Cave Retrospective - Ch 7. DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou

[@yours_truly_]

I've been waiting for this one! Great job! Funny thing is that the retro futurist city of Dai Ou Jou is inspired by chinese cities, looking more like its out of a Wong Kar Wai film than Blade Runner, going well with the four guardians from chinese constellations. Whatever is the clip you showed while explaining the story, does a great job illustrating the setting. Just a important correction: Death Label is not really a regular DOJ with 1 credit limit, but a boss rush that has 2 hibachis in the end. Since took all this time until MON finally clear DOJ, it goes to show that Death Label is much harder than clearing regular DOJ 2-ALL with just one credit, since there are a bunch of known players who did it.

[@cat-pat8310]

Yeah, I discovered this tid bit about death label today. It just might be a good idea to show my video to a expert before I release it. These dumb mistakes get to me. 😅 Thanks for the correction, I'll pin this conversation.

[@yours_truly_]

@@cat-pat8310 Thank you! Happens to us all! I really dig your channel and, of course, hyped for the m2 port

[@wallruss5850]

Fallen Angels rules

[@cat-pat8310]

@@yours_truly_ You an I both!

[@AvalancheReviews]

I like how you thought you were just going to sneak that Parasite Eve song past me. Black label is definitely the most fun for me.

[@cat-pat8310]

What's funny about this, is that I KNEW if you watched this after our exchange on twitter, you'd make note of that. Thanks for watching Jared!

[@wolk_xeneder]

I feel like this is the first chronologically released game that I really loved out of the Cave shmups. And I certainly fell in love with its amazing soundtrack by Manabu Namiki, an absolute legend.

[@cat-pat8310]

Definitely. I'm excited to see his work in Ketsui. The first stage music gets me PUMPED.

[@KoncadeGaming]

Solid, was waiting where the igs backhistory was and boom here it is... Great video bro keep up the good work.

[@cat-pat8310]

Absolutely, thanks for the encouragement. 🙏

[@EngineerSTG]

Just in time for the M2 release!

[@cat-pat8310]

I had to get it out prior to that! 🤟

[@astreakaito5625]

I'm finally getting deeper into this gem with the switch and arcade version and I learned so much stuff I never knew about in all these years thanks to this video, thanks and fantastic review!!

[@antoniohenderson6090]

Well worth the wait! Even if i have to wait for the Switch port, this games soundtrack will keep me happy until then. Great Vid! 😊

[@cat-pat8310]

Thanks pal!

[@VinuShmup]

You did an amazing work mate, very interesting to watch as always! As everyone i'm waiting the amazing port by M2 🙏 and seeing this makes me want it even more 😁👍

[@cat-pat8310]

I appreciate that Vinu. 🙏 That's means a lot!

[@windup13ird60]

"Can they keep this up?" *Smiles in Ketsui"

[@cat-pat8310]

lol

[@truecauseofchaos]

DDP: DOJ is my favourite game. I haven't played it in several years now but it's my idea of perfection. The only game I got 100% of achievements on X360 and I was eventually able to 1CC the game. Great (and nostalgic) retrospective :)

[@cat-pat8310]

Props! And thanks for the kind words. 🙏

[@ScOULaris]

Wow. Now this is what I call content. You just earned yourself a subscriber! We need more video essays on Cave games on KZbin.

[@cat-pat8310]

Thanks! More to come! 🫡

[@nickogden5312]

The quality of your content is the same as someone with 1 mil subscribers man. I love how you’re doing all the cave games in order too, you’re the first person to do it like this that I know of. The shmup genre needs more coverage like this so thank you

[@cat-pat8310]

Wow. Thank you man. That's a really nice compliment. Something I like to do is take the bullet points, or the essence of a topic, and make it digestible for everyone else. That's why these videos are in this format. I just realized this recently but my personal friends who watch this start getting an itch to play these. It's kind of crazy how much of an influence this project has been. I'm really flattered by all of you guys.

[@perlichtman1562]

Just started watching but just wanted to say that I’m really glad you could cover it while we’re all waiting for the M2 STG port. :)

[@cat-pat8310]

Trust me, So am I. Thanks for the support!

[@SleeplessTVgames]

I'm only coming across this now but I'm glad I did, I've been on a CAVE binge for the last couple months. Keep it up man!

