DoDonPachi Resurrection Reignite Announced

[Jotamide]

Well, came across some potentially interesting Cave news today, almost by accident, on Bsky.

I believe this is a post from a fellow forum user, Van_Artic (if I'm wrong, I apologise):
https://bsky.app/profile/vanartic.bsky. ... fa3eufes2k

He linked to this piece of news:
https://gamebiz.jp/news/424266

Translated:
https://gamebiz-jp.translate.goog/news/ ... r_pto=wapp

«CAVE has raised approximately 95 million yen through a third-party allocation of new shares to its Chairman of the Board, Natsuko Yoshinari. The funds will be used for the development of consumer games.

On April 13, CAVE (3760) announced that it would issue 145,000 new shares through a third-party allocation to its Chairperson, Natsuko Yoshinari, and raise approximately 95 million yen.

The company focuses on its gaming business and is working to strengthen the revenue base of existing titles and promote new growth strategies. Currently, the smartphone app game market is experiencing intensified competition, soaring development budgets, and lengthening development periods, which has led the company to consider consumer games in the global market as a potential target.

Under these circumstances, Ms. Natsuko Yoshinari, the company's Chairperson and largest shareholder, offered to contribute her own funds to support the company's medium- to long-term growth, and we determined that implementing a capital increase would contribute to enhancing the company's corporate value.

The funds raised through this capital increase will be used for the development of consumer games. Leveraging the game development know-how and IP utilization capabilities that the company has cultivated through the development and operation of mobile games, it aims to create new revenue opportunities by developing consumer games for the global market.

While the dilution rate from the issuance of new shares will be 2.16%, the company believes that the increase in capital will enhance its corporate value, thereby providing existing shareholders with benefits that outweigh the disadvantages of dilution.

Furthermore, the company states that the issuance of new shares will not have any impact on Cave's financial results for the fiscal year ending May 2026.»

-----

This seems to indicate that they are serious in developing new non-mobile games, and DoDonPachi Resurrection Reignite is just the first stepping stone in their plan.
Cautiously optimistic.

Another english article: https://automaton-media.com/en/news/lar ... velopment/

[Sima Tuna]

I think people who know what CAVE is will pay $30 for another CAVE game, arrange, remake, whatever you want to call it.

The real issue is there just aren't enough people in the world who know what CAVE is or why anyone should care about them. I'm pretty sure CAVE predate zoomers, so it's really just Gen X and Millennials, maybe some Boomers who frequented arcades, who would buy their games.

Not that zoomers don't play shmups but you know, they're probably playing what is available and what gets released nowadays. Stuff like Touhou or maybe even modern shmup-roguelike indies.

Outside of emulation or word of mouth, I don't see how anyone younger is supposed to have been exposed to CAVE at all. That's what not putting out a game in so long results in.

So I'm pessimistic about the ability of CAVE to get enough money from a new version of DFK for it to be worth their time. Now, if it was a new version of Futari, then maybe... Mushihimesama is probably one of their most recognizable and popular IPs. Plus Futari something that has never been ported to PC.

If I were going to give a suggestion to CAVE for a new game, maybe they should collab with the Touhou license to make something, and exploit both groups simultaneously. Or maybe they should just make some "BULLET HEAVEN" survivors slop instead. Really cater to the younger gens.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

----------
It was the Atlus USA arcade subsidy whom sold & distributed the USA region jamma conversion pcb kits of Donpachi back in 1995 (complete with a full-sized marquee that was back-lit illuminated) -- so it does have instant brand name recognition amongst the "Gen X" crowd indeed.

I'm not sure why Atlus USA didn't sell nor distribute the "International Version" of DoDonpachi conversion pcb kits stateside despite it being displayed with "all-English text" back in 1997-1998. Perhaps Cave could shed some background info as to why it wasn't sold/distributed in the USA during that particular point in time.
----------

Sure, my local arcade hangout called "The Electric Underground" had an upright Dynamo cab stocked with Donpachi back in 1995 -- it was priced at four nickels per credit (as all arcade games & pinball games took nickels to "credit them up"). Even an upright Dynamo cab of Psikyo's "Strikers 1945" (that was sold/distibuted by Jaleco USA arcade subsidy in the USA) was on the arcade floor and priced at a cheap-ass two nickels per credit back in 1995 as well -- how cool was that?

