New Feature: Games you should check out

As much as I like skewering things I find wrong with the industry and roasting sacred cows, I don't think this little blog would be that useful if I didn't at least try to share a few things that I enjoy. In the spirit of spreading the love, I will try to feature at least one game I think you should check out each month. Keep in mind that my tastes may not reflect yours. If your idea of getting your game on consists of an evening of "Cooking Mama", you probably shouldn't be reading this blog anyway.

This month's featured game:

DoDonPachi



If you've play, and enjoyed, Ikaruga and Triggerheart Exelica on XBLA, you owe it to yourself to check out this gem. DoDonPachi was developed by Cave in the late '90's for release in the Arcade and was later ported to the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation. The game falls into the subgenre of Shmups known as "Danmaku" or "Bullet Hell." This subgenre is known for a ludicrous amount of firepower onscreen, counterbalanced by the fact that the ship you pilot has a very small hitbox. A typical boss battle looks something like this:



DoDonPachi distinguishes itself from others in the genre by featuring a very strict chaining system. Each time you take out a small enemy, or register damage on a larger enemy, a combo meter will display your hit count near the top of the screen. If you mess up your chain, this counter resets to zero. You do not want this to happen, as your score depends on riding huge hit chains. The higher the combo value, the greater your multiplier. Naturally, scoring high requires significantly riskier play...but that is what this game is all about: pure fucking adrenaline.

When you start your game, you are given a choice between three ships: Type A ( fast with a narrow field of fire), Type B ( moderate speed with a medium field of fire ) or Type C ( slow, but with a nice spread shot ). Which ship you prefer depends entirely on your style of play. As a more aggressive player, I prefer Type A. In addition to your standard weapon, you also have bombs which can clear the screen of bullets if you are in a pinch.

Make no mistake about it: this game is fucking HARD. DoDonPachi is designed to beat the piss out of you, steal your lunch money, and send you crying to mommy about how mean it was to you. The sheer amount of bullets being tossed your way is near mesmerizing, a pink and blue cloud of death raing down on you at all times. ...And as if the game's unforgiving difficulty wasn't enough, those who beat the game on one credit with a score totalling 50 million or above will be ab;e to play a second ( much harder ) loop of the game, at the end of which the player faces off against this legendary brutal fucker:





Yup. That is Hibachi, the True Last Boss of this game, and a nightmare to many. Only ace players can beat this bastard...let alone reach him.

Well, that about sums up my blabbing about this game, but I'm going to leave you with some videos so you can see it in action. This may give you some insight into why I love it, but you should really just play it. I can't do it justice:

Second Loop, Stage 1



First Loop, Stage 6



True Last Boss



Note: You would have to import this for the Playsation or Saturn...but there are other, cheaper ways of getting a hold of this game.