[@cat-pat8310]

Thanks pal 🙏

[@travisfranz703]

Got the Rerelease of this game on ps4 last month. Been playing it a few times a week in falling in love with it more and more, especially since that version has a rewind feature to learn the levels. I've been enjoying electric underground's content, but this gave me much more context for the series, in hell now I understand the difference between white and Black Label so thanks for that.

[@cat-pat8310]

When it comes to the mechanics and nuiances, that's definitely Electric Undergorund's lane haha. I'm glad I can offer something to the table despite not being a God at this genre. Thanks for the comment! 🙏

[@r9delta104]

I had recently just discovered this game and it's now legit like a top 5 favorite. The M2 ShotTriggers version for the Switch is AMAZING too.

[@silentrocco]

I‘ve been playing this absolute masterpiece on my iPhone, and the mobile version really plays incredibly well. I would even argue that touch screen controls are the most precise input method for shmups. Anyways, great retrospective of an outstanding game.

[@truelifedood300]

Glad to see Shadow forest get some love. It's up there on that soundtrack for me. Great video dude!

[@cat-pat8310]

Oh yeah. Yasanori Mitsuda is a legend. 🤟

[@remembershooting2064]

What a class vid. Instant sub, looking forward to working my way through your catalogue. DOJ is my all-time favourite shmup, still working on the clear, though!

[@cat-pat8310]

Thanks for the support and best of luck on the clear!

[@futureskeletons66669]

Brilliant! Found your channel today. Will make my way through everything.

[@johnnyheli]

Really good video as always. I love this series

[@cat-pat8310]

Appreciate you 🙏

[@KoncadeGaming]

That OST is God tier level.

[@cat-pat8310]

Manabu Namiki has a craft 👌

[@Opimusp]

I recently had my fifth child. so in recent years I have almost exclusively played shoot em up as time is something that I don't have a lot of. I have a lot of physical games for different consoles and a video game room. cave is the favorite but also toaplan, psykio, razer etc. I've been watching a lot of electric underground lately as he is filterless and is an ambassador in the shoot em up world. then I also look at shmpjunkie and bullet heaven. they are talented in another way. But I look forward to following you in the future and I am impressed by your videos. Regards Emil from Sweden

[@BamdTheBamd]

stage 3 was technically not meant to be full chained in white label. it's possible but not even the world record holder went for it, though recently spino discovered a strange glitch where shot bombing the midboss keeps your chain for some reason. black label made the link significantly easier by not removing the midboss' spikes upon death, letting you chain onto them you forgot to mention hypers also increase rank. the higher your hyper level and the more you use them, the more rank increases. they also don't drop during bosses unless if you have no bombs in stock. collecting bees raises hyper meter by 3-30% (20-200+ chain) and deaths restore it by 25%. also don't die in hyper mode or your max bombs won't increase thankfully this game removed stage 1. also most arcade shmups make the first two stages fairly easy and then it spikes in the third stage death label is the name of the boss rush mode in the ps2 port. white label was apparently beaten by 3 people in its first year while the boss rush took 7 years by MON, though it's not so much a challenge as it is a slot machine due to most of the "difficulty" lying with genbu and hibachi. the rest of the bosses have fixed rng and can be done the exact same way every run seiryu is easier but less consistent than genbu. genbu's final is a skill check while seiryu's third is very random to be specific black label doesn't actually have slower bullets than white label (it has a higher max rank so it technically has faster bullets) but rather it has more slowdown so it evens out. the main reason it's easier is its hitbox is 4x6 instead of 6x7 and you keep your resources going into loop 2 instead of losing them and having to no miss or no bomb a stage for an extend in theory i like 1 round mode but in practice it kinda falls flat because it's just loop 1 with hibachi at the end when instead it should've been loop 2, which is why i have a savestate starting from 2-1 hibachi is technically one of the easier tlb's. he requires no dodging at all if you have a good hyper setup but otherwise it's game over lol. still doesn't change the fact that it's a garbage boss that's either free or impossible glad i'm not the only one that doesn't like the xbox arrange ost, it doesn't compare to ps2's doj used to be my favourite but these days it's dangun. imo doj is slightly overrated: it has loops which are cringe, a trash tlb, stage 4 is hella random for scoring due to midboss and rails, and it also suffers from ikeda syndrome where you have to nmnb most of the game or your score tanks, a design philosophy that i heavily disagree with. it makes especially no sense in a game with resource checks such as hibachi. i have no idea why ikeda hates bombing only to put in terrible bosses with impossible patterns i got a no miss of this game's second loop up to hibachi which took me a year, probably like 200-300 hours, the longest i've ever spent on any video game challenge. i vividly remember reaching hibachi's final and for a brief period i actually wanted to throw the run right then and there cause it was meant to be my final shmup achievement so i felt i wasn't ready yet to say goodbye to what was at the time my favourite game of all time. fortunately i was sane enough to end my year long journey once and for all, but after finally seeing the end stage result and credits, i burst into tears. it was and still is the only time i've ever cried over beating a video game it's a massive shame that games nowadays are just interactive movies. whenever people discuss if video games are art they always seem to only talk story and never the gameplay. players and developers always seem to be chasing "the experience". nothing wrong with story driven games of course, but ironically i've found the most amount of meaning in a genre not exactly known for containing the most riveting stories. except i did actually get a story out of this genre. i'd always thought hard games weren't for me, but these last 5 years have taught me that with time and effort, i can do anything, and no matter how bad it gets or how grim it seems, it will get better in the end i will not die until i achieve something even though the ideal is high, i never give in therefore, i never die with regrets

