Dodonpachi series questions

[corbie]

I'm a big fan of the original Don Pachi and Dodonpachi shooters and wanted to get a little input regarding Dodonpachi Daioujou and Daifukkatsu. I already own the first two games, but I'm thinking of purchasing one of the later two for my Egret II cabinet soon and wanted to know what those who own them think.

Of the DOJ and DFK, which one do you guys prefer. Do they both play similarly to the original two games as far as firing and powerups go? Also how is the difficulty on those two games. I like the difficulty of DDP so anything close to that should be perfect for me. Thanks for the input.

[BulletMagnet]

I like the difficulty of DDP so anything close to that should be perfect for me.

DOJ is definitely harder.

I haven't played DFK, but I'd offhand assume it to be the best option to buy the PCB for, as DOJ has been ported to both the PS2 and 360, and can be had for cheaper there (so far no sign of a DFK port, though it's still a bit early). Others will have to give you more in-depth stuff, as I've only played one of the two games.

[Midnight Milkshake]

I've only played Daifukkatsu one time, and found it VERY easy compared with Daioujou, reached third level without any problems, but had to kill myself because my girlfriend was waiting. My first play with Daioujou was "Um, it's not as hard a people say" first boss "ok, looks harder than Dodonpachi" second stage "......this is getting harder" second boss "time to get serious" third stage "ok, I'll never beat this game" . About gameplay, yes they play similar, but in DOJ, you have the hyper mode. The hyper mode consist, basically in a boost to the power of your ship, at the right side of the chain counter you have a bar that fills with the chain, when you reach the top, an item appears, and you can activate it with the bomb button. You can get up to five, and when you release the hyper, all the ones that you keep are activated, a side effect is that, every time you use the hyper, the game gets harder. Can't tell much about Daifukkatsu, I think that when you use the hyper you can destroy bullets, but I'm not too sure.

Edit: I'm not an expert, but hope it helps

[lgb]

Ignore this if you want, I'm not an expert here. I guess I'll say DFK here, and here's why:

From what I hear, DFK seems to be a bit less of a challenge from the get-go (seems to still be pretty hard past the first loop), but somehow also more hands-on; there just seems to be more to do and more to mess with than DOJ would provide. Heck, there's even a "special loop" like Ketsui. The green heli is gone in DOJ, but that's not entirely relevant.

Technically speaking, there's a port of DOJ coming up. I suppose you could buy that as an (temporary?) alternative, or see if the port will lower the price of the PCB (I don't know about PCB prices either, but it seems to make sense to me).

T/s-ing further, there is that DOJ "Black Label", which is supposed to be a seperate product from the original. I suppose you could get that if you do decide to opt for DOJ.

edit: I have a thing about this... it's supposed to be "Donpachi series", not "Dodonpachi series". Sorry. (Not really)

[Taylor]

If I’m really honest Daifukkatsu plays more like Mushihime-sama Futari to me. This includes the pace, patterns, liberal slowdown and more relaxed score and hyper systems. I certainly think it’s Cave’s best game, but I would definitely say Daioujou plays more like a DoDonPachi game... Eek, I can already feel the quotes closing in on this paragraph.

As for the differences:
Both games add a Hyper system though how you get Hyper Juice and what the Hyper does is rather different. In both cases it powers you up temporarily, angers enemies and increases your score. DFK also has enemies with lasers that you can push back with your own, leading to some cool shot swapping sections. A bit like Ikaruga, I guess, only just for stage 5 and a boss I'll never reach. DOJ powerups are the same as DDP, and DFK doesn't have any powerups.

DOJ scoring is very anal and will delight in ending your score potential at the earliest possible convenience. DFK has more intricacies to how scoring works but adds situational combo slack and seems to have less memorisation on the stages. If you really want to score well you can't rely on the slack, though. 7,000hit+ and full hyper is (as I understand it) the optimum state to be in, and you won't retain your combo if you drop it with a Hyper ready or active.

