Developer: CAVE Interactive CO.,LTD.
Publisher: Degica
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, iOS, Android
Tested on: PC
DoDonPachi Resurrection – Review
After being released for Xbox 360, Android and iOS a while ago, Cave has finally decided to release this installment in a legendary bullet-hell shoot’em up series to PC as well through Steam. DoDonPachi Resurrection features all of the content that was previously available for Xbox 360 in one nice package. Let’s have a look at this maniac bullet hell shoot’em up.
Story
In DoDonPachi, the past is being altered by an android know as Next EXY or NEXY. NEXY has traveled one thousand years back in time and your mission is to stop NEXY and save the future from horrible things.
The story in DoDonPachi is very brief, there’s very little information as to what you’re doing and what is happening, but that’s not necessarily a bad point for these type of games. Very often, shoot’em ups won’t feature any story at all, so it’s good that there’s at least something present in DoDonPachi.
Graphics
DoDonPachi Resurrection is a refined version of the original game ported to PC, and the graphics look surprisingly well. Everything looks very vibrant and the backgrounds in the various stages look great and fit with the game as well. Graphic effects like explosions, bullets and lasers also look awesome, but the screen can sometimes get extremely crowded with score stars and bullets. However, that’s what bullet hell shoot’em ups are all about, so if you take that into account it’s definitely a plus that your screen is filled with bullets.
Sound
Sound wise, DoDonPachi Resurrection sounds like a true arcade shoot’em up. The music is very lively and fast paced, which fits together perfectly with the graphics and bullet hell aspect of the game. Sound effects are also great, there’s loads of different hit detection sounds, attack sounds and boss sounds. There’s a perfect balance between both volume of the music and sound effects, which makes the experience a lot better.
Gameplay
DoDonPachi Resurrection is the latest game in a legendary bullet hell shoot’em up series and it’s the sequel to Blissful Death. DoDonPachi is a top-down shoot’em up that features fast paced gameplay and a whole lot of game modes to go through. It can be played with both keyboard and mouse or with a controller, which is a must have for die hard bullet hell fans.
The game features a lot of game modes and a couple of ships and styles. Three different ships are available and only have minor differences in graphics and bullet patterns, so the ship you choose isn’t really the most important choice of the game. For the styles you have bomb style, power style and strong style. In bomb style, you can use bombs to clear all the bullets on the screen and to kill enemies, and you can also enable autobomb when you’re hit which saves your life. Then there’s power style, which allows you to power-up your attack as you please, but no bombs are available. Strong style combines the advantages of both bomb style and power style.
For game modes, you have choice between a whopping 8 different modes. There’s Normal 1.5 which is the original, refined game. Normal 1.51 is a special version which features a different scoring and control system. Arrange B where you can play in single stages and highly customize them, Arrange A with mechanics and a ship borrowed from DoDonPachi Blisful Death. Then there’s Novice, a crash course in bullet hell. Black Label features a new method of attack and a new final boss, the novice version is the same but easier and then there’s Black Label Arrange which allows you to control the Tiger Schwert from KETSUI.
The game is played as your typical shoot’em up. You simply hold the shoot button and dodge all of the bullets coming at you, which is harder than it sounds. You have a normal shot which is a beam that slows you down, a turbo shot which is shooting bullets with a wider spread really fast, a hyper shot which empowers your shot and turbo shot and a bomb which clears all bullets and does massive damage to enemies.
One very good feature is that the game allows unlimited continues. This means that once you run out of lives, you should get a game over screen, but the game allows you to continue playing if you would like to do so, resetting your score. This is great functionality for players not familiar to the bullet hell shoot’em up scene, and will ultimately increase gameplay pleasure because nobody wants to be stuck on one stage forever.
Furthermore, the game features Score Attack where you can compete for high score with your friends, online leaderboards for the die-hard players, a training mode and local replays.
Conclusion
All in all, DoDonPachi Resurrection was a blast to play. It makes you relive old-school arcade shoot’em ups in a modern and very well made PC port. There are loads of game modes, an acceptable amount of ships and quite a lot customization. It’s also beginner friendly, which isn’t a usual sight in bullet hell games, but ultimately it will make the game more accessible for everybody.
DoDonPachi Resurrection - Review,
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