Fast forward to September of 1995, when the Seibu Kaihatsu SPI game of Viper Phase 1 U.S.A. made it's grand debut on the arcade game floor housed in a "Low Boy" upright cab that was half the size of a traditional Dynamo cab but still sported a full-sized 20" Wells-Gardener arcade CRT monitor setup rotated in tate -- it was quite a popular arcade stg title from September of 1995 through May of 1998 (when the arcade lost it's business lease).

----------
Apparently, the owner of the "The Electric Underground" arcade was cool about stocking his arcade with some notable arcade stg titles including:

Atlus/Cave's Donpachi circa 1995 (the USA region Donpachi jamma pcb conversion kit included a full-sized arcade marquee for completeness)

Jaleco USA/Psikyo Strikers 1945 circa 1995 (Jaleco USA did sell/distribute the Psikyo Gunbird jamma pcb kit with USA eproms dated "May of 1995 Ver." during it's May of 1995 debut in the USA that even came with a full-sized non-backlit arcade marquee as well for completeness)

Toaplan's Outzone

Fabtek/Seibu Kaihatsu Raiden II circa 1993 (I first saw it back in February of 1994)

Fabtek/Seibu Kaihatsu SPI Viper Phase 1 U.S.A. circa September of 1995 (actual debut month in the USA)

Fabtek/Seibu Kaihatsu SPI Raiden Fighters circa 1996

Dooyong's R-Shark (South Korean based Dooyong's final "swan-song" arcade stg title release)

Neo-Geo MVS Yumekobo's Blazing Star circa February of 1998 (actual debut month in both Japan and the USA)
----------

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[DrTrouserPlank]

I think this might be the biggest bit of Shmup news since cave got out of the arcade game and moved on to making shitty mobile games. It may actually be the most important announcement in the world today... possibly ever.

What remains of CAVE's team though and who has arranged this?

is this getting a sweet overpriced console release?

Are CAVE going to finally trot out some of their great games, that are rotting on aging hardware, like a bunch of cheap little whores for a new generation to enjoy on more modern consoles?

I guess whatever the answers to those questions, any signs of life from the long presumed dead corpse of CAVE is good news since they are responsible for many of the greatest Shumps in existence.

[Faith]

Not that zoomers don't play shmups but you know, they're probably playing what is available and what gets released nowadays. Stuff like Touhou or maybe even modern shmup-roguelike indies.

Outside of emulation or word of mouth, I don't see how anyone younger is supposed to have been exposed to CAVE at all. That's what not putting out a game in so long results in.

Some STG groups I follow on Steam... past 2 years... grow by about 50% >.<!~ Think there is definitely a big renewed interest in STG... not just by players who had played them for 10 years or longer... but even new players much younger! Even on YouTube, see a lot more STG content these days... even from non-STG gaming channels o_o"... also, some other steam groups, like "Challenge Enthusiast" which cover many other kind of games like rhythm and pattern games... many players who play those also eventually will come across STG!~

And Cave definitely has some pull, especially with games like Mushi on Steam... just because of how well it sold, so many players leave reviews, have it on their Steam profile, so on.

[1000Eyes]

Not direct news, but apparently Ikeda left CAVE? At least going by this Mihara tweet.

[Ms. Tea]

GSK says this sounds like it was pretty sudden, so not a planned retirement: https://bsky.app/profile/allcityslopsho ... r5pb73kklm

[Slinky]

A demo has been listed on Steam. Looks like it might be going live tomorrow according to this post on X.

https://x.com/denfaminicogame/status/20 ... 4209059031

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yes, DoDonpachi Resurrection Reignite is slated for release on 6/09/2026 on Steam (at 2:00 JST I assume): https://store.steampowered.com/app/4517 ... _Reignite/

From watching the opening FMV intro, it appears to be a slightly re-skinned version of the classic DoDonpachi Dai-Fukkatsu game but with some newfangled additions to it -- those new additions include new stages, a new character and new BG music. Whatever new gameplay and new game mechanics added to the already well-established "true 'n' tried" DDP-DFK formula with DDP-RR, Cave's sure that it'll do well upon it's full release whenever that may be in upcoming 2026, we'll shall see. This new DDP-RR demo will give the DDP-DFK player a sample taste of what to expect with it's highly anticipated demo release dropping tomorrow.

