Dodonpachi Review
Ahhhh, the vertically scrolling manic shoot-em-up; perhaps my favorite sub-genre of my favorite type of game. Manic shmups, for the uninitiated, are a type of shooter wherein instead of memorizing patterns and level designs (ala R-Type), one is forced to dodge hundreds upon thousands of bullets on pure reflexes alone. Another important aspect of these games is that, instead of playing to just beat the game, getting the high score is more important.
Enter Dodonpachi. It is the best example of a manic shmup that one could find. Of course, what else could you expect from Cave, a company that makes only shooters, and is made up of former Toaplan (Sky Shark, Twin Cobra, Batsugun, etc) employees. Much like my good pal Wolverine, they are the best at what they do. Theyre gameography includes many classics such as Dangun Feveron, Guwange, E.S.P. Rade, and the recently released Storm of Progear. Of course these are underground classics since almost no one has heard them, but I digress
The graphics in DDP are good, but not great. The hand drawn sprites are very detailed and clear, but there really arent any cool effects, such as parallax or scaling, to speak of. Also, the explosions are very pixilated, but thats just a minor gripe. Overall, the visuals are solid, but not flashy. The music is ho-hum as well. Its just an average hard rock soundtrack, albeit with quite a memorable boss theme.
Now onto the thing that you (should) want know about the most: the gameplay. This game is pure insanity. If youve never a played a shmup, manic or otherwise, be prepared to drop few golden nuggets in your BVDs. If you are lacking the least bit in the skill department you will die a lot. But once you get used to it, it stops being hard, and starts being intense. The screen is always filled with bullets, lasers, and other instruments of death all heading towards you! To be quite honest, the straight up shooting action in DDP is enough to qualify it as a great game, but once you get into the scoring aspect, your life will be forever changed.
First of all, there is the combo system. Every time you kill an enemy your combo bar fills up, and the longer you keep shooting down the baddies in a chain, the more massive your point total will become. Its really quite addicting to try and figure out all the chains that are possible. Just make sure you dont let the combo meter fall to zero or youll have to build a new chain all over again. In the first half of level one there is a chain of 179 enemies possible. Think about that. That means there are 179 enemies in the first half of the first level. Try and tell me thats not crazy see, I knew you couldnt. Another cool thing about the scoring system is there are hidden bee icons throughout each level that multiply in score each time you get one, but if you die their value resets, giving more incentive to stay alive.
The aforementioned aspects of scoring and gameplay put DDP in a class all it's own. Believe me, trying to dodge a million bullets, keep a combo chain going, and collecting bee icons(and many others) all at the same time makes for one helluva good time. Its got the kind of just give me one more shot, I can do better than that. gameplay that is blatantly missing from most of todays games.
DDP is not only the best shooter I have ever played, it is among the best videogames ever crafted. And for anyone who thinks that this game is impossible to beat on a single credit, just remember within a few weeks of its release in Japanese arcades, more than one gamer had made it through the game twice, on one life! Oh, and did I mention this game features one of the most impressive boss encounters ever seen( its right up there with Kraid, I swear!). Youll just have to find that for yourself as its somewhat hidden,though -Pooter Pan
Resident Evil Review
I can't stand remakes. Let me just get that out of the way first. I generally don't like them in movies or games, and for the most part, I think they're a creative cop-out. That said, I had a feeling of both unease and joy as the Resident Evil release for Gamecube drew near. On one hand, I love the Resident Evil series, I love everything about it. Always have. On the other hand, hadn't I played this game a few times through over five years ago? Fortunately, after playing through RE on Gamecube, I can safely say the answer is no.
Capcom has always stood out as one of my favorite developers bar none. They rarely disappoint me, and this game is no exception. Mikami and co. could have easily regurgitated the Resident Evil we all know and love, albeit with a glossy Gamecube shine, and legions of hungry RE fans would have still snatched it up in a hot minute. But instead, Capcom has held up their, in my opinion, unblemished (minus RE:Survivor) survival horror track record by adding in so many new kicks to the original, it would make a grown man cry. Luckily I fought back the tears and toughed it through the game all over again so I could bring you this balls to the walls review.
Starting the game, I expected to whiz right on through in a couple hours, having long since '95 memorized every aspect. My dreams were shattered right away when I realized how different this installment was. A good deal of the puzzles have been altered or reversed in some way, causing welcome confusion to veterans, and a great experience for first-timers. Just when you remember that object A went into slot B, you realize that neither of those exist in this version. The mansion layout, which I prided myself on knowing as well as my own house, has experienced some construction as well. Many new areas and extensions enhance the experience, and most of the old rooms seemed new to me because of the great graphical overhaul.
The action has been beefed up too. Resident Evil games have a pretty slow pace in general, focusing more on trying to stay alive then decimating everything around you. While this RE is not much different, expect for many of your previous knowledge of zombies to go out the window. Just when you get to that point of calm where you've cleared out all the festering fiends in the main mansion, you meet your new friend "Crimson Head". Apparently, zombies that are already the living dead, can come back to life (or death?) unless you dispose of them properly. Don't bother trying to make sense out of it, you won't have time to. These red-faced reincarnates are not only faster than normal zombies, but they have razor-sharp claws to charge at you with as well. This brings about an ingenious gameplay aspect new to the RE series. Basically, if you don't blow a zombie's head off or torch the corpse, then you will have x amount of nasty Crimson-Heads to fight later in the game. This has you running around desperately pouring kerosene on bodies and scroungin' for shotgun ammo and grenades to deliver that ultimately fatal blow.
Grenades, you ask? Hell yeah grenades! With a tazer and daggers as well, RE on GameCube introduces the all new defense items. In the event you are about to be chomped by one of the rotting retards, a quick press of the L button lets you escape unscathed, while the zombie stumbles off with a knife in the head.
Did I mention the graphics? well, they're easily the best I've ever seen, and they do a flawless job of conveying a haunting atmosphere. Even though the backgrounds are still pre-rendered, they are littered with so many animations and amazing lighting effects that you don't have time to care. The character animations are more fluid and defined this time around, and the dripping and oozing enemies have never looked better. Talking about it is worthless, it's something you need to see and experience.
The hole-filled story of Resident Evil has almost become a staple of the series. The bland voice acting does a great job once again of setting the B-movie atmosphere. I truly miss all the classic bad lines of the original, and although this acting is a slight notch above the joke filled PS1 version, it's still hard not to laugh. Code Veronica answered some of the questions, and unlike RE3, moved the story forward a bit, so I was hoping for the same from this. I figured they would add a bit more in that department, but it's not a huge complaint.
While I'm nitpicking, there are a few other problems with this game, and the series in general. Being unable to drop items on the ground for a brief moment is ridiculous. It's been changed for RE Zero, but it would have caused me less unnecessary runs to the item box if it would have been implemented here. Also, while the camera angles in RE are very cinematic and mood-enhancing, it doesn't impress me when I'm fighting for my life against an enemy I can't see. I could also bring up the control issue, but the awkward controls I've become accustomed to translate well to the GC pad, and that's all I ask for.
Complaints aside, Resident Evil still holds up as the king of all survival horror. Silent Hill is good, and so is Dino Crisis, but RE will always stand on top of the hill to me. It creates the richest atmosphere, and never fails to make me jump out of my seat. This edition is an amazing package for both veterans and new-comers alike, and it comes with the highest recommendation. Now, bring on RE Zero!
RATING-9.5
-Moldilox
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