DonPachi
Encyclopedia
is a vertically-scrolling manic shooter video game developed by Cave
and published by Atlus
in 1995
. It was the first game developed by Cave, and the second on Cave's first generation arcade hardware (the first being Power Instinct 2). Literally translated, the title means "leader bee", but it is also a Japanese onomatopoeic expression associated with the sound of firing guns. It is one of the first manic shooters. This game received a sequel in the form of DoDonPachi
.
The player flies their selected fighter over 5 areas of various terrain, encountering a number of land, sea and air enemies. The player's ship has two modes of fire: by tapping the fire button, shots are fired; holding it down produces a concentrated vertical beam, but also reduces the ship's speed.
The player's available bomb stock depends on number of bomb slots the player possesses; a player starts with 3. Between stages (or if the player continues), all the slots are filled. The player can gain slots by using 3 bombs, for maximum of 7 slots; when the player loses a life, the next non-continued life starts with 3 of those. Continuing does not change the existing bomb slot count.
After completing the first loop, the storyline reveals that the commander tells the pilot to continue the missions of fighting against the fellow troop members until one side is completely destroyed, with the game's second loop beginning 7 years later. After defeating Hachi, the story reveals the commander's 'mission' was to turn the existing army into a race of super soldiers. However, since the missions are aerial attacks, many soldiers have taken battles into air and performed the ultimate sacrifices. It was the many lives that have lost in the process that made the mission a success. As a result, a new elite combat force called 'DonPachi' was formed.
items in the game, identified by different letters:
In addition, there are also special items that give you points upon collecting them:
After completing an area, player gains following scores based on performance in the completed area:
If 2nd loop is completed with 1 credit, player gets 1 million points for each reserved fighter.
Cave (company)
Cave Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game company, known primarily for its manic shoot 'em ups. Cave remains one of the most active makers of arcade shoot-'em-ups in the Japanese market...
and published by Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
in 1995
1995 in video gaming
-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
. It was the first game developed by Cave, and the second on Cave's first generation arcade hardware (the first being Power Instinct 2). Literally translated, the title means "leader bee", but it is also a Japanese onomatopoeic expression associated with the sound of firing guns. It is one of the first manic shooters. This game received a sequel in the form of DoDonPachi
DoDonPachi
thumb|DoDonPachi arcade PCB is a vertically scrolling manic shooter arcade game developed by Cave and published by Atlus, in 1997. It was the second game developed by Cave, and the sixth on Cave's first generation arcade hardware...
.
Plot
The game's premises differ somewhat by most of its brethren: the player assumes the role of a pilot whose mission is to actually survive an eight years long training mission, where he/she is supposed to prove his/her worth as a fighter and gain entry to the future elite squadron known as the DonPachi Squadron - which is featured prominently throughout the entire series. The twist lies in the fact that the enemies are, in truth, the player's very own comrades, posing as enemies and sacrificing their lives for the sake of allowing only the most skilled pilots to pass the test, and survive.The player flies their selected fighter over 5 areas of various terrain, encountering a number of land, sea and air enemies. The player's ship has two modes of fire: by tapping the fire button, shots are fired; holding it down produces a concentrated vertical beam, but also reduces the ship's speed.
Fighters
The player can choose one of three aircraft at the start of the game, or upon continuing:- Type A: A red (or yellow/orange, for player two) fighter, which fires a narrow stream of shots
- Type B: A green (or purple, for player two) helicopterHelicopterA helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
, which fires its main guns forward, but has side guns rotates up to 90 degrees from forward when fighter moves horizontally - Type C: A blue (or black, for player two) fighter, which fires a wide, three-way spread of shots
Weapons
- Shots: Tap shot button to fire. The placement of the guns is unique on each ship:
- On the red fighter, the shots circle around of the craft firing forward, combining their firepower with the fighter's main guns.
- On the green helicopter, the shots (which, like the helicopter, use blades to hover) are positioned directly to the left and right, and can turn in the direction that the player moves to provide sweeping fire.
- On the blue fighter, the shots are near the rear, and angled outward, providing three-way widespread fire.
- Laser: Hold shot button. The floating guns combine in front of the ship to produce a vertical beam, which provides more firepower than standard fire. This also makes the ship move slower. When using the laser, an aura is generated around the player, which does the same damage to enemies as the laser.
- Spread Bomb: Press bomb button when not holding shot button. It produces a large explosion which damages or destroys all enemies on screen, and makes all enemy projectiles disappear for the entire duration of the explosion.
- Laser Bomb: Press bomb button when firing laser. It inflicts more damage than Spread Bomb, but with narrower attack angle. Enemy projectiles in the beam's range will be destroyed. In boss battle, the attack causes recoil that pushes the player's ship to the bottom of the screen.
The player's available bomb stock depends on number of bomb slots the player possesses; a player starts with 3. Between stages (or if the player continues), all the slots are filled. The player can gain slots by using 3 bombs, for maximum of 7 slots; when the player loses a life, the next non-continued life starts with 3 of those. Continuing does not change the existing bomb slot count.