Of course, it'll have support for the classical gamepads, arcade sticks and lastly, keyboard support for the die-hard gaming keyboard enthusiasts (although for the hard-core arcade gamer, the ol' standby of using a Japanese-spec arcade stick with Seimitsu parts is considered the "gold standard" when playing stgs nowadays -- you just don't see a keyboard being hooked up to play the Cave CV-1000 based DDP-DFK Ver 1.5 jamma pcbs nor on DDP-DFK Black Label jamma pcbs either on the candy cabs, especially at the Japanese game centers).

----------
Cave could go "all-out" and release a brand new DDP-RR pcb or even perhaps as a dedicated Exa-Arcadia release just to garner more interest/hype into it at the game centers would be quite an ambitious project unto itself indeed. Or even perhaps release an upgrade/conversion with a stock Cave CV-1000 jamma pcb of DDP-DFK Ver 1.5 to a DDP-RR pcb could work wonders with the old-school DDP-DFK pcb players/owners -- something that Cave should seriously consider doing if they want to return to the arcade gaming scene in 2026 that they last revisited back in 2012 with it's swan-song DDP-SDOJ jamma pcb release.
----------

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Slinky]

Yes, DoDonpachi Resurrection Reignite is slated for release on 6/09/2026 on Steam (at 2:00 JST I assume)

No mate, just the demo which went live an hour ago. There is no release date yet.

[KAI]

So, the demo is just the first 2 stages from DFK 1.5, they added an Assist Play option during ship select, and there's new music, voices and illustrations only in the main menu.

Spoiler

At least that new character is keeping the copium alive.

GSK says this sounds like it was pretty sudden, so not a planned retirement: https://bsky.app/profile/allcityslopsho ... r5pb73kklm

I wanted to listen to that new music ingame so bad, now that im 99% sure Ryu☆ is doing it, but the demo still reuses the original soundtrack,

[NeoStrayCat]

Yeah, quick impressions with the demo...

-The first two stages (obviously), but it feels they go by quick, lol.
-Assist Play automatically shoots your main fire, but you can press/hold the laser shot, use the bomb [bomb style]/power up [strong style] and hyper at any time, and it also slows down bullets in front of you.
-Tried triggering the Ura route in the 1st stage plenty of times (to no success so far), others said they have gotten it (unless otherwise noted), or it might be just disabled in the demo completely.

But yeah, so far, it just seems to be the same DDP Res. from the previous ports. Not sure whatever else changed.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Steam port of DDP-RR demo is a 1.6gb d/l + 735.80mb update is needed to get it to boot-up/run as usual.

So DDP-RR's just re-using recycled DDP-DFK assets then -- not much worth getting hyped up about it then.

It's no dice booting up DDP-RR on the Steam Deck -- it just goes to a solid black screen with nothing more.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Jonpachi]

This crew seems pretty sad to be in this new version:

[DietSoap]

Grim stuff.

[mrsmr2]

I think it plays slightly smoother in and out of slowdown with the denser bullet patterns - but hard to really test with the 2 levels.

And, as an analogue stick user (don't judge), it's a pain to find pressing up on the left stick triggers the bomb. So hypers only for me as all the bombs are used up early with each new life.

[AGermanArtist]

Would've been nice if the demo let you sample some of the new additions.

[Necronom]

Would've been nice if the demo let you sample some of the new additions.

Absolutely. Tried the demo, got bored and remembered why I'm looking forward to the Muchimuchi PinkSweets combo so much. The new artwork is so bland.

[slateman]

Disappointing. I didn't expect much, but the demo is just a reskin. There will be another mode: that would represent the promised new stages and new character. But what we have here isn't going to sell most of us:

* New OST which, so far, feels inferior. Something new though.
* Same exact menus/options. So, no new gadgets or windows, etc.
* Assist mode is just weird. I get the auto shot, and even auto hyper, but the bullets slowing is jarring.
* New artwork feels off.
* The game boots faster than DFK proper

Had some weird bug where C ship kept bombing for no reason.

No part of what we previewed shows any real reason to be excited. Only the assist mode is different. For vets or owners, this is the exact game we already have. A very curious decision to offer a demo that doesn't highlight much. How many people are on the DFK fence in 2026?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

This Steam port of DDP-RR demo does support tate but only from within the DDP-RR "in-game" main screen and listed under the "General Screen" settings with Zoom set to 150%. Upon exiting out of the DDP-RR "in-game" screen setting if still in tate mode, horrible tate graphical glitching occurs "big time" on the DDP-RR main screen. You'd think that Cave would've caught this serious tate issue before releasing it out in the wilds for general mass consumption today -- it is what it is.