[@SupersonicApollo]

Wow man your level of detail is on point. Love the editing, love the knowledge and straight up love the passion.

[@cat-pat8310]

Thanks pal. It means a lot. Honestly the encouragment and the growing subscribers gives me a sense of responsibility to keep pushing on.

[@Allyouknow5820]

Goddamn is that Ridge Racer Type 4 music I'm hearing? Absolute banger. Also, catching up on your season 2 right now and : I subbed! thanks for the hard work on the context parts, I'm sure trawling through the internet archive wayback machine takes you a bunch of time, but it's absolutely worth it!!!!!!

[@cat-pat8310]

Thanks! Appreciate the sub 🫡.

[@menhirmike]

Excellent video, thanks! There's two more ports that might be interesting. One is a port to iOS ("Blissful Death"), which adds touch controls. It's a drastically different experience because of that (probably much easier as well), but it's the complete game, and IMHO excellent on a phone. There is also a much older port on feature phones ("G-Mode") which is significantly less excellent, much slower, and IMHO not worth playing apart from the novelty of it - it's available on Steam and Switch (Japan eShop). But if you have an iPhone and $3, I would whole-heartedly recommend the iOS DOJ port while we're all waiting for the M2 port to finally release next month.

[@cat-pat8310]

I appreciate the comment! Thanks for the info!

[@wallruss5850]

I was fortunate enough to play black label for the first time on real hardware and lost my shit laughing at hibachi's boss fight

[@cat-pat8310]

Thats dope about playing Black Label on og hardware! And when oh yeah, it's STUPID hard. There's really no reason to get upset just due to the absurdity of it. 😂

[@kobekind]

I love the intro of the retros and as always great job!

[@cat-pat8310]

Thanks! I do my best 🤟

[@hyperboreen4854]

The PS2 Arrange soundtrack is the best one.

[@TheCrewExpendable]

Just in time for my lunch break!

[@opaljk4835]

I’ve had the Ps2 port for a few years. It plays great. Just got it for the ps4 tho and may also for the switch. Wouldn’t do that for any other game. Nice vid!

[@cat-pat8310]

I don't blame you! And thanks for watching! 🙏

[@TWKIC]

When I got my PS2 modded the first game I played was DoDonPachii Dai Ou Jou. That game put me in a trance!

[@cat-pat8310]

Thankfully, freemcboot and opl exists. Certainly helps that region barrier a bit!

[@lordmarshmal_0643]

17:50 Pico-8 is probably by far the best example I can think of to further back this claim I do hope though that M2 adds Steam to the port list, pretty much everyone has a Switch (I do too don't worry) but I'm still kinda reeling at the thought of buying a full PS4 just for Ketsui

[@DrBossKey]

Good stuff fella, thanks for the content. Perhaps, one day you'll do a retrospective on my game Interstellar Sentinel, it's as if "Einhander and DeathSmiles had a baby delivered by Dr. R-Type", ha!

[@cat-pat8310]

Awesome! I'm not sure how useful I would be in terms of analyzing the mechanics of the game. There are shmup players much better than I am, like Electric Underground. I can of course try out your game. But I don't know if my critique is going to be anymore than surface level 😅

[@DrBossKey]

​@@cat-pat8310 I love your passion and opinions. Interstellar Sentinel was made and tuned with streamer and content creators to be welcoming to the shmup genre. The dynamic difficulty with the monster trophy system allows me to still cater to higher skill levels while still being welcoming. I'm also available for dev commentary and Q&A if you want to make a little content around the game. I'll DM you.

