personally, I think that chaining in DonPachi is more difficult than in Dodonpachi, but haven't played more than 2 stages, so I may be missing something..
is Varth confirmed already? If it is, does anyone here need info about the game?
For those who don't know:
(end-of-stage stuff)
- getting to the end of a stage without pods = 50,000 points
- carrying 1/2/3/4/5 bombs at the end of a stage = 1,000/3,000/10,000/20,000/30,000 points
- bonus for defeating the final boss = 1,000,000 points
- bonus for each life in stock at the end of game = 100,000 points (imho, this is more to not encourage suiciding to lose pods when/if you're near the end of the game)
(across stage stuff)
- the 1942-ish formations of white planes are an optional source of score, chaining them (I mean, destroying all planes in the formation) will give you an immediate bonus of 1,000 points up to 10,000 points
- there's hidden bonuses during the stage, such as pickup items (F-1 flags/helmets/racing cars) that are revealed when you shoot them, or poles (or whatever these are) which are revealed when you fly over them (and can be shot down), or..
Ryu (shooting him will make him release random powerup items)
- killing all 6 larger planes at the end of stage 09 (they move slowly from behind, in the background, before emerging and becoming vulnerable) will give you a Perfect Bonus at the end of the stage (100,000 points)
- there's a glitch on the stage 04's boss; since the bonus for defeating bosses is based on how fast you kill them (it decreases by 1000 points the more time you spend on them), getting either 29,000 points or 27,000 points will actually give you 290,000 points ( see
Ruldra's podless clear video for a demonstration of the timing -- however, it seems that he took advantage of the lower rank increase from not using pods ) or 270,000 points ( there's a time when the two satellites come near the bottom of the screen, while staying near the boss -- that's the time to finish them and let the core destroy itself ); however, score-based extends (at 600,000 points and 2,000,000 points) will not consider the extra bonus
and finally, the most important part imho
(survival stuff)
- keep in mind that bombs regenerate automatically over time, can be used both defensively and offensively (their invulnerability time allows you to point-blank enemies); wiggling (switching directions often) does make you regen bombs faster, but there's actually a limit for the regen speed, so you don't have to tire yourself by doing so.
- collecting items (point items, or powerups, or one of Capcom's mascots which damage/destroy all onscreen enemies)
will give you as much invulnerability time as if you used bombs, so you can collect them (or even stay near them sometimes) to avoid spending a bomb, or to maintain invulnerability time
- enemies will fire even at near point-blank, and since most (if not all) of them have dead angles, you can die due to "misaimed" aimed shots; my advice:
avoid that situation by not flying near them- sometimes, enemies will come from behind, without warning. Most noticeable in stage 06, because there will be enemies on the screen already, which would be a reason to avoid the middle of the screen (unlike stage 09, which also has 3 hidden pickup items together that you can use for their invulnerability time). Keep in mind, though, that
none of them will fire at you right after appearing, and their greatest threat would be if you collided into them or got scared without having anywhere to dodge incoming bullets.. personally I don't see a situation where you can die ( with pods, at least ) due to lack of bombs if you bomb early in them, especially because since they're taking screen space, you can choose to bomb in order to kill them before they attack.
- the cave walls (in stage 12, for example) don't kill you on collision (however, destroyable pipewalls in one of such caves, do -- you may use invulnerability time from items/bombs against them, though)
- other stuff: fixed pods raise rank the fastest, as they block common bullets from above (not missiles/lasers/flamethrowers/lava); don't be so concerned about not using pods through the game at the start, since if you can survive far enough, you'll have more enemies to destroy. Finally, imho this is a game which rewards survival potential (I mean, you'll want to get farther and farther) and consistency (I mean, how you consistently destroy enemies; missing some of them -- except 1942-ish plane formations -- isn't something restart-inducing)
