dodonpachi maximum

Give your eyes some million bullets to follow on-screen, DoDonPachi Maximum goes on sale

Submitted by Rich Edmonds on Mon, 06/03/2013 - 10:52

The popular shooter game for Windows Phone, DoDonPachi Maximum is now on sale. The title is currently exclusive for Windows Phone 7.x hardware, leaving those who have upgraded to new hardware to find other titles to quench the thirst for bullets, bullets and more bullets. If you've not played DoDonPachi Maximum before, now is a perfect opportunity to get stuck in and see just how far you can progress.

What is missing from Windows Phone 8? About 20 Xbox games that no longer work.

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Wed, 11/28/2012 - 21:02

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Yesterday’s delisting of Turn N Run – literally the night before our review went live, and only six days after the game’s release – highlights a large and ongoing problem in the world of Xbox Windows Phone games. Since the debut of Windows Phone 8, incompatibility with the new OS has been discovered among a number of Xbox WP7 titles. Each of these games has been completely delisted from the web version of the Windows Phone Store, and either partially or fully removed from Store searches on actual Windows Phones.

Read on to learn what games have been affected so far, and how Microsoft may be mishandling the Windows Phone 8 incompatibility issues in more ways than one.

Dodonpachi Maximum update now live but partially broken

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Fri, 10/26/2012 - 17:22

Earlier this week, CAVE revealed that former Windows Phone 7-exclusive shoot-em-up Dodonpachi Maximum would be coming to iOS today. While I fretted about that, as I always do when our platform loses a precious exclusive game, I also noted that the WP7 version would soon receive a patch adding the same new features promised in the iOS game. And now it has; the Dodonpachi Maximum version 1.2 patch launched today, the same day the game went multiplatform. There's just one little problem...

Dodonpachi Maximum jumps spaceship to iOS this week

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Tue, 10/23/2012 - 07:23

Platform exclusivity isn’t what it used to be these days. Several Windows Phone-exclusive Xbox games have moved to iOS in the past, including Kinectimals, Tentacles, Rocket Riot, Max and the Magic Marker, and more. Microsoft has even published Halo Waypoint and Xbox Live companion apps for Apple's competing platform. We can now add WP7’s sole Japanese-developed exclusive to that list as well. Dodonpachi Maximum from CAVE hits iOS on October 26.

DoDonPachi Maximum's forthcoming "easy" update gets detailed for Windows Phone

Submitted by Daniel Rubino on Tue, 10/02/2012 - 15:33

Speaking for ourselves, we love DoDonPachi Maximum (see our review)—it’s fast, it has great graphics, it’s challenging as hell and we love the ‘Presented by…Cave!” at the beginning.

Having said that, let’s focus on the “challenging as hell” part. Yes, the game is hard and even overwhelming for some. For old school ‘shoot ‘em up’ fans, it’s great. For casual gamers though, it’s just often too hard.

The good news is the folks behind the popular title, that’d be the aforementioned Cave, have a big Windows Phone update in the works that will practically re-invent the game for many of you.

Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: Go To Games

Submitted by George Ponder on Fri, 09/14/2012 - 08:15

Windows Phone Central's Roundup of Go To Games

This week's Roundup deals with Go To Games for your Windows Phone. For the lack of a better term, Go To games are the ones that always find their way on to your Windows Phone and really never grow old. These games are amongst your favorites but always seem to rise to the top of that list. They are the games you go to for entertainment that are great time wasters that never disappoint.

The Windows Phone Central staff were polled on which two gaming titles are their Go To Games. We see a lot of games come and go on our Windows Phones but these titles seem to always be around. The Roundup contains a wide range of games that include a beauty salon, chickens and rainbows as well as a healthy selection of Xbox Live titles.

Xbox Live - Dodonpachi Maximum update details

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Fri, 07/20/2012 - 18:50

Games often receive title updates when they have major glitches or bugs that need squashing. But sometimes updates just make little tweaks for other reasons. Such is the case with this week’s Dodonpachi Maximum update.

Windows Phone Xbox Live Review: DoDonPachi Maximum

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Wed, 04/04/2012 - 08:19

Japanese developer CAVE is almost singe-handedly responsible for keeping the shoot-em-up genre alive in modern times – they have produced over 15 such titles since their formation in 1995. CAVE’s very first game, DonPachi, has also proved to be the most enduring, spawning many sequels under the DoDonPachi moniker. None of the DoDonPachi console ports have made the trip to the US, but DoDonPachi Resurrection was at least released as a region-free Xbox 360 title in the UK. Thankfully, CAVE has taken to publishing their games on smartphones in the US – first releasing a handful of DoDonPachi titles on iOS, and now launching DoDonPachi Maximum for Windows Phone worldwide. Hardcore shmup fans will certainly enjoy Maximum, but the game’s esoteric design will leave some gamers scratching their heads, if not flinging their phones in frustration.

