Kaikan

Kaikan

Kaikan is a doujin PC SHMUP released in 2013 by Zakichi, who has released several games under the name ©-kigekiyahonpo-. The game is inspired by Raizing games where medal collection occurs, but with a focus on vacuum effects on medals instead of needing to collect them by touching them like in a Raizing game. The game was created solely within Shooting Game Builder and features royalty free music from various artists to fill in the game's soundtrack.

Gameplay Overview

Controls

Kaikan is a 3-button game as follows:

• Fire: This is what you press to deploy the fire of your main and subshots.

• Bomb: This is what you press to deploy a bomb when the bomb meter is full.

• Focus: Holding this button shows the ship hitbox and alters properties of the subshot for whichever ship you select.

Ships

All ships have a standard forward shot, the ship picked determines what kind of subshot is powered up along the way.

Ship	Sprite	Speed	Weapon	Focus	Overview
Type A		5/6	Napalm	Tightens subshot spread for a focused attack	Pros: Fast Ship with high damage Can change sub to be slightly wider or focused with proper use of Focus. Cons: Lingering subshot can make for harder chain timings due to needing to let off the shot for longer to collect medals Has the worst capabilities of dealing with enemies on it's sides due to the focused nature of it's kit
Type B		4/6	Wideshot	Engages subshots to fire forward in a 4-line formation	Pros: Most balanced ship in the game, no major flaws and can handle any situation Wide shot covers entire screen, focus lets it get better damage on smaller targets or specific spots Subshot ends quickly to allow for quick easier medal collecting
Type C		3/6	Homing	Puts a target on the field while held, Homing shot directs towards the held target	Pros: Homing subshot lets players concentrate solely on dodging while having good medal collection due to the subshot not lingering Unique shot strategies in tandem with use of Focus. Cons: Overall very weak, loses out on bonus waves other ships would see Has to score completely differently from the other ships due to it's abnormal kit
Type D		2/6	Fire	Slows span of fire pillars from 180 degree fan to 90 degree fan	Pros: Fire Pillars hit wide and pierce through anything Being able to have unfocused + focused fire pillars simultaneously gives the ship versatility. Cons: The slower speed of the ship can be a detriment in some areas. Big damage with this ship requires being close to enemies and stacking fire pillars for optimal destruction
Type E		6/6	Blast	Prevents subshot from swaying while moving left/right	Pros: Fastest ship and highest damaging ship in the game Due to it's high damage, has access to unique bonus waves only it can reach Cons: Due to the destructive power of it's subshot, one would need to let off Fire longer in order to preserve medals and not lose chains Lack of side coverage and the ship's extreme speed makes it have a harder time in stage 5
Type F		1/6	Ball	Freezes balls in place	Pros: A tanky ship capable of covering the screen in a storm of firepower Balls will erase enemy bullets and can take several hits before disappearing. Letting go of fire returns balls to the ship and heals them. Cons: The major lack of speed turns into a hindrance when simply collecting ground medals or dodging some attacks If any balls take too much damage and disappear, that means the ship will lose a power level as balls are tied to power level

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Powerups =

Periodically there will be bigger enemies that will drop power ups when shot. The player starts the game with no sub weapon, but each powerup collected will raise your sub weapon level by 1, capping at 4. Dying lowers your power level by one.

Medals

There are four types of medals the player will see in Kaikan:

• Enemy Medals: The most common medals the player will see. These will spawn from structures that are shot at and from enemies destroyed with main and subshot. Collecting these will increase the item rank a bit per Enemy Medal. Letting off the Fire button will vacuum these medals to the player and will be collected as long as the player does not press fire again too quickly before the medals reach the player.
• Ground Medals: There are seven hidden Ground Medals in each stage. These look like rounded shields and can only be uncovered if shot at long enough with the main shot or if a bomb hits them, and are worth an amount depending on your current item rank. Once uncovered, the player has to collect the ground medal by flying over it.
• Bomb Medals: These look like a warrior's shield and will spawn from enemies or bullets destroyed with a bomb and are collected automatically. These will not increase item rank.
• Boss Destroy Medals: These look like cross shaped medals and only spawn from bullets cancelled when a boss is destroyed. These can only be picked up directly by flying into them.

