell out of this game here, but I have yet to do it with this title, and I played this even before I played ESP Galuda (a game that I have been able to 1CC...though only on normal mode). As far as ratings go, I'd rate it a 4 out of those 5 stars you guys give. I enjoyed ESP Galuda more, but this game is not too far behind in my favorites list.
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Unread postby adrenalinq » 22 Aug 2008 10:16

Hyper does not power you shots - I gives your shots more speed and more rapid fire. In other words - you land more hits on a target.

To fill hyper you need to collect bee while chaining. More your chain is while you collect a bee - the more hyper you get. Also your death gives 30% hyper.

Overall I liked the review.
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Unread postby chamchamtrigger » 24 Aug 2008 00:02

Thanks a lot. Honestly, there's so much I didn't know about the game (I guess I should've researched more to give a better review). I'm more of an esp galuda (and part 2) player myself, so I'm really glad you were able to give me some information, since it was quite hard for me to figure some things out.
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Unread postby icycalm » 10 Apr 2009 17:50

This review is basically Shmups.com-level. I mean, it's okay as a personal thing, as long as you write it for yourself, just to exercise your writing skill and such, but it is hardly of use to anyone else. No comparisons with other Cave games, or with other shooters in general, an almost complete lack of criticisms of any kind, covered up by a regurgitation of the manual.

The problem, of course, is that the author has not played many Cave games, or shooters in general, so he couldn't make any comparisons even if he wanted to. So, you know, even if your writing ability was up there with James Joyce, your review would still be worthless.

The moral is: play a lot more shooters. Play the hell out of them. Learn how their systems work, and get some decent high scores and perhaps a few 1CCs under your belt. THEN start reviewing games.

You can review them before, of course, and get a little better with each review, both in terms of writing proficiency and insightful criticism. But until you have the necessary qualifications, all those reviews will be worthless to other people -- they will only be of value to you, as exercises in reviewing.
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