----------
Cave needs to release another patch quickly to address the glitchy tate main screen issues indeed. All is not well with this newfangled Steam DDP-RR demo as it is.
----------

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Firehawke]

Analogue controls seem to trigger bombs at random. This release is a complete mess.

It's very rare that a demo release gets a whole lot of patching before release, so this has gone onto my "wait and watch from a distance until either a new drop drops (unlikely) or the full version comes out and gets vetted by someone I can trust" list because it is insanely buggy.

[AGermanArtist]

I got that also.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yep, Cave has some serious issues to contend with it's DDP-RR demo:

1.) Fix the random bombing issues if using the "Type-C" fightercraft with an "analog stick" based gaming controller like the Hori Xbox Series S/X based Octa Commander controller listed here: https://www.amazon.com/HORI-Fighting-Co ... 653&sr=8-1

2.) Fix the horrendous tate glitching issues if tate mode is enabled from within the "in-game" screen and exited back out to the main DDP-RR screen prompts (whilst still in tate mode).

3.) Make sure that the DDP-RR demo has support for the Steam Deck (without the need to use a Proton auto-booter utility app necessary to get it to boot-up/run) and listed as officially "Steam Deck Verified" as it'd be nice to play it "on the go" with the upcoming eventual "full release" of DDP-RR. Just to have only dedicated PC support to play the DDP-RR demo as it is and not have Steam deck compatibility from the "get-go" is just plain wrong.

----------
Fix the above three obviously glaring issues and Cave will, indeed, have a smoother running demo of DDP-RR as it should've been released as originally intended "with warts and all."

As it is, Cave's runs the risk having to currently mitigate it's already blatant "damage control" issues with it's newfangled embarrassing DDP-RR demo release and "save face" over it. So be it.
----------

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Firehawke]

It's not just type-C. Moving the analogue stick would cause random button inputs on menus and in-game with the other fighters too.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Doesn't Cave have a small team of "in-house" Quality Assurance "beta testers" to make sure that their game demos/releases are at the very least, mostly "bug free?"

It seems that this Steam port of DDP-RR is already "half-assed" as it is -- the "old" Cave crew wouldn't stoop this low with their past stg releases being buggy and all (that type of "low-balling" just wouldn't cut it back in the day, especially with their "flagship" stg series being the famous Donpachi/DoDonpachi series).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[tzm_rade]

Probably a good indication of the quality going forward with their re-releases. Let's hope they turn it around and really offer something worth paying for again.

[Jonpachi]

They are likely their own QA. Even large studios often have barebones QA support, and there’s no way they have FT in-house staff. This seems like one or two devs just checking their own work and missing tons of edge cases.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Eureka!

I finally got the Cave DDP-RR demo (initial 1.6gb d/l + 730.80mb update applied afterwards -- it hasn't been mentioned what the DDP-RR demo update entails though) to run on a 1st-gen LCD Steam Deck setup with Verified "Steam Deck" support and without the need to use a Proton booter is necessary nor needed whatsoever. It was just a matter of selecting "Native" screen resolution on the Steam Deck itself from within the Settings screen before launching the DDP-RR demo. Just a little bit of "trial 'n' error" with Steam Deck settings and presto, it's up & running! Easy as pie.

It runs at the obligatory 60fps arcade-spec framerate as usual with the Steam Deck's native 1280 x 800 resolution screen setup. Just have to change in the "in-game" screen settings to "113% Zoom" and it's all "good in da hood" to play DDP-RR in yoko format. Sure, you can play it in tate but with the "in-game" screen settings at 150% Zoom for best results.

----------
I'm sure that Cave wanted keep the fact that the DDP-RR demo does run on a Steam Deck setup a "dirty lil' secret" and waited until today to release it. Better later than never, right folks?
----------

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Faith]

Can anyone confirm in demo if there is way to turn off the fk ugly blur blur BLURRRRR filter??? The screenshots on Steam page look HORRIBLE!~

For reference, here is screenshot I just took of game running on Xenia:

Look at how beautiful & sharp it is!

[Ms. Tea]

You can turn the blur filter off. There's a "smoothing" setting in the screen settings menu.