http://homepage3.nifty.com/FNG/htm/fm.htm
Certainly not with a giant robot parody, you would think.
However, I must say Dotechin (or Flying Nice Guy, as it seems the english name is.) is extremely unique in it's approach of the genre. Rather than spew bullets, it spews enemies. And not just a few, guite literally thousands. The score counter is based upon how many you destroy, and it can rise at an extremely fast rate during levels and boss battles.
Overall, I have to say this game captures the spirit of what pure adrenaline is about. The enemy patterns are usually some of the most complexly laid out patterns I've seen for enemies. If these were bullets you'd probably be having a spasm at the obsene ammount and how they can come from anywhere. Even your own allies are fair game, and may very well ram you too.
Thankfully, your Flying Nice Guy is equiped to handle this, if not in spades. You have 360 fire at all times, several different powerups, bombs that charge from destroying many enemies, and several weapons that can become part of your permanent arsenal. Coupled with the ability to boost and call out reinforcements, and you have one of the most powerful shooter ships in the history of the genre.
Now if only he didn't have to worry about that one stray coming in and smacking him.
One of the more major points of the game, and part of scoring technique for it, is pressing and holding the boost button. unlike most games where you are set at a scrolling speed at all times or it's specifically scripted, Dotechin allows you the ability to 'speed things up' in the levels. while how long a level takes to complete remains the same, the interesting point comes from how all patterns are sped up incredibly fast, and things moving forward move faster, and things from behind are as expected, trying to catch up. bosses for the most part aren't affected by this, which is a very good thing. If they were the game would become less fun doring boss encounters.
Speaking of bosses, I think they are actually one of the few things with a standard affair attachment to them. Most however are content with taking chase after you as well as spewing destructibles in every way imaginable. Some bosses are as small as your character, and one boss is even an entire stage that makes up a huge flying battleship. They can be incredibly varied for what would seem rather simple.
What exactly is important as for as this game and it's levels and progression though? The fact you have to really play this right in order to get higher scores and thusly, unlock seperate paths with much higher destroy racking possibilities. If you can end stage 1 with atleast 7000 destroys, you get Stage 2B, which is another city based level, but set at night and far far denser patterns than 2A in the clouds. There also stages that add to the length of the game that can be unlocked, such as stage 3.5 which tells how exactly you get to stage 4. (I think the destroy lock is minimum of 30k, not sure if it's slightly lower though.) I can't really say much about other unlocks because I can't get past stage 4 without continuing after getting demolished.
Now, this game would be painful if it had lives or, god forbid, level restart. It makes up for this by giving you a specific ammount of times you can be hit. This CAN be extended, however as I've seen it's only in destroy unlock levels or levels much later on in the game. In these cases you get addons to your FNG where, if you manage to not get hit until that point, or in my case try to start from that level, you get hit extentions that go beyond what your hit counter shows. It should be noted that being hit, rather than being punished, is actually considered forgivable by the game, and the lower your health gets, the more you are allowed to fire. By the time you have no hits left, you'll be firing all the different collectable weapons at the same time with your FNG having red eyes, as though your FNG went berserk.
Now, I admit I can't beat this game yet. I've put many hours into it, and I am still learning new tricks to maximize score and staying alive longer. It's frustrated me as there's alot of ways to die from not guaging where exactly your shots are firing, and how to make sure enemies are going towards your point of condenced fire. I have honestly been driven mad at points because it sometimes makes no sense.
And I love every minute of it.
The tone of the game is extremely lighthearted, and often I find the graphical style hilarious for how exaggerated and bizarre it can be. The music and it's "SUPER HEROIC GUY TO THE RESCUE" tone just adds to the whole style, making it seem like this one lone super-mass produced killing machine really can save the day, and save itself from everyone else trying to save the day. Though I must admit, there are plenty of the gundam-ish points, being that the level progression and boss encounters do have a somewhat interesting tie-in with the original Gundam. This is especially true when you reach stage 5, where you are pit against three superpowered fake FNGs ala the black tristar. or the oddly white base inspired raft in the background of Stage 6A. I could even say 6A's boss reminds me alot of the ZeonG in how it splits up to attack you.
The overall fact you are basically having fun just blowing things up is incredibly satisfying. Explosions everywhere, filling the speakers with blast noises and other crazy things, and the little jingles that make up the HUD noises create a sensation of giddyness. The game must have taken a good while to finish because the formula here is extremely balanced, making it perfectly playable despite how daunting it seems at first.
I think I've honestly droned on enough, it's obvious I like the game, so maybe you could give it a shot. hell posting a score or two wouldn't hurt. I'd like to see someone better tackle this behemoth.
