| paleface [sys=PS2; cat=Shooter_Vert; reg=JPN] |
| | | Third in the manic, bullet-swarming bee series of tate-mode-havin' vertical shooters. I was a little surprised initially that the graphics don't seem to have taken advantage of all the color depth and graphical tricks you could get out of a PS2, even in 2D, but of course this is an arcade port from different hardware. It still looks great yet isn't a huge step over DoDonPachi, which is more of a testament to DDP's graphical achievement than anything else. Of course DOJ presents thicker bullet patterns, larger enemy sprites and even more mayhem at times onscreen, which could hardly have been thought possible.
Additionally, you can now opt for a third weapon loadout, one that gives you the best of both lasers and spread shots, but only one bomb. The chains can get longer than ever here and to help you out further you can get "Hyper" powerups that max out your bomb meter and, when activated, fire off a huge laser lasting for a set period of time that nearly fills half the screen with yellow/white/pink hot light. If you can string your Hyper bursts together you can get a truly impressive score, something that I have yet to achieve--in fact this game is so tough I may just go back and work through the previous two first before I try it seriously.
DOJ makes up for lack of additional modes in the first two games with extras a-plenty: there's the Simulation mode where you can adjust nearly every power setting in the game (I haven't messed with this yet), the Replay mode where you can either record and play back your own replays or watch some truly humbling pre-recorded replays of the levels, and the Death Label boss-rush mode where they give you full power and unleash you against boss after boss to see how many you can take down--really fun stuff. And as if all that weren't enough, you get a separate DVD with masterful replays of the entire game (haven't watched this yet). |
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