DFK is easier if you’re playing on the auto-bomb modes, but I would say it's much harder in Power Mode. Then there's the Ura loop and Hibachi. Yeah.

As other posters have mentioned, I think what you should really take from this is they are both excellent games and DOJ is available on two much cheaper console ports...

[Momijitsuki]

From what I've seen, Daifukkatsu looks a lot easier than DOJ. I have DOJ for PS2 and it's probably the hardest shmup I've ever played. I'll beat Mushihimesama and ESPGaluda before I beat that. Well, I take that back. I'll never beat DOJ xD

[PC Engine Fan X!]

If you can get an DDP-DOJ PCB, get one with a cool blue colored metallic case + it has the cool cooling fan feature as well.

In size comparison of both DDP-DOJ and DDP-DFK PCBs, you'll be amazed at how small the DDP-DFK PCB is compared to the DDP-DOJ PCB. ^_~

I've just only got the first three Donpachi PCBs including DDP-DOJ with the cool & stylish metal casing + cooling fan. You can, also, grace a barebones Ketsui or ESPgaluda PCB with aforemention DDP-DOJ metal case for extra coolness factor...fits silky smooth like a glove. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[PROMETHEUS]

I think you will have a lot more fun with DFK unless you're ready for memorization hell and already have high skills.

DOJ is very hard, not unly to survive but also to score. The scoring doesn't get fun until you have precisely memorized the chaining paths, and even then it won't be fun if you're not accurate enough to get them done. Also, getting them memorized isn't easy as you have to figure out how to deal with many details so that your path isn't too hard to do without dying and that it does chain consistently. On a PCB, it is HELL without save states / level select to practice.

DFK is a lot more enjoyable as a beginner because it's much easier to chain, the scoring gets fun much quicker (after a lil bit of memorization, but much less than DOJ), and it looks and sounds much better. The only thing I find disappointing about it compared to the other DDPs is that the focus isn't so much on the dodging in the first loop.

Anyway, I think you'd be way better off with Futari for other reasons. But if you want a DDP and you have the money, get DFK. You will have a LOT more fun. I would.

[freddiebamboo]

On a PCB, it is HELL without save states / level select to practice.

I recently started playing this again and just thinking about DOJ with no practice mode is enough to give me the dry heaves.

Get DFK and buy DOJ on the PS2.

[corbie]

edit: I have a thing about this... it's supposed to be "Donpachi series", not "Dodonpachi series". Sorry. (Not really)

Ahhhhh so you're one of those "purists" as people call them. Well then I'm sorry for calling it the "Dodonpachi Series". (Not really)

And thanks for all the replies. I think I'm leaning towards DFK.

[John845]

DFK is prettier, easier, and by the looks of it, more fun than DOJ. Not to say DOJ isn't fun, but DFK looks damn awesome.

[moozooh]

Be sure to nab the PS2 version of DOJ if you have the console. This port of DOJ is very cool for having the Death Label mode: an awesome boss rush that is made of pure fun (once you get past the gritted teeth). The arcade mode is perfectly ported, and you're also getting two superplays (types A-E and B-E) along with the disc. All things considered, it's close to the best shmup purchase that can happen with ~$70.

[jpj]

DOJ is a man's game

[slateman]

So many opinions from people not having played DFK!

I'm one of 'em, but I can say that I LOVED DDP, 'twas my fave. Then DOJ came, kicked my ass, and it's been my fave ever since. Hard as hell, but deep. Took me years to chain the first stage, and that was one of the most gratifying moments in my gaming career. DFK seems more accessible. So it boils down to what you want. DDP purist? Hardcore strategy, memorization, GRATIFICATION?! (DOJ) or...fun, challenge, purdy, etc. (DFK)

Either way sounds like Win to me! Tho I do have DOJ for the PS2 and it seems like a good port, so maybe DFK + PS2 DOJ! Oh how badly I want to play DFK.

[brumma]

There's a very good review of DDPDFK here: DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu Review