[@chasepalumbo2929]

Great retrospective!!

[@Xonatron]

Greetings shmup fans!

[@travisshipley2609]

Killer break down. I was hoping you would touch on DOJ tamashi. I’ve been looking for some kind of info on that version. I have to board for it but there isn’t much out about it.

[@cat-pat8310]

I looked this up after you mentioned it, I think Doj Tamashi is the pgm 2 board, which is the footage I referenced from a youtuber called westtrade. Maybe you can get more info from his initial footage!

[@travisshipley2609]

I check out his video. I have the blue version as well. I know there is a red version floating around too. Not sure if they are board revisions or not. I know mine has a “easy” mode and a “normal” mode.

[@cat-pat8310]

@@travisshipley2609 Ahh gotcha. Yeah I'm not to sure then. You were the first person to bring up Doj Tamashi to me, sadly I don't know all that much about it. 😅

[@bop7901]

I love these videos. Hey Cat, speaking of Arika, have you looked into Tetris TGM? They struck gold there as well.

[@cat-pat8310]

Years ago (Had to be around 2011 or 2012) I saw gameplay of some wizard clearing Tetris Grand Master on Arika's channel. It's definitely dope and it's something I'll have to dig into at some point. I love arika, and thats because I love street fighter ex. It's hands down, my favorite fighting game.

[@bop7901]

@@cat-pat8310 Would love to hear your thoughts on their legacy sometime! Awesome work lately man

[@cat-pat8310]

@@bop7901 Honestly, I'd seriously consider this.

[@charlibiris]

Do ittttttt plz!!

[@Dying-chambers]

Hey Catpat! I want you to answer these questions: Which arrangement of the soundtrack is your favorite? (Mine is the M2 port arrange) Which song from the soundtrack is your favorite? (Mine is the stage 4 theme) Which remix of the boss theme is your #1? (Mine is the Ayako Saso remix)

[@Kalamari24]

That story sequence was vibey as hell- which anime did you use for the footage?

[@cat-pat8310]

Cowboy bebop the movie, Blade Runner Black Out, and Macross Plus was the some of the footage used 👌

[@Kalamari24]

​@@cat-pat8310thank you!

[@TheCrewExpendable]

When you cover DDP Resurrection, you of course have to use the soundtrack from Tupac: Resurrection.

[@cat-pat8310]

But is it worth the copyright strike??? 🤔 😂

[@MMM-yr4yd]

You're not quite correct about Death Label on the PS2. Death Label was a 2 loop boss rush mode, except the 1st loop was as hard as the 2nd loop in the normal game. It culminates in a double Hibachi fight. Totally insane.

[@cat-pat8310]

Another commenter brought this up earlier and I have it pinned in the comments. Appreciate the pointer!

[@weebnerdgaming4908]

Speaking of 2nd loops, odd that you didn't mention Progear also has 2nd loop and the final boss also has a new true final form despite your qualms about 2nd loops. Also about Manabu Namiki, check out Battle Garegga when you can, composed by him too. Or also Battle Garegga and Yagawa, because you will inevitably talk about Battle Garegga and Shinobu Yagawa when it's time to cover Ibara :P People often attribute the companies for a product's creation, but ultimately it's by the people the company employ. Last but not least, check out GG Aleste 3. Manabu Namiki composed and directed that game. Another interesting thing about people covering DOJ, people often don't mention that DOJ is the game that has setup CAVE's (or Ikeda's) addictions: Stage 5 BGM remixes / calls back the Stage 1 BGM, Black Label / update releases, at times named either Black Label, Ver 1.5, or both get released, and especially Hyper mechanic, which CAVE is still addicted to to this very day. Check out Touhou Gensou Eclipse. It still has Hyper and its Hyper works like Daifukkatsu. Yagawa? He didn't get Hyper system get hold of him.

[@85fabricio]

do a review of gozila pinball

[@davedesandro]

Banger of a video. Loved all the OST usage and editing. Thanks for putting so much work into these. Also - you can play DOJ on mobile. Of the Cave mobile games, this is probably the best one. Certainly not an arcade experience, but mobile feels like such welcoming lateral step for shumps its a shame they haven't taken off there.

[@cat-pat8310]

Thank you! I try my best to make the music relevant to whatever I'm talking about.

