Video games - DoDonPachi

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	Video games - DoDonPachi

is a manic shooter arcade game developed by Atlus and Cave, released in 1997. It is a sequel to 1995's DonPachi
, and a sequel called DoDonPachi: Daioujou was released in 2002. It is one of the first manic shooters, establishing many of the conventions of this subgenre.

The title is a play on words; literally, it translates to "Angry Bee Boss". However, DoDonPachi, is also an onomatopoeia mimicking the sound of gunfire.

Gameplay

Ships and weapons

There are three different ships to choose between, and each ship can be played in Laser or Shot mode. The ships are called Type A, B, and C.

Type A: A red fighter that shoots a compact stream of bullets straight ahead.
Type B: A green helicopter that shoots bullets forward and in the direction you move (left or right).
Type C: A blue fighter that shoots bullets forward and spread out towards the sides.

Type C in Shot mode is often seen as a beginner's ship because the shot weapon can destroy enemies without much accuracy and allow an unexperienced player to survive further. Type A or B in Laser mode is seen as a more expert ship as it can be used for higher scores, although any ships can be used to gain a very high score.

The player has two modes of firing available. Tapping the fire button produces a stream of bullets, the style of which is determined by the type of fighter chosen. Holding down the fire button causes the player's two options to fly to the front of the ship, launching a powerful laser beam that can cut through lines of enemies and cause massive damage to bosses. While the laser is being fired, the speed of the ship goes down dramatically, making many of the more hectic bullet patterns easier to dodge. The weapons can be powered up by collecting powerup boxes which appear from certain enemies. These boxes are labelled with a 'P' logo and move around the play area in an odd wandering motion.

The ship also has bombs. It can carry a maximum of six bombs, and starts with three on its first life. Each time the player loses a life, the ship returns with an increased initial amount of bombs. If the ship is carrying six bombs, a "maximum" logo is shown over the bomb counter and the players score increases rapidly until the level boss appears or a bomb is used. When a bomb is used, all the bullets on the screen disappear and damage is dealt to all enemies. If the player is using the Laser weapon, the laser will become massively powerful and larger instead of every enemy being damaged. The bomb effect lasts for approximately two and a half seconds. Bombs are collected in a similar way to weapon powerups. They are labeled with a 'B' and move in perpendicular angles.

Each ship can be played in either Shot or Laser mode, making the chosen mode of firing more powerful. As the ship gets weapon powerup boxes, the chosen mode will power up more rapidly. If the ship is in Shot mode, the shot weapon will have a slightly greater density and spread. The laser penetrates through multiple enemies.

Scoring system

DoDonPachi has a unique scoring system called the Get Point System (GPS). There is a gauge in the top left of the screen that increases every time an enemy is destroyed. If an enemy is destroyed while the gauge is not empty, a "chain" counter will increase. The chain counter is reset once the gauge empties, which happens quite rapidly, in approximately one second. For every chain, some points are added to the value of the chain, and the total value of the chain is added to the player's score. Damaging stronger enemies with the laser attack also increases the gauge, but at low rate. This will prevent the gauge from emptying for as long as the laser is damaging the enemy. To get the highest score possible, the player must destroy as many enemies as possible without leaving more than one second between two specific enemies. This is best done by making sure the enemies are killed at a pace allowing the next enemies to appear before the current ones are totally destroyed. Killing the enemies as fast as possible, whilst being a good strategy for survival, is not the best strategy for scoring.

There are also bonus items in the form of golden bees. They often start as invisible pickups as specific points in the level and are not necessarily stationary. They can also appear from destroying certain enemies or parts of bosses. Their outline can be seen by firing over their position with the shot weapon. They cannot be picked up until they are hit by the front area of the laser weapon. When the laser is activated, it takes a moment to reach the top of the screen from the ship. This semi-extended laser has a front end which can make the invisible bees turn golden, after which they can be picked up by running the player's ship over their position. There are thirteen on each level, the first one you pick up is worth 100 points, the second 200, it goes up to 1,000,000 points. The score for each bee is reset if you lose a life.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for DoDonPachi ]

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Video games - DoDonPachi

Gameplay

Ships and weapons

Scoring system

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