Xbox Live Developer Interview: CAVE, makers of Dodonpachi Maximum

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Sun, 03/25/2012 - 09:47

Dodonpachi Maximum recently arrived on Xbox Live and is currently wowing hardcore gamers with its old-school design and difficulty. It’s also notable for being the first mobile Xbox Live title developed exclusively by a Japanese developer: CAVE Interactive CO, Ltd. Windows Phone needs more Japanese games; hopefully CAVE’s support encourages others to follow suit. WPCentral is proud to bring you a new installment of our Xbox Live Developer Interview series as we speak with Hiroyuki Kimura, Dodonpachi Maximum’s producer. Enjoy this rare look into the development of a shoot-em-up.

Gaze at DoDonPachi Maximum's nigh-impossible secret Xbox Live Achievements

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Wed, 03/14/2012 - 16:02

DoDonPachi Maximum may be the hardest mobile Xbox Live title to date – it’s certainly right up there with Doodle Jump and Gravity Guy, at any rate. Most gamers won’t be able to get even 100 GamerScore of Achievements from Cave’s latest shoot-em-up, to say nothing of the two secret Achievements. The method of unlocking those two Achievements has remained clouded in mystery… Until now.

You see, Japanese gamers are known for being the most highly-skilled shmup players. One such gamer, ele2424, was the first to earn DoDonPachi Maximum’s secret Achievements, and he has kindly chosen to share them with us now.

INFERNAL HERALD - 2GS
Destroyed ]-[I/34<#!.
DEFEATED - 3GS
Cleared all stages on all ranks.

The description for ‘Infernal Herald’ may be confusing. It’s actually for beating Hibachi, the traditional secret DoDonPachi boss. To reach the robotic bee, you’ll need to take down the regular boss of Stage 5-E, the hardest version of the fifth stage. Only then does Hibachi appear. Meeting and beating him will be no easy task – I personally can’t handle Stage 5-A, let alone the harder variants!

As for ’Defeated,’ players just have to beat all 15 stage variants. Again, very far from easy. As a small blessing, the extra goals of No Miss, Destroy 100%, and No Bomb don’t apply. You’ll still need to do 2 out of 3 of those things for most stages (excluding level 5) since that’s what unlocks the hard versions in the first place. But at least they don’t expect you to beat the last level without dying five times!

DoDonPachi Maximum is one of the first Japanese-developed games for Windows Phone. It costs $4.99 here on the Marketplace. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we’ll have an exclusive interview with the developer CAVE Interactive CO, Ltd.

Thanks and arigatou to ele2424 for the Achievement details!

Xbox Live - DoDonPachi Maximum unleashes bullet hell on the Windows Phone Marketplace

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Wed, 03/07/2012 - 00:47

It’s been a long time in coming – Japanese developer Cave first announced their exclusive shooting game for Windows Phone way back in July. Many months later, DoDonPachi Maximum has finally debuted on Xbox Live.

DoDonPachi Maximum is a vertically-scrolling shoot-em-up that borrows elements from previous games like DoDonPachi Resurrection. The twist is that the entire game is supposed to be a computer simulation, so the backgrounds and enemies have all been given a retro graphics makeover. At the start, you select from two different ships, each with its own weapons and abilities. Tip: the Delta Sword kills bosses much faster. Two more ships are supposedly unlockable, but I shudder to think about the requirements for doing so…

Gameplay is simple – touch anywhere on the screen and drag to move your fighter (which shoots automatically). I find that a centimeter or so below the ship works best. As you kill enemies, your laser bombs will charge up. To fire one, touch the screen with two fingers at once. It’s a fine control system and necessary for weaving between the enemies’ many, many bullets. Check out our preview video to see it in action, or this video to sample the soundtrack.

Warning: DoDonPachi Maximum is hard. In fact, it’s harder than I just said. It will take tons of practice to complete the game – the last level is actually punishment for treason in some countries. The Achievements are even more challenging; I expect only a handful of people in the world will ever get them all.

If that sounds good to you, you’re going to love Cave’s DoDonPachi Maximum. Get it right here on the Marketplace for $4.99.

Sneak Peek at this week's Xbox LIVE game for Windows Phone: DODONPACHI MAXIMUM [Video]

Submitted by Daniel Rubino on Tue, 03/06/2012 - 09:57

With about 18 hours before this week's Xbox LIVE game goes live for y'all to download, we figured we would tease you a little bit with some gameplay from DODONPACHI MAXIMUM. Yes, it's in all caps because this game is yelling at you...with bullets.

What can we say about this game?

It's $4.99
It's Japanese, from studio Cave
It's ridiculously crazy, fun and challenging
May induce seizures

Yeah, we like it even if it's going to take time to get good at. This is the kind of game where you can just pick up, blast away and pray you last longer than the last time you did. We're digging the graphics and all the little details throughout, meaning you should get a little excited about this is if shumps are your thing. (And yes, I'm still suffering from a head cold from Barcelona, hence why I sound sick, ahem).