[@CrispyHands]

Waiting for dodonpachi sai dai ojou

[@benkai343434]

Amazing breakdown of the history of an amazing game, I actually own a model kit for the main fighter jet. Do you have a list of all the music you used in the video btw? I can recognize a handful of them but the rest are throwing me for a loop.

[@cat-pat8310]

Thanks for the kind words 🙏 You know, I thought I should start throwing in the tracks I use in the corner. Something to think over. When I get some time I'll take a look at my Doj project file and report what's on there, On the top of my head, I used a couple tracks from toonami's ost. Parasite eve, ridge racer r4, street fighter ex, and etc.

[@benkai343434]

@@cat-pat8310 thanks a bunch, and god bless.

[@cat-pat8310]

@@benkai343434 Daioujou - Strange Dance, Toonami - Ignition, Deadly Arts - Gouriki stage, Ehrgeiz - Elevator, Daioujou - Colorful rainbow, R4 - Motor Species, Daioujou - Mixed Melody, Chrono cross - Shadow forest, Daioujou - Grieving womb, Daioujou - East Asia, Front Mission 3 - The Government, Parasite eve - arise within you, Katana Zero - You will never know, Parasite Eve - Out of Phase, Mushihimesama futari - Setting off together, Deadly Arts - Heavy rough, Toonami - D B Remix, Front Mission 3 - City Japan, Street Fighter ex - Strange Sunset, Street Fighter Alpha 3 - Karin's theme, Pixelated autumn leaves - Jeremy Blake.

[@freewilliam93]

Im over 500 hours into playing this the past year and i bet ill still be playing it past the 1000 hour mark as well. But i will defeat hibachi!

[@paranoiadiary1807]

somebody pls tell me the song at 6:40 it sound so familiar

[@warmrollsforthetable]

just ordered this for switcj

[@cat-pat8310]

It's a banger!

[@standaman4578]

11:38 what's wrong with the boss music?

[@jaykelley103]

Which of these cave joints you gonna go for the 1cc in? Workin on a Dodonpachi 1-all myself

[@cat-pat8310]

Most likely, Mushihimesama Futari. It's my favorite Cave title.

[@jaykelley103]

@@cat-pat8310 hell yeah! I've heard great things about that one but havent been able to try it myself yet. Consider making a video about the process of 1CCing one of these danmaku. I've never seen a video chronicling the process and I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd be fascinated by a vid like that. Regardless of what you do, I'm looking forward to more of your videos. You really got a knack for this. Cheers!

[@cat-pat8310]

@@jaykelley103 I appreciate the encouragement! You could probably emulate this through MAME to give it a shot and the Japanese 360 version is region free!

[@MotWhinnana]

I'm not a big Cave player, so the criticism of the past videos doesn't mean anything to me. I just like that you're making shmup videos, period. Scoring and clearing is one thing, but sitting down to play in the first place is more important.

[@cat-pat8310]

Needed this comment. Thanks for the support 🙏

[@jonniefast]

such a good game my igs pgm may be retired soon🎉

[@cat-pat8310]

RIP to your pgm 🫡

[@jonniefast]

@@cat-pat8310 i have a nice upgraded ps4 arcade stick too 🥺🙏 i hope m2 did a killer job w/ the port

[@fuzzbear677]

So there won't be an English release 🎮🕹😀👍🏾

[@cat-pat8310]

Time will tell, but I don't think so. I know Ketsui got an English release, but that's digital only, the Japanese copy is physical.

[@crisoliveira2644]

So, no PC port announced? 😞I don't own today's consoles...

[@cat-pat8310]

There's always emulation!

[@crisoliveira2644]

@@cat-pat8310 I'm kind of a sucker for new content, but the 360 port runs well on emulator. re-arranged soundtrack, though, is it the same as the one on PS2? I don't remember the boss theme on that one being so awful. I think they are different, but I can't remember it. The first stage one, with the shamisen, is good, though. I hope they port it to the PC. I'd buy that on Steam. I remember someone at Cave saying they had problems getting the controls to work right on Windows and that stopped them from porting more games. Weird. I doubt they couldn't outsource the solucion to that.

[@no-cm5yq]

Its been months daddy, please fill me with ketsui 😢😢🥰😘

[@fuzzbear677]

So all Japanese games work on American PlayStation 4 so this is region free right oh yeah I think yeah PlayStation 4 All Foreign games work on there no matter what🎮🕹😀👍🏾👀

[@cat-pat8310]

Yep, it's region free!