Rarely do I get a chance to play something which totally stuns me. The only games that have knocked me off my feet similarly would be playing Star Wars in the arcade in 1983, the first time I played Super Mario Bros in 1987, and more recently, after five credits of Ketsui over at Dave's house when I got the pcb in the mail during lunch at work.
DFK already has a hold on me so tightly that I am thinking of selling off my prized Cinelli Supercorsa pista to try and cop a pcb! Not only is the game fun and graphically beautiful, but the scoring system, chaining and music are all top notch.
The first few credits I played I just blindly choose a ship, shot type and went to town. I made it halfway through stage five on my first credit - then I noticed brentsg had set the pcb to difficulty 1 with the max ship stock (5). I reset the system to default settings and started playing ship C, power type and just fell in love. The lack of bombs is a little disconcerting at first and you hate the autobomb right off the bat, but the truly amazing thing is that you can play this game anyway you want.
Each ship type has good and bad, just like previous DDP titles, each shot type - bomb, power and strong - have their benefits. Unlike older DDP titles, the chaining is fluid and fun and becomes addictive like any good scoring system. It requires less memorization and allows for more seat-of-the-pants chaining, which helps you to learn and enjoy the game right off the bat.
I have enjoyed learning this game more than any other STG in recent memory, including Ketsui.
I set this high score at 968,405,432 after playing it this afternoon, trying to play for distance more than score and died off about a third of the way through stage 4.
It is an easier game than previous DDP titles, but more fun as well. I really do hope the port this to the 360. It'd certainly give me a reason to buy one!
4 comments:
Jealous...much!
Can't wait to see this at the meet! But do you really see this kicking Ketsui out of my heart and taking its place there?
I know I only spent a few months with Ketsui, but that only secured my love for that game!
I gather from your first impressions that DFK combines an approachable difficulty with the desire to become masterful at chaining? I can see where that could be a lot of fun, but I guess I will just have to wait and see if this game is going to grab a hold of me and never let go.
Hmm - taking the place of Ketsui in your heart - maybe not, but you'll like it most likely. In fact, most Cave fans should love this game.
The chaining + bullet canceling + hyper management + shot type management is really where all the fun is at. You have to think and plan and strategize as you go and it happens way more fluidly than any other Cave title I can think of.
Just an awesome game - big props to brentsg for the loaner! (should have mentioned that in the post)
Ah man, you got the dig in for the difficulty settings.
When my kids play DFK I set the difficulty low and the ships to max so they can do better. With that plus the autobomb they REALLY have fun!
I really think DFK is the perfect game to own in a cab at home. The game's got something for everyone. I -can- see how it might get tedious for masters though, since they are playing for the second loop.
P.S. The green helicopter rocks!
I agree. It pretty much caters to every type of player below master STGer status.
I know the score is low as well and I hope to rectify that soon. I did just finally read up on chaining/hyper scoring and realize I was missing a big part of scoring. Soooooooo fun - thanks again brentsg!
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