A question about CAVE and Dodonpachi (xbox 360)

[Crazy Climber]

Hey guys!
Have a quick question about Dodonpachi for the xbox 360. There are so many versions it makes my head spin, lol. I know CAVE can be a bit of a "recycler" at times. Is there a link or can someone possibly explain what the differences are between them? I own both a Japan and US system now so I can play them all...just wondering if I "need" them all if you know what I mean Just don't want to buy the EXACT same game twice so hoping they have some differences that make it worth the purchase (besides a different cover art), those imports add up $$$, lol
Thanks!
- Brian

[guigui]

Basically, on the Xbox360, none of the "Pachi" games are the same.

Little exception : (DDP daifukkatsu) and (DDP daifukkatsu Black Label) have quite the same stages, ships, but totally different gameplay.

They are worth getting them all in my unsurprizing opinion.

[Kollision]

guigui is right!

1. DoDonPachi Dai-ou-jou Black Label Extra
2. DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu
3. DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu Black Label
4. DoDonPachi Sai-Dai-ou-jou (to be released on the 30th of May)

[AntiFritz]

Their are two dodonpachi games currently on xbox, dodonpachi daifukkatsu and dodonpachi daioujou. Daifukkatsu is available worldwide (english title "dodonpachi resurrection"), while daioujou is not.

Dodonpachi saidaioujou is being released in may too, no word on a western release.

[O. Van Bruce]

you basically need 2 discs:

- for DoDonPachi DaiOuJou: the Black Label EX version (With a BoxArt of Shotia holding Piper).

- For DaiFukkatsu: Afaik, all the modes released of this game (including KetsuiPachi) are on the Japanese Black Label version. The boxart is A.I. looking back and the style and letters have an strong Ketsui vibe.

Both discs/versions are NTSC-J

[Herr Schatten]

Little exception : (DDP daifukkatsu) and (DDP daifukkatsu Black Label) have quite the same stages, ships, but totally different gameplay.

This might be as good a place to ask this as any other DDP-themed thread: Is the Black Label version worth getting, if I'm not exactly a big fan of the regular one? Opinions, please.

[KAI]

I thought Black Label included BL and Ketsuipachi, not the vanilla version. Tha's why they released the double pack.

[Skykid]

Little exception : (DDP daifukkatsu) and (DDP daifukkatsu Black Label) have quite the same stages, ships, but totally different gameplay.

This might be as good a place to ask this as any other DDP-themed thread: Is the Black Label version worth getting, if I'm not exactly a big fan of the regular one? Opinions, please.

Yes definitely. It plays a totally different game and many who didn't like vanilla dfk greatly prefer it. Soundtrack is exceptional too.

[Crazy Climber]

Awesome guys! I have a better understanding of the series now. The only versions I have currently played are the arcade boards (Donpachi and DoDonpachi) so the Xbox titles kind of confused me a bit.
Now what to get first....

Oh, as long as I have the topic going, do you guys have anywhere you recommend pre ordering the new one (Dodonpachi saidaioujou) Now that I can play imports I would like to try and support the new stuff coming out I have never bought any new imports, just classic stuff, is there a "shmups.com approved" vender out there?

[O. Van Bruce]

Rancor incoming in 3... 2...1...

and yeah KAI is right.

[guigui]

Awesome guys! I have a better understanding of the series now. The only versions I have currently played are the arcade boards (Donpachi and DoDonpachi) so the Xbox titles kind of confused me a bit.
Now what to get first....

Oh, as long as I have the topic going, do you guys have anywhere you recommend pre ordering the new one (Dodonpachi saidaioujou) Now that I can play imports I would like to try and support the new stuff coming out I have never bought any new imports, just classic stuff, is there a "shmups.com approved" vender out there?

I support what has been said : get daioujou. Also get daifukkatsu double pack, it covers everything you need for daifukkatsu.

As for vender, playasia is still cheap enough and reliable. You might pay taxes, especially if you choose tracked order.

Edit : was there before Rancor

[rancor]

Rancor incoming in 3... 2...1...

Edit : was there before Rancor

Why? I have nothing to add. Seems that everyone has provided good information...

[O. Van Bruce]

Oh yeah, and if you really want you can buy Instant Brain: A VN developed by Cave which included Dodonpachi as one of the unlockables. You can even play it using Kinect

[moh]

Rancor incoming in 3... 2...1...

yeah, I dont get this either.

[brentsg]

Perhaps the thought was that rancor could obtain the mentioned games.

[Crazy Climber]

Rancor incoming in 3... 2...1...

Edit : was there before Rancor

Why? I have nothing to add. Seems that everyone has provided good information...

Rancor incoming in 3... 2...1...

yeah, I dont get this either.

Perhaps the thought was that rancor could obtain the mentioned games.

Hey Guys! Looking at Rancors for sale topic (looks like he is the tokyo shmups guy) I think he was talking about this question I had...

