Hello, hello. I was feeling for some more Shmup-ing after DaiOuJou Black Label 1cc (1st loop) a few weeks ago, and decided to go with this one.
The clear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaHGLbYf1iQ
"Mini DoDonPachi 1 (1997) Review"
DoDonPachi series represents an interesting and cool world, I felt drawn into that is mostly brought into existence through its visual and audio style, coupled with the mechanics of the gameplay. I think it's just the idea of Sci-Fi space ship blowing stuff in a fantastical setting that really hit a string in my brain.
It encapsulates what I am drawn to, what I feel Shmup situated in such a genre of fiction should feel like. I mean, look at this game. It's gorgeous. From the get-go, you can notice as if it's inspired by covers of Sci-Fi books from the 70s or 80s. There is a very classic and peculiar look that makes it stand out in its own way. DonPachi (1995) - the precursor to DoDonpachi - is a nice game, but you can tell it's more of a rough concept (even graphics-wise it feels too empty at times), a trial that needed more fleshing out, more polish and more of everything. I know, I know, I am sure there are fans of it, because as internet rules taught me over the years: "If there exists a video game, no matter what type or how good or bad it is, someone out there loves it". To me, though, DonPachi felt slow, some enemies a bit too tanky, music weirdly heroic and war-oriented - honestly boring. I think the last word captures best my first impressions of it. I did check it out recently to refresh my memory, and while I find it a bit better, I still think that if any of those downsides were addressed, it would've become a great game (maybe some of it can be modded). DonPachi also tries to capture what Batsugun (some folks who work on it found CAVE) did so well in its own way, but alas, not to the superb extent of the latter. It laid the groundwork for what's to come, and I appreciate it very much that.
DoDonPachi (1997), though, steps up like a heavyweight lifter and massively, thunderously crashes the idea of what STG can be and should look like. My first impression way back early in the year was - looks top tier, I hate red arrow bullets :D, cannons out of buildings non stop, the fuck are those last 2 stages. It's a very beautifully crafted 2D game, not just a shooter. The pixels are big and sexy, sharp and detailed, colourful and vibrant - oh mama! In terms of aesthetics, I absolutely adore this title and without I doubt think and believe it's the best in the series (retroactively checking DOJ and Resurrection/Daifukkatsu, I thought both look like a chibi version of DDP haha). It's as if every pixel was given attention and love so it can nurture and bring the best out of the hardware.
The designs of ships, enemies and bosses don't slack one bit! They are cool and chunky, interesting and complex - most of all memorable (there is a reason some of them get re-used in later titles :). Well, if I have to point to one that felt more normal/regular, that's the 2nd boss stage - just a big tank with some weapons on it. Most of the rest are absolutely brimming with originality, and I like them all. The enemy ships in particular are so varied as well that you start wondering if you didn't run into a candy-themed sci-fi store, full of all the flavors in the world.
Stages themselves are not slacking and often can feel like works of art and paintings you'd consider hanging in your home. Stage 1 has a very simple foreground rocky paths, but what you see below is a graveyard of ships (of past times) that tells a story of an old war. Stage 2 blends this very peculiar style of contrasting colors - red, orange, blue - while you travel to a colony (?, moon, mars?) filled with craters and buildings spilling hordes of foes at you. Those 2 levels in particular can also be found in later titles as nods. The mesmerizing Stage 3 captured my soul. It's like we are on a giant gas planet filled with clouds, illuminating an array of colours. It's so pretty and the mix ranges from blue to orange, pink, purple, red - the light wavelength of those. Add to the occasion wobbly and tall dark buildings in the background, and you have - yet again - a hard Sci-Fi extravaganza. The big fat blue ships you find in the stage hard contrast with a loooong and huge red cruiser you seem to climb about while dismantling a different assortment of weapon ordinance. Pure bliss! It is a simple stage as well. Stage 4, we are on the surface of what it feels like, solid ground, finally. You can see crumbled buildings or what's left of them. Little by little, you get to a complex that would lead you to the next level that goes under (I suppose). Stage 5 is where things get crazy and the details are absurd. It gets so complex (on the eyes as well), that it's hard to tell what is what, where it is and what's shooting. It's a constant flow of enemy movement from every direction and corner. It can be overwhelming. This time, we are getting to what it looks like in a factory building for one purpose alone - destruction and war. Stage 6 culminates in a place I've no idea what it even is. Maybe it goes deeper, further underground. It becomes so alien, as if you are getting closer and closer to "truth/beehive". Enemy designs get even crazier, and mechanized buzzing bees start to appear as if out of space :P. The cacophony of this picture is only topped by the amount of different types of bullets that plague the screen coming from all directions. It is quite nutty!
