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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Cave, a shoot-'em-up developer assembled from the ashes of Toaplan, was preparing to fold in 2001. The arcade scene was moving in new directions, relying on increasingly ostentatious Taikan cabinets to compete with the emerging technology of home consoles. For Cave, the 2D shoot 'em up, no matter how unerringly creative, was struggling to make the bottom line sing, and it was in large part thanks to Taiwanese company IGS that they survived another decade. Cave was so impressed with IGS's PolyGame Master arcade hardware and the bastard Donpachi entry they had created for it, that they licensed the tech to have one last charge - events that would deliver DoDonpachi DaiOuJou, its suffix loosely translating as “blissful death”.

Tsuneki Ikeda, lead programmer, video game auteur, and then the company’s public face, lamented that he could never make anything as impressive as Ikaruga. He was wrong. Over time, DaiOuJou stands not only superior to Treasure’s polarising genre hybrid, but is considered by enthusiasts to be one of the greatest games ever coded. It’s the shoot-'em-up equivalent to Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo or SNK’s King of Fighters ’98: a signifying work that does not date, and compels people decades on to play for fresh achievements. In 2015, at Shanghai’s Lie Huo arcade, the expert DaiOuJou players casually ripped through its two loops like tin foil, cigarettes dangling idly from their mouths. When questioned, all were unanimous in citing it as the apex of the bullet-hell sub-genre. And they were right. Although its difficulty is a high bar, learning to play it is also to understand its genius.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Simple in premise but ocean-deep in strategic nuance, its two loops are a demonstration of tremendous brutality married to pitch-perfect assembly. Its bullet patterns converge in multi-coloured layers; some aimed, some roaming, some impossibly dense, you lead them around the screen before doubling back to a safe haven amidst the storm, before that too becomes a collapsing iris of pink and blue. Like its predecessor, DoDonpachi (1997), this direct sequel features the same hidden bee medals, uncovered with a well-placed laser blast. But, where the former was rough and ready heavy metal, DaiOuJou is classically symphonic.

Now, in addition to your bomb stock, destroying enemies consecutively rewards you with Hyper Medals, which trail your craft until fired with the bomb button. The Hyper unleashes a limited-period laser of devastating magnitude, tearing up the screen and temporarily increasing the speed of enemy bullets. It’s one of the most exhilarating power-ups in all of gaming’s broad history, and is integral to scoring and survival. You don’t need to combo-kill every enemy in the game, of course, or grab every hidden bee icon, or even attempt to initiate the second loop: DaiOuJou’s adrenaline-infused rapture is equally prominent when simply played for survival. But, peel back the lid on its chaining, figure out how to bridge gaps, herd bullets, and win extra lives, and you tap into one of arcade gaming's most satisfying experiences.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

You can choose from one of three Elemental Doll characters, each with different shot and bomb stock properties, with varying pros and cons, who completely change the way you approach the game. DaiOuJOu is a cypher, decoded with reflex and mental acuity, a path that begins by learning not to fear the bullets. It takes dedication and repetition, but understanding the minuteness of your ship’s hitbox is the first step to enlightenment. Once you have a feel for the first stage and the power beneath your fingers, the experience morphs, opening up worlds that, in your credit-feeding days, lay dormant. Nobody claims it's easy, but by applying the simple discipline of ignoring continues to improve your play, you can tame this 20-minute onslaught in ways you never imagined. And that’s when the penny drops.

With every title in Cave’s catalogue a paragon of game design, one may wonder what really sets DaiOuJou apart. The difference may seem minimal, and to many its edge remains indistinct. Nevertheless, that edge is there, and the general consensus is that it’s all in the balancing. Whether intentional or by sheer luck, DaiOuJou has a purity that remains unmatched; a matter of simple aggression coupled with a perfectly augmented difficulty curve. It runs deep, too, with route chaining for hidden bees interplaying heavily with survival, and the framework of its boss battles being exceptionally well-wrought. Aesthetically, it's seductive, its opening neon Lunarpolis and desolate interplanetary locales brought to bleak life by Manabu Namiki’s timeless, haunting score and thundering bass lines.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

M2’s Shottriggers series has undoubtedly been building up to this point. Ever in touch with the hardcore, this is by far the definitive DoDonpachi DaiOuJou release to date. The usual screen gadgets are here and better than ever, bordering the display and offering indispensable information on hidden bees both uncovered and missed, second loop availability, energy bars for the mid-bosses, and so much more. They have also whipped up new optional in-game art, a superb arranged soundtrack, and compiled a staggering library of seven different versions of the game.

The arcade original is present and correct, accompanied by Cave’s Black Label reworking, which moderates Hyper drops to be more plentiful, subtly rebalances the difficulty, fixes some minor bugs, and allows you to carry lives into the second loop rather than having them cruelly stripped away. Additionally, DoDonpachi III appears on console for the first time, a lost international version that never saw a proper release. Featuring English text endings, it’s essentially a modified version of Black Label, tweaking the score bonus maximum and the acquisition of life extends in loop two, amongst others.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

The rest is all M2’s doing, a rich set of four outstanding revisions. Super Easy Mode may be a cakewalk for veterans, but it’s pitch-perfect for newcomers trying to feel out the game’s processes. Finishing it without losing a life and collecting all the bees is an incredibly enjoyable pursuit for all skill levels, and a relaxing way to cut loose.

Beyond this, M2 have, remarkably, produced three individual arrange modes for each of the game’s Elemental Doll characters, each playing totally differently. Shotia’s arrange is clever. She has no laser, no bombs, and score chaining is gone. Instead, she expends a stream of deliciously devastating Hyper fire, ripping up anything in its path. While it's initially very easy, you need to keep an eye on the Hyper Rank gadget, which runs 0 to 15. At its max, bullets are increased in number and speed, and the rank is only reduced by dying. It’s still the easiest of the three arrange modes, but incredibly fun to blast through.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Leinyan, the intermediate doll, maintains her regular weaponry, locked in at maximum power, and can bullet cancel like crazy by destroying larger enemies and landmasses. With increased bullet swarms, it’s endlessly exciting, and feels fantastic to steer into.

Finally, EXY, the arcade’s expert Doll, has a literal bullet tsunami heading her way from the get-go: ever-descending curtains that need to be constantly herded and cancelled out of existence. It’s gloriously epic and completely enrapturing in that, despite its insanity, it remains easier than the vanilla arcade game owing to a steady string of extra lives. For fans and newcomers alike, beyond what is already a stellar collection of perfect arcade ports, these additional modes are a fascinating treat, presenting wholly new ways to play and new achievements to shoot for.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

With its greatest package to date, M2 has outdone itself. Rich in essential features and bonuses, replay saves, challenges and trophies, artwork and sound galleries, granular screen adjustments, a smart training mode, online leaderboards, and more, Re:Incarnation is the ultimate tribute to Ikeda's masterwork.

Conclusion

Tasked with saving a business rather than allow it a peaceful death, DoDonpachi DaiOuJou strove for excellence back in 2002, and achieved its goal. Whether fuelled by desperation or a desire to one-up the competition, the balancing and execution here comes closer to perfection than any other in the bullet-hell sub-genre. When you tap into its rhythm and begin to bend the game to your will, Hypers raining down, giant lasers decimating the screen amidst an epic hell-storm, it’s poetry: the kind of unbroken euphoria and beat-by-beat accomplishment that gaming was created for. And, if a game can be played infinitely, its power and genius never diminished, its achievement never lessened, when does a 10 stop being a 10? Never.

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