Xbox 360: Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu 1.5 (November 2010)

[apple arcade]

That DOJ arrange mode in the DFK port looks fucking sick!

I may play that more than 1.5

[Elixir]

According to Asada, Daifukkatsu has been finalized so he's started working on other projects.

[Phellan Wolf]

According to Asada, Daifukkatsu has been finalized so he's started working on other projects.

Ibara, Esprade and Akai Katana ports

[Zeron]

According to Asada, Daifukkatsu has been finalized so he's started working on other projects.

Ibara, Esprade and Akai Katana ports

As much as we want to believe that, he is probably working on that adventure game they announced.

[Skykid]

That DOJ arrange mode in the DFK port looks fucking sick!

I'm going blind - could you post the link to the vid dude?

[apple arcade]

I would but cave-stg's version of elixir would throw a fit.

So instead just check the main DFK thread on his board.

[Elixir]

DFK is now up for preorder from most international sellers, so I'll add these to the original post:

Play-Asia - STANDARD EDITION (Located in Hong Kong, affiliate linked)
Play-Asia - LIMITED EDITION (Located in Hong Kong, affiliate linked)
Play-Asia - STANDARD EDITION (Located in Hong Kong)
Play-Asia - LIMITED EDITION (Located in Hong Kong)

HMV - STANDARD EDITION (Located in Japan)
HMV - LIMITED EDITION (Located in Japan)

Amiami - STANDARD EDITION (Located in Japan)
Amiami - LIMITED EDITION (Located in Japan)

[chempop]

Me three...

[PsychoGun]

Geezus, does every DDP game on the 360 have to get a cover that looks like it was a copy/paste job in MSFT Paint?

[lgb]

The only notable exception was DeathSmiles, but IIRC that was a collaboration?

The actual composition was pretty much Namiki, with Noriyuki Kamikura doing guitar... except for the ending theme which was done by a guy credited as Takayuki Hirose. Then you have the regular image track by Natsuko Naitou.

As for Deathsmiles II, it's somewhat the same situation. Some guys like Kudo and Kamikura did a track here and there, Natsuko Naitou did the ending theme, and then the rest is Namiki for the most part.

[Elixir]

Premium theme and what looks like a gamerpic of Ai, so they're probably planned. The theme is in the works at least.

[PsychoGun]

OMG, that theme kicks fucking ass!

I guess I need another points card.

[Shuurin]

Im tempted with that premium theme, but isn't the dashboard changing in few months?

[njiska]

Im tempted with that premium theme, but isn't the dashboard changing in few months?

These themes can be used in the new Dash

[StarCreator]

I'm not as concerned about themes being portable to the 3rd dash, since it's not as big a jump as the 1st to 2nd dash changeover was. Only real difference are the menus are strictly two-dimensional rather than coming toward you from the background.

[Elixir]

Second promotional video is up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGJL6CW1qhw

[Plasmo]

Nice joke on that last TLB attack

[chempop]

Thanks Elixer, great promo video. Was that the arrange soundtrack playing? I thought it was pretty good.
Also, one stupid question, DFK doesn't have typical power-ups does it? If that's the case, I wonder what made them decide on ditching them?

[Taylor]

If your shot and lasers got beefier as you progressed you actually shut off the interesting things you can do with the new laser and hyper mechanics. So, the power selection at the start of the game supersedes the traditional collectables.

[moozooh]

Powerup items are a largely obsolete concept. Some games (a good amount of Raizing stuff, Touhou series, etc.) made good use of them by actively incorporating them into scoring strategies. When all it does is preventing you from experiencing the full awesomeness of your shot for the first two stages then it doesn't really make sense to remain there.

[Taylor]

Have you been reading Gamasutra articles? Sometimes this happens.

Even the linear Power Ups that appear in most Cave games are straight up player progression, which is far from an obsolete concept. It’s fun and empowering to start off with a peashooter and arrive at a shot that covers the entire screen, you cannot appreciate just how "awesome" your weapon is if has only ever been at that level.

It also allows more creative stages and enemy composition. For example: Everyone notices when a challenging enemy from an earlier stage comes back in increased numbers, it shows how much the challenge has increased, but the victory is always attributed to their increased skill and not (in part) the increased firepower. I guess in that sense power ups are almost a staple the smoke and mirrors of shmup difficulty.

Though DoDonPachi and Daioujou actually do have more to their power up system because of how you power down when killed. It actually takes you quite a few collectibles to recover completely unless you play Exy.

[chempop]

I suppose that makes sense, but dying becomes less punished because you don't loose an upgrade or have to chase down collectables. From what I gather DFK is already easier to clear than DDP or DOJ.
I do like how you jump right in fully powered, I was mostly pointing it out and curious how people received this change.

Yes that Hibachi pattern at he end there sure is something.

[Taylor]

Boost mode actually lets you switch between an underpowered and stronger ship during play, and this feature gets a lot of use on score runs. I think this is evidence enough that having the same power up system present in the other DoDonPachi games would break things.

If you spam your way through Strong mode it's a pretty easy clear. But there are a lot of harder challenges when using the other power modes, playing for score, and/or going for the TFB.

[drunkninja24]

I've messed with the iPhone version a bit, but never really understood Power Mode. What is the switching used for (or more clearly, why would I want to use the less powerful mode?)?

[Thjodbjorn]

according the the description, you're supposed to move slower in powered-up mode. Of course, never having played the arcade game, I'm not 100%...

[Taylor]

You move slightly slower in Boost mode, but it’s not really much of a factor. As I have said above it's for the new laser and hyper mechanics.

With a smaller laser you will not push back lasers when you hit them, for instance during the stage 3 bosses last phase you can stick it on the vertical lasers to prevent filling the screen with rubbish by hitting the 'suicide bullet' lasers. It's also required for boss milking because it prevents you from damaging the boss. Conversely the fat laser is useful because it will fire smaller ones back (and in Black Label it’s the only way to push back the biggest lasers). This is more important during the loop where more enemies have 'suicide bullet' lasers.

In Hyper mode your main goal is to raise your hit counter because it serves as a multiplier, in many places in the game the best way to do this is switching to Normal and sandwiching yourself on the side of the screen because you avoid killing the enemies spawning the bullets. You also build hyper faster in Normal mode compared to Boost mode (I think).

[Last_Dancer]

No DDP-style Arcadestick from Hori this time?? Why?

[Estebang]

What are the odds of Aksys picking this up? It'd be a hard sell in the US if everyone knows there's already an iPhone version.

[drunkninja24]

What are the odds of Aksys picking this up? It'd be a hard sell in the US if everyone knows there's already an iPhone version.

If Aksys picks up another Cave title, it'd probably be this one. I don't see the fact that there's an iPhone version being a big deterrent (except perhaps with reviewers complaining about price or something) since a lot more people have 360s than iPhones.

[Estebang]

I'd figure Deathsmiles IIX would be the most likely, seeing as how it's in 3D, HD, and a sequel to a game they already released. Even if consensus puts it as a total disappointment and the port is shitty.