Oh, as long as I have the topic going, do you guys have anywhere you recommend pre ordering the new one (Dodonpachi saidaioujou) Now that I can play imports I would like to try and support the new stuff coming out I have never bought any new imports, just classic stuff, is there a "shmups.com approved" vender out there?

Good to know you (Rancor) are highly recommended here. I am familier with your website and have pondered ordering a few things but always get a little nervous with places I have never heard of (found it randomly doing an online search for superplay dvd's) I no longer need the dvd's thanks to the cave set coming out soon (looks like thats the best way to go for those) but will be ordering that awesome Deathsmiles artbook soon I take it you do preorders for new stuff as well?

[Special World]

My advice would be to get DFK 1.5 last. I'm sure people ITT will disagree with me, but it just feels really crappy by Cave standards. It's a bad Dodonpachi and a bad Cave game, imo. DFK Black Label is pretty cool, but DOJ is the best Dodonpachi currently on 360 imo. Hopefully that changes with Saidaioujou.

[Blue_Ray]

Oh yeah, and if you really want you can buy Instant Brain: A VN developed by Cave which included Dodonpachi as one of the unlockables. You can even play it using Kinect

So you can play that version with a controller? Acquired a cheap copy of the LE (even included 2 phonecards, one of which is the same as my current avatar), so that'll be cool to unlock eventually!

[Erppo]

My advice would be to get DFK 1.5 last. I'm sure people ITT will disagree with me, but it just feels really crappy by Cave standards. It's a bad Dodonpachi and a bad Cave game, imo.

Is there a point to crap like this when nobody even asked anything about that?

[Crazy Climber]

I thought Instant Brain was entirely in Japanese? Would be pretty tough for an american guy like myself to even play it let alone unlock stuff, lol. I guess there would maybe be some walk throughs online or something...or does it have an english option?

[n0rtygames]

Is there a point to crap like this when nobody even asked anything about that?

The original post asked for opinions on the DDP games and the differences between them. I don't think anyone would recommend DFK as an introduction to the DDP series regardless of personal taste regarding its mechanics as it is wildly different from DDP, DOJ and the upcoming SDOJ. The bullet cancelling changes a hell of a lot. I don't think the advice of getting DFK last is unwarranted.

DFK is a part of the series. Might not be to everyones tastes, but it's worth getting hold of and it's pretty cheap these days. I like it. I just don't like it as much as others.

Anyway, OP:
Since you have a Japanese system for playing imported games that are region locked - you're good. If you weren't, you'd be pretty much locked in to playing Daifukkatsu (aka Resurrection) if you're in the EU. I don't know about America. You can play most of the games via an emulator anyway. I would probably take the most sensible route of progression through the games as follows (I think this is the order most newcomers will experience Cave titles in )

1. DoDonPachi - Play it for a week or two
2. DoDonPachi DaiOuJou - Shit changes once you play this.
3. DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Black Label - Because you were terrible at DOJ, so you went and got the black label version which makes it easier.
4. Mushihimesama Futari - ...what? Just get it and don't ask.
5. DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu - aka DDP Ressurection in the west.
6. Ketsui - ... BECAUSE.
7. Come back here and sit around drumming your fingers waiting to find out if we're going to get SaiDaiOuJou... but you have a J360.. so I'm jealous.
8. buy chronoblast please

Apparently DFK Black Label comes with an awesome 'Ketsuipachi' arrange mode which is suppost to be one of the greatest things in this dimension. But I can't back that up since I've not played it..

Get all those games.

Lastly, watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbts2qTrbAg

[Quantium]

I have both DDP DFK 1.5 as well as BL. I prefer BL's gameplay, as well as Ketsuipachi kicks ass! I will agree with some of the previous posters in that after playing BL, DFK 1.5 seems a little broken, and I don't play it as much anymore as BL just feels like a better version of the game. To the OP, if your wondering about picking up the physical copy of BL since that's the only way to play Ketsuipachi, I'd highly recommend it. That version of the game ALONE is worth the purchase, and lately, it's been hanging out around $40 brand new on play-asia.com, so it's silly affordable. If you prefer DFK 1.5 gameplay wise, then just get that version, and BL can be downloaded from XBL. I will disagree with some of the previous posters that DaiOuJou is a must have, I don't like the gameplay of it that much, although the soundtrack is nice. Kinda like how I prefer MSF BL over the original or even arrange modes. I just couldn't justify the purchase price (no lower then $75-$80+ brand new), when it's easily playable in MAME still, while DFK 1.5 is not. Now I have to decide whether or not to pick up the MMP/PS "Best" version, since, once again, I love MMP but don't really like PS. Oh well, can't win them all I guess.

[Crazy Climber]

So, shortly after this topic I had an oppertunity to pick up DOdonpachi ressurection in great shape for $15 so I did and well, all I can say is this ain't Deathsmiles, lol. Man, this game is tough! Fun, but definetily something I will not run a 1cc on anytime soon, even on easy, lol.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

So, shortly after this topic I had an oppertunity to pick up DOdonpachi ressurection in great shape for $15 so I did and well, all I can say is this ain't Deathsmiles, lol. Man, this game is tough! Fun, but definetily something I will not run a 1cc on anytime soon, even on easy, lol.

try strong type c plane you should find it allot easier. dont over use hypers as they increase the speed of the game (resets each level), while fighting bosses launch a hyper and point blank while invulnerable to recharge the hyper gauge. If you are likely to get hit several times by a mid boss just drop a bomb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... fd72FC1Jso this will help.

With a bit of practice you should beat it, that stack of autobombs allows for allot of mistakes.

[Skykid]

So, shortly after this topic I had an oppertunity to pick up DOdonpachi ressurection in great shape for $15 so I did and well, all I can say is this ain't Deathsmiles, lol. Man, this game is tough! Fun, but definetily something I will not run a 1cc on anytime soon, even on easy, lol.

Ship C, Bomb style, about as easy to clear as Deathsmiles once you get a few patterns down and learn to regulate hypers and bombs through tricky sections. No good for scoring though unless you really know what you're doing.

[monouchi]

Ketsuipachi.

[Reiko]

I played the first 4 donpachi games on MAME. To be honest they didn't really grab me, but perhaps it's a bit of an aquired taste and after playing them more one day my opinion may change. However, I decided to check out DFK on the xbox and I liked it straight away. Also got the black label dlc, which I think I do prefer over the original mode, even though they're similar. I'm playing the PAL version though so it doesn't have the ketsui mode, which is a shame since it looks fun based on the youtube videos I saw, and the music is much better than the other modes as well.

With regard to its difficulty, I managed to 1cc the novice mode on my first try with autobomb on with the Strong style, but I wanna try 1ccing with autobomb off on the real difficulty and reaching the second loop one day.

[Crazy Climber]

Ship C, Bomb style, about as easy to clear as Deathsmiles once you get a few patterns down and learn to regulate hypers and bombs through tricky sections. No good for scoring though unless you really know what you're doing.

try strong type c plane you should find it allot easier. dont over use hypers as they increase the speed of the game (resets each level), while fighting bosses launch a hyper and point blank while invulnerable to recharge the hyper gauge. If you are likely to get hit several times by a mid boss just drop a bomb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... fd72FC1Jso this will help.

With a bit of practice you should beat it, that stack of autobombs allows for allot of mistakes.

Cool, I'm glad the C type seems to be the way to go since that was my favorite Didn't know that about the hyper, I was going hyper as much as possible, lol. Thanks for the link, I watched as many as possible with Deathsmiles and I feel they really help (although my co workers don't "get it" lol)

I played the first 4 donpachi games on MAME. To be honest they didn't really grab me, but perhaps it's a bit of an aquired taste and after playing them more one day my opinion may change. However, I decided to check out DFK on the xbox and I liked it straight away. Also got the black label dlc, which I think I do prefer over the original mode, even though they're similar. I'm playing the PAL version though so it doesn't have the ketsui mode, which is a shame since it looks fun based on the youtube videos I saw, and the music is much better than the other modes as well.

With regard to its difficulty, I managed to 1cc the novice mode on my first try with autobomb on with the Strong style, but I wanna try 1ccing with autobomb off on the real difficulty and reaching the second loop one day.

Having only briefly played the original arcade version myself (and only the NA released cave games) my only gripe was pretty much a complete lack of story except for a small ending sequence. The gameplay is very nice though, and I'm sure if I do a 1cc I will feel like a total bad ass! I know a good shmup doesn't need a story, but I like when they do

How awesome would it be set the orientation to vertical, rotate my 46" TV and stretch the screen out to fill it! Anyone ever done that, I bet it ROCKS!!!

[DarkSlayer]

Little exception : (DDP daifukkatsu) and (DDP daifukkatsu Black Label) have quite the same stages, ships, but totally different gameplay.

This might be as good a place to ask this as any other DDP-themed thread: Is the Black Label version worth getting, if I'm not exactly a big fan of the regular one? Opinions, please.

as a dodonpachi noob, i much prefer black label of DFK, it is alot more agressive and more in the style of the original dodonpachi (i tbhink any way)

[AntiFritz]

Little exception : (DDP daifukkatsu) and (DDP daifukkatsu Black Label) have quite the same stages, ships, but totally different gameplay.

This might be as good a place to ask this as any other DDP-themed thread: Is the Black Label version worth getting, if I'm not exactly a big fan of the regular one? Opinions, please.

as a dodonpachi noob, i much prefer black label of DFK, it is alot more agressive and more in the style of the original dodonpachi (i tbhink any way)

I haven't played too much of black label myself, but I thought it had a lot less of an emphasis on chaining and more on bullet and hyper cancelling?