Count

Count is shown on the right side of the screen, and tells how many medals you have collected in the stage. This slowly subtracts during boss fights. This acts as an end stage multiplier, where when a boss is killed, you earn (Boss Value x Count) Score.

Item Rank Values

Kaikan features an item rank system for medal point value, the higher your rank the more medals will be worth when spawned from destroyed enemies.

• G Rank: 10 Pts, (Ground Medal = Count x 100)
• F Rank: 50 Pts, (Ground Medal = Count x 110)
• E Rank: 100 Pts, (Ground Medal = Count x 120)
• D Rank: 500 Pts, (Ground Medal = Count x 130)
• C Rank: 1000 Pts, (Ground Medal = Count x 140)
• B Rank: 5000 Pts, (Ground Medal = Count x 150)
• A Rank: 10000 Pts, (Ground Medal = Count x 200), A Rank medals collected add +2 to the Count per medal instead of 1.

Item rank is visually displayed by the colored bars that sit on the sides of the screen and indicated by letter on the left side of the screen. Collecting medals will increase item rank and add to your total Count number visible on the right side of the screen. Collecting medals also contributes to a bomb meter that shows on the bottom of the screen.

Bombs

Bombing will spawn additional big medals from enemies destroyed with the bomb and converts any enemy bullets on screen during the bomb duration into big medals as well. These big medals are worth (Current Item Rank Point Value x 5) amount of score and also give (Item Rank Count Value x 5) number of Count. Enemy Medals and Bomb Medals spawned due to the bomb usage will be autocollected to the player. If a bomb is in stock and the player gets hit, rank will drop to G Rank and the bomb will be expended and act as a one use shield.

Bosses

Destroying a stage boss will turn all enemy bullets on screen into gigantic medals that are worth (Current Item Rank Point Value x 10).

Item Rank Drop

Item rank will reset to G Rank anytime the player shields, the player loses a life, or when an Enemy Medal flies off the screen at the bottom.

Warning Assist

The entire playfield of the game does not fit into one screen, so there are moments that medals can spawn on sides the player might not be able to see at the current moment. Anytime there are off-screen medals, big orange arrows appear on the left or right of the screen to warn the player that there are medals off screen in that direction.

Negative Penalty

When the fire button is not held down, any Enemy Medals on screen will be vacuumed to the player and collected. If the player fires too soon before these vacuumed medals are collected, they will dim and go down one level. This is a cosmetic warning for the player to not repeat this mistake with the same medals again. If the player makes this mistake twice for the same Enemy Medal(s) they will turn into a rusty red color, lose their item rank bonus value, and no longer vacuum to the player. The player will need to pick up these red tinted medals by flying directly into them before they fall off the screen.

Extends

An Extend is given to the player at 100M Score and then every 200M Score after the 1st. There are also two hidden extends:

• In the middle of stage 3 after the lake portion, there is a giant rock in the middle of the screen that takes some firepower to destroy. Destroying this rock uncovers a swarm of robotic bugs that try to fly away, you must quickly destroy all of these bugs as they appear and an E Flag for an extend will appear in the center of the rock source.
• In stage 5, you must have an A Rank while at the Turret Wall. An E Flag will appear in the lower right corner of the Turret Wall during this section.

Strategy

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The player will start at G Rank at the beginning of each stage, the main goals in each stage:

• Hit A Rank as soon as possible and never get hit - This is the most straight-forward objective, shoot structures and enemies down and collect the Enemy Medals they drop to increase Item Rank.

• Destroy enemies quickly to spawn extra waves whenever possible.

• Use bombs strategically so that enemy destruction and bullet cancellation is maximized as much as possible for more Bomb Medals.

• Destroy boss parts with optimal timings and as many bullets on screen as possible to maximize bomb recharges. KO Bosses when lots of bullets are on screen and maximize Boss Medal collection. The point values earned from taking time on bosses to go for maximum bullet cancels outweighs the Count value lost during a boss fight.

Gallery

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