Look for the Marketplace link later tonight right here at WPCentral to try it yourself...

Check out the sights and sounds of DoDonPachi Maximum [Xbox Live]

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Mon, 03/05/2012 - 07:59

As we mentioned last week, Japanese developer Cave’s new shoot-em-up DoDonPachi Maximum comes to Xbox Live this Wednesday. To help promote it, Cave has opened up the game's official site. It's packed with new screens, details, and even a soundtrack sampler video.

As the teaser video hinted, Maximum is supposed to be a virtual reality simulator within the DoDonPachi universe. We had already anticipated that it would be a best-of remix of classic series stages and enemies – and indeed this version is based on DoDonPachi Blissful Death and DoDonPachi Resurrection, both of which debuted in arcades before transitioning to iOS. The music from those games has been remixed by WaSi303 and sounds great.

The graphics will take some getting used to, though. Backgrounds seem to consist of simple wireframes while enemies are rendered in GameBoy-esque dot matrix patterns. Previous games featured much more detailed visuals, making this look like a budget title in comparison. Still, gameplay is what counts and that’s one area in which Cave always delivers.

DoDonPachi Maximum arrives on Wednesday, March 7 and will cost $4.99.

DoDonPachi Maximum flies to Xbox Live next week

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Thu, 03/01/2012 - 15:32

Speak of the devil! Just yesterday we were sharing the DoDonPachi Maximum teaser trailer, and now it’s going to be next week’s Xbox Live release. Yes, Cave’s Windows Phone-exclusive shoot-em-up comes to the Marketplace on Wednesday, March 7.

The game’s official description:

Dodge and destroy your way through 15 unique stages routes that branch according to your skill. Accurate touch controls guide your ship with ease. Touch the screen with two fingers to activate the all-powerful "Laser Bomb" and clear the screen of enemies! Unlock new ships to beat the game with! Blast your way to a full achievement list. This is bullet hell in the palm of your hand!

DoDonPachi Maximum, the first Japanese-developed mobile Xbox Live game, will cost $4.99. Shmup fans, prepare to enter bullet hell on March 7. The week after that, Gerbil Physics!

DoDonPachi Maximum trailer teases bullet hell shooting on Xbox Live for Windows Phone

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Wed, 02/29/2012 - 10:22

Japanese shoot-em-up maker Cave officially announced DoDonPachi Maximum for Windows Phone last month, but they didn’t reveal any assets besides the game’s logo. Now we have a bit more to go on thanks to a teaser trailer.

The trailer reveals a bit of cinematic art – unlike some shmups, the DoDonPachi series has always had something of a story surrounding the arcade-style gameplay. It’s also subtitled by someone who clearly doesn’t speak English as a first language... The translation should give the game a distinctly Japanese flavor when it finally makes it to the Marketplace.

A bit of background: DoDonPachi is Cave’s most popular shmup series. It’s your basic vertically-scrolling bullet hell shooter, packed with intense gameplay and large, impressive bosses. Strangely, the only American release up until now has been the excellent iPhone version, DoDonPachi Resurrection. The Xbox 360 version of DoDonPachi Resurrection did come out in Europe though, and it’s mercifully region free, so it will play on US consoles. Resurrection’s European publisher, Rising Star Games, recently opened a US branch and promised to release another Cave shoot-em-up, Akai Katana, in both Europe and North America.

DoDonPachi Maximum doesn’t have a release date yet, but it will cost $4.99. That’s not a bad deal considering its iOS predecessor goes for $7.99.

DoDonPachi Maximum officially coming to Xbox Live

Submitted by Paul Acevedo on Tue, 01/24/2012 - 00:59

Way back in July, WPCentral first reported that Japanese developer Cave would be developing a Windows Phone exclusive shoot-em-up game. But we only knew the genre, not the name of the game or much else. At last, Cave has officially announced DoDonPachi Maximum for Windows Phone.

DoDonPachi is Cave’s most popular shmup series. It’s your basic vertically-scrolling bullet hell shooter, packed with intense gameplay and large, impressive bosses. Strangely, the only American release has been the excellent iPhone version, DoDonPachi Resurrection. The Xbox 360 version of DoDonPachi Resurrection did come out in Europe though, and it’s mercifully region free, so it will play on US consoles.

While the DoDonPachi Maximum teaser website has gone live, it’s still scant in the way of details. We do know it will be an Xbox Live game with tough-as-nails Achievements. If the iOS version is any indication, expect a $6.99 price. Some folks will never be happy paying more than a handful of pennies for a phone game, and I doubt they will care for Maximum. But shmup fans are used to paying $50+ to import Cave’s games, making the phone versions a steal by comparison.

We’ll have some exclusive details on DoDonPachi Maximum in the weeks to come, so stay tuned!