If you're not familiar with Cave's
line of shmups, you're missing out on a chunk of the modern manic
shmup scene as it should be experienced, with your heart pounding
your chest and your fist pounding something near you when you die.
Donpachi and DoDonpachi
are both Cave titles and somehow IGS attained the rights for DoDonPachi
II (I'm led to believe it was blackmail or a corporate poker game
gone bad).
IGS did some quality graphics and
sound, but as far as play mechanics, they didn't even match DDP
let alone best it as I had so hoped. It was like they took some
employee (maybe the janitor) and sat them down with a copy of DDP
and said, "ok, play this game through once and scratch down a few
notes on the gameplay." Then they took that, made some nice graphics
and sound and that became what we now call DDPII. For face value
it is a fairly legit sequel, but to someone who has actually put
some sweat and tears (no blood yet) into DDP, DDPII is missing some
key elements.
I picked up DoDonpachi and DoDonpachi
II at the same time. After playing a bit of DDPII I decided to learn
something about the heritage of this game by diving recklessly into
it's "modern classic" prequel. Well, needless to say I have been
hooked on DDP since. Upon my return to DDPII I was dissapointed
because as much as it is a cool shmup, it's just not DDP.
Let me share some of the key cool
points of the game and then the key things that truly dissapointed
me:
Top
5 Cool Things About DDP II:
5: High score login feature. Encodes your initials and score
into something you can submit to the IGS high score website.
4: Some of the music. IGS went with more of a techno type
score for DDPII and I think it is quite fitting.
3: Last three bosses. Those last few bosses are cool.
2: Artwork. A bit different finish than DDP, but nice nevertheless.
1: Challenge. Great challenge to be had in this game.
Top
5 (ok, 6) Things that Ruin DDP II:
6: Cannot use both laser bomb and regular bomb. You don't
go changing things that were one way in TWO prequels.
5: No "popcorn" enemies. Even the weakest of enemies take
many hits to destroy creating a very un-DDP feel.
4: Combo slop. Instead of losing your combo when your HIT
meter is nill, it just decreases rapidly until you pick it up again
(like boss battles in DDP).
3: Recycled graphics. Way too much for a sequel. You couldn't
even justify it as DDP 1.5 because you've already lost so much play
mechanics.
2: Score is not reset when you continue. "What's wrong, Bobby?
Oh, you want your name on the high score list? Here you go, just
put in some more credits. That's right, there you go."
1: No bomb multiplier. DDP players are well aware that the
bomb multiplier is key to serious scoring (not to mention a test
of one's skills). Yep, it's gone. Bye, bye.
Side
notes: Combos are frozen at the end of the level and continue into
the boss battle.
DoDonPachi
II - IGS
