Together Retro: DoDonPachi

[noiseredux]

Yeah, using the normal bomb (not laser bomb) cancels all on-screen bullets into stars.

yup exactly... I almost never use the laser honestly, so anytime I have to bomb it's usually a normal bomb rather than laser bomb.

[mjmjr25]

timing bosses is tough for sure.. if you DO bomb the 2nd boss there's one of his "big sprays" (might be the first one???) that will turn into a bunch of big stars for instance.

Bullets turn into small stars.

You might be referring to the turrets, 2nd boss has (3) on each side and each is worth a large star, shoot those directly and the 10K star will drop. If you got a bunch from a bomb, odds are you got 2 or 3 and those turrets were already close to dead.

[noiseredux]

timing bosses is tough for sure.. if you DO bomb the 2nd boss there's one of his "big sprays" (might be the first one???) that will turn into a bunch of big stars for instance.

Bullets turn into small stars.

You might be referring to the turrets, 2nd boss has (3) on each side and each is worth a large star, shoot those directly and the 10K star will drop. If you got a bunch from a bomb, odds are you got 2 or 3 and those turrets were already close to dead.

when I do this correctly I get like a dozen or more big stars. Maybe it is from turrets. But like I said, it's a bunch of big stars not just 2 or 3.

[dunpeal2064]

you are probably killing the pods with a bomb while they are rotating?

Or you are cheating again

[pierrot]

I was restarting until I got it right everytime, but now Ill keep going as long as I at least hit 160 chain.

That's where I'm at now. Having a B of a time.

I imagine stage 2 could weild massive points, if you could somehow chain it all together, and stage 3 even moreso if you could chain and hold onto that max bonus.

I want to clear the loop before I start working on that though

Stage 2 can be chained all the way through, but I guess it's pretty difficult to do. The tank mini boss is a total douche to me, and usually breaks my chain just from the housing. If I could keep it going from there to the boss, I'd have a pretty good chain going.

[noiseredux]

you are probably killing the pods with a bomb while they are rotating?

I guess... maybe? I honestly have no idea because I usually try to NOT bomb the bosses at all. So this has just happened to me randomly while hitting the "oh shit! button" y'know? It wasn't anything I timed with any sort of strategy to know what I did.

[dunpeal2064]

At least you hit your "oh shit" button. If I have a maximum, I die with it

[mjmjr25]

I know what your talking about, I hit my "oh for pete's sake" button and got the same thing, 6-7 large stars on the right side, after I had already gotten 2 on the other side.

mjmjr25 - 9,512,880 - Stage 4 (boss) - 159 - Type A (shot) - PCB

...and the smallest sliver of improvement
mjmjr25 - 8,461,980 - Stage 4 (boss) - 116 - Type C (shot) - SAT-J

I'm completely stuck on stage 4 boss right now. Getting there w/3 lives and getting charge killed...don't know what to do, youtube time. He even charges through bomb attacks? Gaw.

Also, is anyone else not getting the 1up on stage 3? I only get it 1/2 the time...weird, no idea what I am and am not doing that sometimes it isn't there...

[ExedExes]

Also, on stage 2, there is a spot where you kill these 2 silver... things, and a thing in between them, followed by another thing that shoots a pink spread at you. When you kill him and fly over where he was, flowers will pop up. They are similar to the tan piggies in Batsugun, hovering near them will make your score skyrocket.

HISTORY.DAT from MAME again -

Flower bloom : There are a few places in the game you will meet flowers growing in ruins. If you fly near them they will bloom. This is more than just a joke of the graphic artist. It can reward you with a nice bonus score :
(each) flower blooming : 10 points per 1/60 sec.
+ your shots hit it : 510 points per bullet
+ your laser crosses it : 1,100 points per 1/30 sec

The more I play this, the more I am finding it to be extreamly well balanced between all play styles. The perfect example of risk/reward, from chaining, to bombing/keeping max bonus, to deciding what bees you can get without dropping chain... there is just so much goodness here.

This and Mars Matrix have been really good, balanced bullet hell shmups. Why can't more of them be like this?

[jepjepjep]

Also, is anyone else not getting the 1up on stage 3? I only get it 1/2 the time...weird, no idea what I am and am not doing that sometimes it isn't there...

I don't always get the 1up either. Someone posted earlier that you have to take out the side pods of the large battleship with your laser.