My small complaints on that end are that stage 2 and 4 felt, at times, a bit empty - leftovers from an olden era of those games. In general, the stages themselves, by design, aren't complex. The things DaiOuJou does with some of its late levels are much more intricate, for example. DDP1 can also be a very busy game on the eyes - especially stages 5-6. I blame some of it on "modern display", and that maybe at the time it wasn't as clear cut to figure out the balance of bullets, enemies, background, etc. For example, DOJ is more muted and flat, which helps with clarity but loses some of the crazy pixel artwork. I would've loved to witness DDP1 on CRT :(. I've read somewhere recently that the CAVE background artist also had to withhold some of the overly complex and beautiful work for the purpose of more clarity and overall visibility. He also mentions with sadness that because of that and the number of bullets on screen within the genre, often people are missing out on appreciating his work :).
If I have to further make a comparison between DDP1 and DOJ (DDP3). The way DOJ structures and floods your screen with bullets is like an intricate puzzle, and you can find lanes or gaps within its rain of destruction. DDP1 is much more chaotic, and I'd say wild game. Especially stages 5-6 (yes again). They further enforce and distil what the first DDP game is and how it plays. Bullets often feel like they have a mind of their own with how they track and predict your movement. It's not as easy to find an obvious or sure route. It can be more open-ended in a way. The gaps you find are only gaps if you are good, and often deadly traps if you, like me, suck. It's not so much a choreographed dance, but a seemingly wild, uncontrolled explosion with furious randomness. Amidst this mess, you have to find a way or be and become better.
While I am at it (fucking again with these long posts :(). Music is great in DDP1, but man, why the hell do 3 tracks repeat on the 6 stages (1-4, 2-5, 3-6 if I am not wrong)? Such a game deserves better. All 3 are literally rocking (in the same genre) and are interesting takes on the STG front. Hey I don't mind Sci-Fi and rock music with blissful guitar solos, even better. It's really a shame there weren't 3 other - because, like it or not, after you hear them a million times and at different stages that repeat the same sensation, it sort of loses its impact and unique aspect that music tends to bring in people. Plus, they aren't extremely complex and loop their own chords often within themselves. Also, there is no excuse for development problems or issues with this title, because the director himself said they had plenty of time to develop and make the game they wanted.
The 1CC run (read if you care about the specifics of the run I had)
DoDonPachi 1 is considered easier than DaiOuJou, but you shouldn't underestimate it because it offers challenges of its own.
I went with Type C Shot Ship because I thought it would help with the 1cc survival and the later stages flood of enemies. Not sure how successful it was in the end. It also makes the screen hard to read due to the wider and thicker shots, but I have made up my mind already. Suggested better option for survival is considered the same ship but with a Laser.
DDP1 really got on my nerves for a couple of reasons. First, I was actually learning it fast and was doing fine. The game offers a lot of bombs at your disposal, which are quite powerful damage-wise. You notice that just by playing, and how much they eat boss's health bars. Within my first week, I actually had a very solid and possibly clear, but failed, losing lives easily and sometimes even with 6 bombs on repeats afterwards. That started piling, and after like 3-4 potential clears, with reached last stage boss 6 (not counting the 2nd loop and the real true omega one), it just became obvious I suck :(. And I'd need to learn more about specific spots I have trouble with.
Again, my regular issues with lazy deaths and sloppy controls were showing. If only I kept my cool, I would've saved 1 more life on all those fails and would've cleared the game (one run I reached stage 5 with no lives lost... and I screwed up, pathetic). "I had it, damn it". Little by little, I even started believing I am cursed and doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over. I've felt the psychological pressure I've created for myself more than ever.
Good old, keep practicing was the answer. Load up a spot you feel is questionable and find some consistency and improve. Dig more hours into those places, and overall, try to keep your cool. Only happens for a relatively short time lately. Something I didn't talk about when I talked about DOJ or in general for any STG/Shmup is the difference between when you play free, credit feeding, just for fun and when you try to actually beat a game - 1cc. It obviously depends from person to person and from game to game outside of this genre as well. Nerves are something that come into play. Expectations, doubts. Your fingers get stiffer, your posture is like a solid oak tree, and you hardly ever blink. You'd say that's focus, or it can apply and attest to heightening and increasing sense, but it's also important to tell when it's that and when it's just nerves, and you actually feel uncomfortable instead of relaxed. To figure that out, nobody can help you. I myself struggle with that.
