DonPachi

DonPachi 首領蜂

DonPachi (首領蜂 "Leader Bee", abbreviated: DP) is the first game developed by CAVE, and the first entry in the DonPachi series of shoot-em-ups. It is one of the first games in its genre to introduce a chaining system, which would become a well-known staple of the series. Alongside Batsugun (by Toaplan), DonPachi is considered to be one of the progenitors of the shooting game sub-genre known as "bullet hell". It also features a man named "Bob" as the primary VO of the game, and we love him very much.

DonPachi was originally released in the arcades in 1995. It was later ported to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn home consoles. (The ports of DonPachi are considered inferior to the PCB / arcade version of the game, and are typically not played for score.)

DonPachi was followed up with DoDonPachi in 1997, leaving CAVE's mark on the shooting game world.

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THE SWEET TASTE OF VICTORY?

Gameplay Overview

DonPachi is a three-button shooter (although the C button is turned off by default, and can be enabled in the dipswitches in service mode).

There are six stages in the game, with a second loop beginning at the end of stage six. Upon reaching the end of the second loop, the player will fight the True Last Boss, Taisabachi.

• A (Press): Fires the standard "spread" Shot weapon
• A (Hold): Fires the ship's "focus" Laser weapon (also surrounds the player with an Aura that deals equivalent damage to the Laser)
• B: Releases a Bomb, clearing the screen of bullets and dealing massive damage to enemies on screen
  • When pressing B by itself, the player will release a Spread Bomb, which damages everything on screen
  • When pressing B while holding A, the player will release a Laser Bomb, which fires a massive laser blast from the ship that deals extremely high damage to anything in its path
• C: Auto-fire for the player's standard Shot

References

1. Primary info provided by CHA-STG