GD: DoDonPachi II - Bee Storm Regional Differences

[KyoKusagani1999]

Soooooooo.... One day, I was practicing with this Largely-Ignored entry
in the famous series, and considering the differences of the previous games
in the series, I decided to muck around with the Regional settings to see
what would happen, and while I was creating savestates... IT Happened
when I had it set to "WORLD".

The Type-C Ship CHANGED into a Type-B, and pressing it again would change it into
the Foward-Firing Type-A Ship! THIS Is something that I stumbled upon by complete accident...
But what this does... It Changes EVERYTHING.

You can't change your Shot type on the fly in the Japanese version of DDP2...
Once you pick a Type, you're stuck with it for the entire game.

I'm not sure if anyone else knows about this, But.. if the experts just learned
about this region-exclusive feature.. We're going to have to split the High-Score
tables between regions as this can open up an entire new level of strategy for racking
up combos! We can change to what we deem is the most appropriate type for the given
situation, thus, making your Type Selection a moot point. It'll only effect your Ship's PaintJob.

Either way, this made me VERY interested in this forgotten game.... I'm willing
to dig deeper into this mystery and put the pieces together, so if anyone
has any information, my tongue is sticking out, drooling for that juiciness!

[dunpeal2064]

Wait, so in the World region of DDPII, you can change your ship in the middle of a run? Using what button?

[trap15]

It's not region exclusive. Just hit Button 4, and it switches your shot type (sprite stays the same).

But yeah, this game owns and no one understands it

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The version that allows on the fly option switching with Start/Button 4 is the latest one. Playing the older/oldest version of DDPII that's been dumped does not allow switching, so it must have been an addition in one of the updates.. Note that if you're playing Energy type, it also switches your bomb to that particular ship's type (not that it seems to change how much damage it does). Switching options types doesn't physically change your ship or shot colors (if you change shot type, your changed shots will still be your normal colour). The one thing the shot type switch doesn't change is the shape of your main set of shots; the blue ship will always fire a pair of wide, wave type shots, etc.

I think switching shot types also changes your ship's movement speed, but I can't remember as it's been a while since I've seriously played it (damn TLB).

[KyoKusagani1999]

The version that allows on the fly option switching with Start/Button 4 is the latest one. Playing the older/oldest version of DDPII that's been dumped does not allow switching, so it must have been an addition in one of the updates.. Note that if you're playing Energy type, it also switches your bomb to that particular ship's type (not that it seems to change how much damage it does). Switching options types doesn't physically change your ship or shot colors (if you change shot type, your changed shots will still be your normal colour). The one thing the shot type switch doesn't change is the shape of your main set of shots; the blue ship will always fire a pair of wide, wave type shots, etc.

I think switching shot types also changes your ship's movement speed, but I can't remember as it's been a while since I've seriously played it (damn TLB).

AHA. That was it. I was using VER.102 when I switched my type, and when I couldn't switch, it was VER.101 instead..
Thanks for the clarification, BareknuckleRoo!

[ookitarepanda]

Bump to ask for info:

I have the actual Bee Storm cart, so talk of "versions" in MAME doesn't really apply. Were there different revisions of the carts then? How would I get such a spiffy feature on my game?

[trap15]

Burn a new program EPROM and replace the one in your cart.

[kuze]

Sorry to bump this thread, but can a Hong Kong v100 cart be updated to Japan v102 by simply burning a new program rom? I'm not sure if the ARM protection ASIC differs between regions and the only v102 rom I'm seeing online is Japan region.

Edit: Maybe the ROM is region independent and can be used to upgrade all carts & the region is read from the ASIC?

[trap15]

You are correct. The region is in the ASIC, the program is the same.

[kuze]

Thanks for the reply! Are you aware of any differences between the regions other than region/title screens (assuming same ROM version)?

[trap15]

I don't, sorry. I imagine there isn't any difference, but I could be wrong.

[Pasky]

Just wanted to to point out, you don't have to use button 4, the start button will also switch shot type on v1.02.