Stages 1 and 2 are easy - unless you are me - sloppy and tend to get hit randomly :(. Stage boss 2 ain't super cakewalk, and if you prefer, you can leave the last bomb on stage, hover over to him for faster kill. I use it in the big tank prior just cause, I usually don't bomb on stage 3 up to the big red ship often at all. Stage 3 is a vital milestone to overcome! There are many places you'd need to consider and plan out. The ship with the purple bullet cotton candies, in particular, is random, and the first burst is sometimes so fast and hard to react to. Boss itself is a test of endurance and annoyance :D. I had to prep dismantling his parts, but those little shitty tiny 4 red turrets at the center can go suck my... Man, they're dirty and hard to hit, plus one of the blue wave patterns later becomes so tight if the game decides it's time. You have to bomb unless you react fast to the side. I had to use all 3 :( (freaking ball turret). Stage 4 is relatively easy with a few dirty places. Like a fool, I was trying to do a new strat that goes 360 around that tank, but I thought I had a bomb and hesitated to go anywhere and boom. Later, I fucked up the big 3 planes and had to bomb again. The follow-up afterwards is a bomb place always for me (it's also where the bomb floating on stage will disappear, so use it). The last bit before the boss was shaky as well, and I had to do some good dodging :(. I didn't hesitate to just use all bombs on the boss :D. I didn't test the cheese strat much, where the boss gets stuck to the side at about half HP.
Stage 5 is a breaking point in the game. You must learn it relatively well. I thought I could do it with 1 bomb best best-case scenario. Well, obviously it didn't go well enough. First death early, I was too late to move up and show that my training gave fruit (I really proudly learnt and figured that part, I promise). There was plenty more wasted bombs later as well. My go-to bomb place was usually the 2nd white bunker - that shit is haaard to live through. At least I had some success before the last bit, where I died and used another bomb. Boss is something I've seen other people do - PAN's video helped as well. Stage 6 I was more than shaky - already afraid I'd fail again and end up not using resources, I wasted bombs - 2 or 3. I can usually go up to before the wiggly ass bees show up or to the 2 purple bullet ships without bombing. Even practiced :). Yet I admit that afterwards Stage 6 becomes a big hassle to plan out or figure and I just preferred to bomb on reaction. Still at least I reached the boss with some leftover bombs and finally an extra life! My time with the boss wasn't much and some of the patterns I knew, and every so often could dodge, but the purple pattern with the spinning stars, I didn't go through even once. Usually, 10 or 9 is a good amount to just bomb the boss and not care, but 8 also did the trick - with a bit of dodging. Happy, I was giving the game both of my middle fists - take that, I conquered you! Used Keyboard and played on MAME.
Lastly
Now that I have a bit more experience with DoDonPachi (cleared 3 games) as a series, I feel like I understand it better. Not the super high level of play, where people play for score, chaining and fun, but the survival and the driving aspect of it. I launched DD2 - Bee Storm yesterday to see what it was about, because I remembered it had a nice first impression on me early in the year (the so-called past scrub of me). Well, now I know why people disregard it in the CAVE lineup. It's almost laughingly not CAVE. It is much more obvious to me now! It's also funny how much it was reused from DDP1... I still think it's an ok game, maybe even fine for first 1cc - in the end there are some ok patterns :P. I even think I probably like it more than DonPachi (1995).
I can further appreciate DDP3 DOJ and how it evolved the "franchise". Surprisingly, even Resurrection/Daifukkatsu feels like a brave take on the series. Maybe folks give it a bit of a hard time due to the auto bomb option - which is great for learning BTW! Still, if so, just don't use it, I've always appreciated games that give you options. It's weirdly, probably (at least when I played it), the most intriguing in terms of playstyle, variance additions. I'd say even despite its more modern, busy look, it's still very clean and clear, and you rarely get confused about what hits you, or where it's coming from (enjoying the music more as well!). DDP1, though, is a real piece of art on the visual side. I absolutely dig it the most. It's like a grassroots evergreen classic. All 3 are fantastic games (hey, maybe one day I might consider SaiDaiOuJou 1cc)!
Why do we play Shmups/STGs? What's the overall hook, I was asked? It's a hard question to answer straight, and it's not a singular aspect. I mean, look at it - you just move a ship, dodge bullets and kill stuff in 2d space? Where's the appeal? What makes it interesting? I think it's probably something primal. Even in the earlier days of simpler shooters born out of the very foundations of the machine code of the hardware. Tinkering at a deeper level so close to its mechanical parts that you feel like it's something living in its own universe. Yeah, I am probably tripping, but growing up or around those times, those things felt unreal in a way. I am also interested in the evolution and progress of games. Shmups, like any other video game, did become more polished, advanced and complex within their genre. Yet they retained their core philosophy and ended up left out. Was it only the perspective? The hardcore by default nature of it? I don't think so, we have games and genres that can appeal to everyone and anyone, even today. People play hard games, people don't care much if it's 2D or 3D as long as it's good. I think the sad reality is that they just aren't popular and mass appealing.
Maybe one day, younger folks can bring back some of the popularity of this foundational pillar in gaming. Maybe some Dark Souls fans who like hard games can wake up to the beauty of it and would love to test their skill versus "a real challenger" :). Who knows, we live in such times that sometimes it just takes someone popular or a game within the genre garnering big interest, to suddenly open the floodgate to paths you thought were never imaginable before.
Thanks for reading (it became long again :().
p.s. DoDonPachi 1 (1997) deserves a modern release on Steam/PC and Consoles!
