"This is the way we do it!"

In March of 1997, a non-stop shooter appeared that made even hardcore players moan in pain. It's name is Dodonpachi. Why is it so hot? Why does it make one so addicted? It was developed by Cave, by a staff made up of previous Toaplan members who continually put out famous shooters one after another. No doubt this is where the secret of the fun lies. Now let's take a look at their latest work.

Interviewers: RED, MVP, Kouji (April 1997 at Atlus Head Office)

-First, can you both, IKD-san and Kouyama-san, tell us what parts you were in charge of with previous games, and of course with Dodonpachi?

IKD: Games I was in charge of, including back when I was with Toaplan, include V-V, Batsugun, Donpachi, and Dodonpachi. For Dodonpachi I was in charge of the progression from planning to production, as well as ship turning and enemy placement, which Kouyama-san and I did half and half.

Kouyama: I worked on two projects, Batsugun and Dodonpachi. On Dodonpachi I was mainly in charge of character and boss programming.

-Can you tell us about the complete process?

IKD: We started planning around February of last year, and began development soon after. Then around November we finally did a location test with a version that had up to stage 5. We finished with stage 6 and the 2nd loop just before this years AOU show. We struggled to get that last version out.

-I believe the version we recieved included up to stage 4 of the second loop. At that time, was that considered as high as it would go?

IKD: Yes. In the beginning we intended to have the 2nd loop end with stage 4. Considering the difficulty and the transition from the first to the second loop, we thought stages 5 and 6 would be too intense.

Atlus Publicist: However, for various reasons we were delayed in making the master rom. During this period, we shrewdly had them put in the 2nd loop stages 5 and 6 (laughs).

IKD: We made the best of a bad situation.

-Thankfully that's the only part you made rough on our strategy columnist (laughs).

IKD: Sorry about that (laughs).

-Before we start talking about Dodonpachi, I'd like to ask about your previous game, Donpachi.

IKD: Donpachi was the first thing I worked on once I started at Cave. For the first one, I was thinking about making a shooter with the areas of expertise fostered at Toaplan. As such, it seems to have a very simple system at it's base, but is still deep and exhilirating.

Atlus Publicist: From Atlus' side, rather than having them make games of completely different genres, we wanted them to make shooters like those those crazy Toaplan ones. Sticking to that, we wanted something that would make people think that "Atlus is picking up where Toaplan left off!"

-And now two years have passed and Dodonpachi has been released. As a sequel, are there any newly established concepts?

IKD: Yes. For Donpachi, even though we wanted to make a product that was noticeabley "Toaplanish", that "Toaplanishness" had something that even now hasn't fully "digested" in me. Therefore, for Dodonpachi, while we carried over the system, the feel this time was made by ignoring it's prequel and putting in only elements we found most interesting.

-I think most Toaplan shooters have two types of firing in them. The fast kind of bullets that you would counter against, and the rather slow moving but plentiful bullets you would pass through. For the games that IKD-san has been involved with, I'd say there seems to be more of the latter.

IKD: I am personally no good against fast bullets. When I was a player, I was playing a bit of Tatsujin and Kyuukyoku Tiger, but moreso I found an appeal in Salamander. Even now I won't forget the shock of making it to the 2nd and 3rd loops (laughs). Dodging your way through a screen filled with bullets... I like that "tasting the bullet-dodging" feeling (laughs).

-I fully understand that. Dodonpachi also requires one to dodge his way through swarms of bullets.

IKD: I think the invigorating feeling of dodging the more abundant, but slower bullets is different, and even visually I think has more of an impact and can really show off a players abilities.