Can I really count this? I only got the bad ending...
The reason I hesitate to declare DoDonPachi as a game I've beaten is because it probably represents the most a vertical SHMUP has intrigued me. I won't get into narrative spoilers, but the entire trajectory of what the series is completely pivots on that bad/good ending junction. And what makes the difference? Simple: clear the campaign on a single credit.
I always struggle to get into SHMUPs because there's effectively a binary at play: you can either continue, or you can't. If you're in Free Play, you can continue. If you have a stack of quarters, you can continue. If you aren't or don't, you can't continue. If you can continue, you will do so right where you left off. If you can't, you can piss off. Sure, there's variations, but they don't mean a hell of a lot to the SHMUP experience for me when they all reduce to that simple binary of design. If I can continue, I don't need to learn the game. If I can't continue, I don't want to learn the game.
It is DoDonPachi that seems to exist as a third option. You can't continue, but if you actually bother to get good enough that you don't need to, then you get the good ending. Which is to say: access to the second loop and the final boss! That's right, chief, if you get good at the video game, you get a full-game victory lap followed by friggin' vertical shooter final bosses. Don't worry, you don't have to stay single credit on the back half.
Is this a common design space in this genre? I've dipped my toes in it quite a bit, but I've never seen this as the device used to try and get players to get good. This is essentially one of the only arcade games I've ever seen that wants the player to spend as little money as possible, since that's what it would take to get the best ending. Yes, the game is hard, so it's a long process to actually get good at the video game. Maybe that's how they earn their money?
There's much I can say about the game itself - the GORGEOUS spritework, the good cadence to combat, all these things such that would make a player enjoy coming back, etc - but I think I'll leave it at this note for now. I can review the game proper when I get good enough to see the second loop. Because this feels like how you justify that lives system and encourage a player to learn the game. It's sure encouraging me.
The reason I hesitate to declare DoDonPachi as a game I've beaten is because it probably represents the most a vertical SHMUP has intrigued me. I won't get into narrative spoilers, but the entire trajectory of what the series is completely pivots on that bad/good ending junction. And what makes the difference? Simple: clear the campaign on a single credit.
I always struggle to get into SHMUPs because there's effectively a binary at play: you can either continue, or you can't. If you're in Free Play, you can continue. If you have a stack of quarters, you can continue. If you aren't or don't, you can't continue. If you can continue, you will do so right where you left off. If you can't, you can piss off. Sure, there's variations, but they don't mean a hell of a lot to the SHMUP experience for me when they all reduce to that simple binary of design. If I can continue, I don't need to learn the game. If I can't continue, I don't want to learn the game.
It is DoDonPachi that seems to exist as a third option. You can't continue, but if you actually bother to get good enough that you don't need to, then you get the good ending. Which is to say: access to the second loop and the final boss! That's right, chief, if you get good at the video game, you get a full-game victory lap followed by friggin' vertical shooter final bosses. Don't worry, you don't have to stay single credit on the back half.
Is this a common design space in this genre? I've dipped my toes in it quite a bit, but I've never seen this as the device used to try and get players to get good. This is essentially one of the only arcade games I've ever seen that wants the player to spend as little money as possible, since that's what it would take to get the best ending. Yes, the game is hard, so it's a long process to actually get good at the video game. Maybe that's how they earn their money?
There's much I can say about the game itself - the GORGEOUS spritework, the good cadence to combat, all these things such that would make a player enjoy coming back, etc - but I think I'll leave it at this note for now. I can review the game proper when I get good enough to see the second loop. Because this feels like how you justify that lives system and encourage a player to learn the game. It's sure encouraging me.