Areas
The game has 5 areas, which can be "looped" if the player succeeds in completing them. The second loop has the same areas, enemy patterns, and bosses as the first loop, but enemies fire denser bullet patterns as well as explode into bullets when destroyed (sometimes called 'suicide bullets' or 'ricochet effect'). However, if enemies are destroyed with the player's ship nearby, such bullets disappear. Destroying the final boss in the second loop unlocks a secret area where you fight the trademark boss of the series, the giant mechanical bee Hachi (蜂; 'bee').After completing the first loop, the storyline reveals that the commander tells the pilot to continue the missions of fighting against the fellow troop members until one side is completely destroyed, with the game's second loop beginning 7 years later. After defeating Hachi, the story reveals the commander's 'mission' was to turn the existing army into a race of super soldiers. However, since the missions are aerial attacks, many soldiers have taken battles into air and performed the ultimate sacrifices. It was the many lives that have lost in the process that made the mission a success. As a result, a new elite combat force called 'DonPachi' was formed.
Collectible items
There are three types of power-upPower-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
items in the game, identified by different letters:
- P: Makes the player's guns stronger and laser thicker. Two of these items must be collected for one level of power-up; when the first is collected, the player's shots turn darker in color.
- B: Adds one bomb to the player's supply. The player can hold a maximum of three bombs at start; this maximum increases by one whenever the player loses a life, to a complete maximum of six. At the end of a stage, the player's bomb supply is fully restored, to the limit it is currently at.
- MP: Appears after the player has lost all their lives; as such, it can only be picked up upon a continue. Collecting this powers up the player's weapons to full strength.
In addition, there are also special items that give you points upon collecting them:
- Golden bees: Each stage has 13 hidden golden bees scattered throughout the stage, which can be found by destroying some enemy structures, or are exposed by firing the standard shot over the area (revealing them) and then using the laser over that area (exposing them). Picking up bees will increase your score and increases the gained points of the next collected bee. When the player loses a life, the value of the next collected bee usually drops back to 100.
- Golden stars: Stars are scattered throughout the stage, which give you a number of points for picking them up.
- 1UP: Gains 1 extra fighter for the player.
Scoring system
DonPachi features a scoring system known as Get Point System (GPS). By destroying large groups or chains of enemies in a short period of time, you can build up a number called a combo, similar to the kind found in fighting games. You receive an increasing number of points with every enemy you shoot down; the more enemies you hit in one chain, the more points you receive. You can break the chain by waiting to shoot an enemy; the combo number will turn blue when your chain is broken. This system brings a new challenge after the player has cleared the game; plot out the stages to achieve a high score.After completing an area, player gains following scores based on performance in the completed area:
- Bomb Capacity: Player gets additional points for having less than 7 maximum slots. Player initially gets 100000, 60000, 30000, 10000 points for 3, 4, 5, 6 bomb slots respectively. Furthermore, if player's bomb slots never increases and player never loses a life since the beginning of the game, Bomb Capacity bonus further increases for completing successive areas, with maximum score of 5000000 points.
- Itempoint: 10000 points per item collected in the area using current live.
If 2nd loop is completed with 1 credit, player gets 1 million points for each reserved fighter.
Trivia
- DonPachi is one of only two Cave shooters to get released in the USA, the other being Progear no ArashiProgearis an arcade video game developed by CAVE and published by Capcom on the CPS-2 arcade system board in 2001. This was Cave's only horizontal scrolling shooter until DeathSmiles in 2007. The game features a steampunk-like style and art design...
. Both US versions of these games are extremely rare and sought after since only a small handful were made for the American market. - The name of the game is a pun; the kanji for DonPachi literally means "leader bee", but the word "don" is also a Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound of a gun firing. There are a number of references to bees in the game: the most obvious is the bee icon that can be picked up for high scores. The transition effect between levels is tiled, made up of red hexagons, which resembles a bee hiveBee HiveThe term Bee Hive can refer to:*Bee hive, an alternate spelling of the word beehive*Bee Hive, Alabama, an unincorporated community*The Bee-Hive , a 19th century British newspaper*Bee Hive Records, a jazz record label...
. - When the player is about to encounter a boss, the "Warning" signal will begin flashing. During this time, a panel of EngrishEngrishrefers to unusual forms of English language usage by native speakers of some East Asian languages. The term itself relates to Japanese speakers' tendency to inadvertently substitute the English phonemes "R" and "L" for one another, because the Japanese language has one alveolar consonant in place...
text appears intermittently. The text reads: This is not similation. Get ready to destoroy the enemy. Target for the weak points of f██kin' machine. Do your best you have ever done. - The default high score table contains a hidden message: read vertically, the initials will read, "TOAPLAN.FOREVER". Cave is one of the four offshoots of ToaplanToaplan, sometimes written as Toa Plan, was a video game developer from Japan. They were responsible for the creation of a wide array of relatively famous scrolling shooters and arcade games, yet the company declared bankruptcy in 1994.-Games developed :...
(along with 8ing/Raizing8ing/RaizingEighting Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game company mainly known for its shoot 'em ups and its fighting games....
, Takumi, and Gazelle), which closed its doors in 1994.