Dodonpachi Saidaioujou is a port of the arcade game by the same name, and a sequel to Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu (sometimes called Dodonpachi Resurrection).
If you're new to the Donpachi series, it's a shmup from the arcade developer CAVE. Playing from a top-down perspective, you blast enemies with a space ship while dodging enemy fire.
If you thought Resurrection was colorful, just wait till you see this game! Bright neon signs everywhere, eye-popping shiny enemies, and candy-colored bullets galore. As a nice touch, when a bullet crosses into a background of similar color, it gets an aura of the opposite color to give it extra visibility. The backgrounds can be quite busy at times, so every bit of extra visibility is a nice feature.
Gameplay is similar to the previous Donpachi games. Chaining enemy kills together raises your multiplier, and collecting bee icons helps recharge hypers faster for even more destructive capabilities. Hypers and bombs are on the same button, similar to Daioujou. Autobomb (using a bomb automatically when hit) is optional on the character select screen, although selecting this feature gives less bombs to balance it out.
This is one of the harder CAVE games to date. Jumping straight into the arcade mode will be a serious wake-up call, as even early bosses have some nasty attack patterns. Even the novice mode will be a sizable challenge to new players.
Several game modes are included with Saidaioujou. First there's the arcade mode, which is a reasonable approximation of the original arcade game. Next is the version 1.5 mode, which is a tweaked arcade mode with bug fixes and rebalanced game play. 360 mode is a more story-oriented version of the game, with character portraits that talk non-stop as you play through the game. Finally there's a novice mode with is a bit easier than the main game (although not as easy as some of the previous CAVE novice modes).
As you play, you get coins uses to unlock artwork and gameplay mods. These are pretty cool optional extras, and most of the useful ones are quick to unlock. Also included are "challenges" with specific goals, giving more stuff to do when taking a break from the main game.
With lots of modes to try, ship and shot types to experiment with, and an in-game shop system that unlocks new features as you play more (not DLC), this is one of the more expansive shmups on the 360. I can definitely recommend this game to shmup players, or anyone looking for a colorful action game to show off their 360.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
I currently have all of the region free 360 shmups that are available. Many are from Cave, some are from other publishers.I have to say that out of all of these games, this is my least favorite. If you have never played a Cave shooter before, then sure, this is bound to please. However, if you are familiar with the company and/or genre, chances are you'll be let down.
First and foremost the system in Saidaioujou is almost non-existent. You can build up and charge a special attack, but it doesn't change the gameplay much.
The game seems rushed and most of the levels all feel the same. There is nothing to really distinguish one stage from the next and the game just seems like a hodgepodge of random shooting. For Cave this is rather low quality. Most of their games are extremely deep and have complex scoring systems. This game... not so much.
There are several modes to play in but none of them really stand out. One new feature that I've not seen Cave use before is the shop, where you can earn coin from game performances and then spend them. There are a few things one can purchase which changes gameplay slightly, but most of the offerings in the shop are wallpapers and recorded voices of the characters (which seems stupid as they talk all the time during and in the game).
Overall, Cave really cut corners on this title and it shows. Play any of the other Cave games (Espgaluda II, Muchi Muchi Pork, even Akai Katana which saw a US release) and you'll see the difference.
I would not recommend purchasing this title unless it's either A. your first experience in this genre or B. you're a collector like me and want all of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment