Xbox 360: Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu 1.5 (November 2010)

[originalz]

Wow, hang on a sec...

So you don't need 1.5 in order to play the BL retail release? And BL retail release is cheaper than 1.5?

If that's the case, then I'll just skip 1.5 and get BL retail only.

BL retail's cover art is way better than 1.5 SE's cover anyway. It's still ugly when compared to 1.5 LE's cover, but ugly in a "so cheesy it's awesome" sort of way.

Just be aware that the BL disc won't come with 1.5 or any of the arrange modes. I can see preferring BL to 1.5, but it's very much a different style of game and the arrange modes really change things up a lot in this release.

[-Bridget-]

So Bridget, how are you liking the game so far?

I'd like anyone's opinion actually, since I won't get my hands on this for a couple of more days.

ooh, I'm loving the heck outta it.

The scoring system in this is great; I couldnt stand the chaining in DOJ..... frankly, I'm not much into DOJ at all, most of what I did with that game was play Death Label on the PS2 version.... but THIS one is brilliant.

I'd say that my only problem is that with the main mode, the bullet cancelling, silly number of bombs, and ease of getting hypers make some parts of the game a little too easy. Particularly the bosses. Watching a couple of high-level replays, it's often that the bosses only get off a couple of attacks, due to bombing and Hyper invincibility and stuff like that. That part is a little disappointing; I like epic boss fights, such as Futari's and stuff.

Though, Arrange B rather fixes that, hah. The bosses in that mode have really stupid amounts of health.

Arrange A is also interesting; like a combo of 1.5 and DOJ, it seems to me. I havent messed with it as much as the other two yet though.

So yeah, that's my initial impressions. I daresay this may be Cave's best work; I'm enjoying this quite alot.

[Phellan Wolf]

IMO Arrange B is the star of this release. It is so addcitive, really and the Matrix visual effects are really cool, though I don't understand the scoring system so far.
As Bridget said, arrange A is a mix of DOJ and DFK 1.5. It is a very solid game but when it comes to boss fights I prefer DOJ, they're more epic, since I can't stand those mech Lolita's.

[-Bridget-]

I have a third video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Brnac5lzs


Rank is even higher.

There are a couple of deaths, but nowhere near as many as there rightfully SHOULD have been. I think this is still fairly impressive.

Have a look, feel free to comment.

And yes, there will be a 4th video. I went further with it a bit after I did that run. But I'll put that up later. I can only handle so much Youtube uploading process in one night.

EDIT:

Oh right, I remember now the other things I was gonna post. More info about how this mode works.

I've figured out a couple of things.

Number one, the gold stars dropped by ground enemies. In this mode, they do not give you points or anything like that; what they do is instead fill your bomb/hyper meters. Killing enemies and striking bosses does of course fill the meters, but grabbing the gold stars is a much faster way to do it. If you see me making alot of wild, strange movements in the videos, I'm probably trying to grab stars (though I've a habit of doing this when both meters are already full). Big stars are better than small ones, and provide a huge boost.

Also, the screen colors. They do more than just increase the counters on the side. They also change the TYPE of patterns and such that are going to come at you. For example, the red screen means a very high number of bullets, but they'll be moving slow. Blue is more like Futari Original; not that many bullets but they're coming at warp speed. Green seems to just be complete chaos. Green is the hardest.

[Skykid]

Nice, now that's more like it! Looks really fun actually.

Can I just ask, do the pink bullets become resistant to cancelling the more they're cancelled (like 1.5), and why did you purposely avoid collecting the two bees before the boss?

I'm not too well versed on DFK scoring and stuff.

[dan76]

Arrived yesterday through videogameimports - cheers Lee - anyhow, here's some initial impressions for those that haven't played the game much.

When I played DFK in the arcade, the auto-bomb was a real killer for me - I hated it. After spending a few hours with the port, I'm getting into it. True, playing for score is pushed to the forefront, but releasing an auto bomb resets the counter... so that's the kick in the teeth. Like deathsmiles, each credit lasts a good while and it's only stage five that really ramps the difficulty up (you'll be thankful of those auto bombs here...)- it's a bit epic, and as previously posted you need to time hypers to get through it.

I really like Arrange A - a cross between power mode and DOJ. You have no choice of ship, and the one you use is quite fast. Initially there are no bombs, you can pick up one and it will autobomb if you're hit. You can only carry one bomb at a time. I've probably played as much of this mode as 1.5. - Sometimes, you can see little boxes around enemy bullets... not sure this is intentional.

Arrange B I've had a couple of credits on... haven't a clue what's going on with that. Not sure yet.

Turning the smoothing off does seems like a low res mode - though I'm playing on an untated 4:3 crt. Overall I'm relieved at the quality of the port. After Guwange and DS2 it seemed like things could go tits up. Not so!

[StarCreator]

So for you guys that have your LEs already - does the LE contain the entire arrange soundtrack used in the game?

[bcass]

The port only uses the arrange soundtrack?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

This is something I never understood, why console sticks put A, B, and C buttons along the bottom row, while on an arcade they are along the top row. Anyway, you can configure DFK's controls to whatever buttons you like. The port shows you a graphic when you select your style type:

A B C
D

typically meaning
A = shot
B = bomb/change
C = rapid
D = hyper

This is an interesting point that you bring up Dave K. Maybe perhaps it's due how everyone in the Japanese arcade industry is used to the top row button configuration whereas for the JPN home console arcade controller industry, the button layout scheme is the reverse. Of course, it's not rocket science to swap out the wiring to have such an Xbox 360 arcade stick set to the original JPN arcade button spec layout scheme.

I've always wondered about this different arcade/console button layout issue myself.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Dave_K.]

Sometimes, you can see little boxes around enemy bullets... not sure this is intentional.

Its showing you which bullets are going to collide with your hitbox if you don't move. I guess an aid in getting through some tighter bullet patterns.

[StarCreator]

The port only uses the arrange soundtrack?

No, it has the original arcade soundtrack as well. Where did you get that idea?

[bcass]

I didn't realise both arcade and arrange music was in the port, so when you said the port had the arrange music in it, I wondered if it only had the arrange music in it. There's no setting in the port to change between arcade and arrange soundtracks. I assume the arrange is just used for the arrange modes then? I've played all the modes (incl. 1.51) and didn't notice any difference in the music, although maybe I wasn't paying that much attention as on the whole it's a pretty weak soundtrack.

[chempop]

-Bridget-, thanks for uploading those videos, Arrange-B looks like the mode I'll really fall for, until February of course.
The only thing I don't like is how it's only one Stage at a time kinda thing.

[Special World]

Damn it Bridget, I both love and hate the shit out of you! My frothing demand for this game increases ever higher. Between arrange B and Ketsuipachi, maybe this will be the game to trump my love of Futari Black Label :O

So congrats, you've completely restored my faith in Arrange B, and made my wait 10x harder.

I hope it took you a while to get to that level though, I'm not sure I'd be able to dodge into the blank zone between those neck to neck pink bullets...

God I can't wait. Curse you, NCSX -_-

ED: I also kinda like that it's a one stage at a time thing. Provides a nice alternative if you only have a little bit of time before work or class or something. I also really loved the one level score attacks in MArs Matrix, so for me that's a good design choice, at least for an arrange mode.

[Animaitor]

Elixir, I believe you forgot to add Strong style on the first page...

[-Bridget-]

Damn it Bridget, I both love and hate the shit out of you! My frothing demand for this game increases ever higher. Between arrange B and Ketsuipachi, maybe this will be the game to trump my love of Futari Black Label :O

So congrats, you've completely restored my faith in Arrange B, and made my wait 10x harder.

I hope it took you a while to get to that level though, I'm not sure I'd be able to dodge into the blank zone between those neck to neck pink bullets...

God I can't wait. Curse you, NCSX -_-

ED: I also kinda like that it's a one stage at a time thing. Provides a nice alternative if you only have a little bit of time before work or class or something. I also really loved the one level score attacks in MArs Matrix, so for me that's a good design choice, at least for an arrange mode.

Haha, you're welcome

And it actually didnt take me that long at all to get there. Most of it was done in a couple of hours.

Nice, now that's more like it! Looks really fun actually.

Can I just ask, do the pink bullets become resistant to cancelling the more they're cancelled (like 1.5), and why did you purposely avoid collecting the two bees before the boss?

I'm not too well versed on DFK scoring and stuff.

I havent noticed the pink bullets do that. They seem to always pop pretty easily as long as you do it right. And the reason why I avoided the bees at the end was to avoid changing the screen color. I wanted to show what the boss was gonna do during green mode. Also, I dont think the bees do anything to the score in arrange-b.


I might post a 4th video a bit later, I ended up having a better, crazier run at it shortly after the one in that video.

Agh, so annoying to record these though.

[emphatic]

Too bad you can't reset the rank, would be a really fun mode to compete in during a shmup meet.

[Special World]

It's not optimal (at all) but if you were so inclined I'm sure you could just create multiple profiles for the purpose of the meet.

[DragonInstall]

Couldnt you just not use a save file so it would reset every time?

[-Bridget-]

I've got a fourth video uploading. It'll be a little while though, you know how Youtube has to process these.

The game continues to get more insane. I'm wondering if there's ever gonna be some sort of limit to it.

This was my best run yet, and this video is totally worth it just for what happens when the boss shows up. If I hadnt done this myself, I'd never have believed it.


If anyone is getting tired of me posting these, do say something.


Has anyone posted vids of Arrange A yet? If not, I might try to get some of that recorded later. That mode is also completely worth checking out. It's even more interesting than I'd originally thought.

[Sapz]

If anyone is getting tired of me posting these, do say something.

I'm enjoying the hell out of these vids so far, I wouldn't worry about it. It's very interesting to see how the stage evolves as time goes on.

[flux]

Has anyone posted vids of Arrange A yet? If not, I might try to get some of that recorded later. That mode is also completely worth checking out. It's even more interesting than I'd originally thought.

I found some today when I was trying to see what Arrange A looks like.

Hibachi on Arrange A
2-5 on Arrange A
I think that guy has 1-1 through 2-5 posted.

I'm going to pick my copy up at the post office tomorrow before work. It's going to be a long day.

[-Bridget-]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THkg1WgOh4c

There, a link to the fourth video. This one is noteworthy for the boss fight, definitely. Will there be a fifth video? I have no idea yet.

If anyone is getting tired of me posting these, do say something.

I'm enjoying the hell out of these vids so far, I wouldn't worry about it. It's very interesting to see how the stage evolves as time goes on.

The other thing that's really interesting about it is how the patterns change depending on which "screen mode" it is in at the time. They can be quite dramatically different, between the different modes. By grabbing the bees carefully, you can try to create an optimal scoring path through the level by producing patterns that A: allow for good scoring, and B: you can deal with without dying.

[Cuilan]

Just be aware that the BL disc won't come with 1.5 or any of the arrange modes. I can see preferring BL to 1.5, but it's very much a different style of game and the arrange modes really change things up a lot in this release.

Yeah, I know that. Not having 1.5 or its arrange modes wouldn't really bother me. I don't need a billion different modes, especially not if I can save some money. The 3 modes in BL retail are more than enough for me. I just hope the Ketsui mode plays more like the arrange mode in Ketsui X and less like the original Ketsui.

[-Bridget-]

Got another video up. Number 5 I think?

This isnt stage 3 though. This is the first stage. And I went and simply skipped to the really crazy stuff this time.

The actual stage itself isnt as zany as stage 3 is, but the boss..... well..... just watch and you'll see.

No dying or bombs this time.

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLFkciuboLE


Enjoy.

[NzzpNzzp]

I like how it's slowing down so much that it takes like five seconds after she's finished talking for her to actually transform. What a ridiculous mode.

[Special World]

Can somebody explain to me why Arrange A is like DOJ? I've heard the comparison multiple times, but from watching vids I just don't get it.

[Phellan Wolf]

Got another video up. Number 5 I think?

This isnt stage 3 though. This is the first stage. And I went and simply skipped to the really crazy stuff this time.

The actual stage itself isnt as zany as stage 3 is, but the boss..... well..... just watch and you'll see.

No dying or bombs this time.

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLFkciuboLE


Enjoy.

I am not as good as you (I m just too mediocre ) but damn it, I thought that the densier bullet patterns were in Futari till I saw your vid. It will be interesting to see how many of them can Arrange B produce

[bcass]

From what I've played so far over the last few days, I think ver1.51 produces the most screen chaos that I've ever seen in a Cave game. Not only does it slow down, it eventually starts to frame-skip at the same time when the screen gets choked-up with bullets/items. V1.5 is easily my favourite mode so far.

[-Bridget-]

From what I've played so far over the last few days, I think ver1.51 produces the most screen chaos that I've ever seen in a Cave game. Not only does it slow down, it eventually starts to frame-skip at the same time when the screen gets choked-up with bullets/items. V1.5 is easily my favourite mode so far.

Arrange A does the same at times, if you've got a huge blob of bullets on the screen being chained during hyper mode.

I've seen worse, though. Galuda 2's Arrange mode at really high levels takes the cake here. Frame skip, flickering sprites, monstrous slowdown, the HUD completely vanishing.... talk about overload.

Can somebody explain to me why Arrange A is like DOJ? I've heard the comparison multiple times, but from watching vids I just don't get it.

It's not so much that it's like DOJ, I think, more that it's a combination of DFK's 1.5 mode, and DOJ. It's got aspects of both. Hard to explain, it's easier to see it when you actually play it for yourself. It's a very interesting mode nonetheless; the change to the bullet-chaining system from what 1.5 is seems to be the biggest difference between the two modes, and means that you have to use very different tactics.