Danmaku Unlimited 2 [Doragon] - $4.99

If you aren’t an avid reader of our little review site here, or don’t know me from the Touch Arcade Forums, you might not know that I’m a HUGE Bullet-Hell fanatic. So with this in mind, it’s really no surprise that when Danmaku Unlimited 2 was announced last October, I just about crapped my pants in excitement. Now that it’s here, we get to see if we’ve hyped it up in our brains to the point where there’s no way it could compare with our hopes, or if it lives up to everything we hoped for and more. I’ll give you a hint; this review is going to be glowing. 

For those of you familiar with the original Danmaku Unlimited, DU2 not only adds some new scoring mechanics, but an entirely new mode all-together; Burst Mode. We’ll get into the scoring mechanics of Burst Mode in a sec, but first, Classic Mode. There have been some pretty big changes in the scoring for the Classic Mode in DU2. Right off the bat, you are able to graze bullets to help increase your score. However, here, grazing bullets does not effect your multiplier. Instead, it charges your Trance Meter and gives you a grazing bonus. While your Trance Meter does recharge on its own, slowly, grazing bullets and destroying enemies will speed this up quite a bit. Now, how do you raise your multiplier, you ask? Well, it’s a lot like DoDonPachi Maximum’s multiplier raising; you’ll need to collect gems dropped by enemies, however, the closer you are to an enemy, the more gems they’ll drop. So the closer you are to enemies when you destroy them, the more gems you’ll collect, and the higher your multiplier will go. Nifty, huh? We sure thought so! Once you enter Trance Mode, an initial blast will discharge converting all bullets on screen into multiplier gems. Also, all enemies and their bullets (once destroyed) will turn into precious gold stars that really bump up your score. 

Now, Burst Mode scoring. In Burst Mode, grazing is still on the menu as something that gives you a bonus and raises your Trance Meter. However, it does not raise your Trance Meter at the same rate that it does in the Classic Mode, here, it’s a bit slower. However, this is done for a very good reason. If you can pull this next move off right, your multiplier will SOAR. Burst Mode also utilizes the up-close-and-personal mechanics of Classic Mode, except here, while you’re up against enemies they will drop items that raise your Burst Gauge. Once your bar is about 20% full, you’ll be able to enable it and cancel out any bullets that the Burst Laser comes into contact with. The cancelled bullets, as well as destroyed enemies, turn into gems which, when collected, will raise your multiplier. Needless to say, you will be cancelling a LOT of bullets, especially on the harder difficulties. Another huge difference between Burst Mode and Classic Mode? In Burst Mode, entering Trance Mode will, get this, multiply your multiplier by 4X. That’s right. If you activate Trance Mode when your multiplier is at 100X, during Trance Mode your multiplier will hit 400X. This makes for some incredibly high scoring. 

As far as bullet patterns go, Danmaku Unlimited 2 has quite a few interesting combinations. Better yet, there’s a very good mix of bullets that are aimed directly at you and bullets that fly out in pre-determined patterns no matter where you are on-screen. The build up in the number of projectiles between difficulties is great, and with 4 difficulties, there’s definitely something for everyone no matter your skill set when it comes to SHMUPs. 

All of this sounds well and good and already stands out as a top notch bullet curtain title, but something that also makes it stand out above and beyond others? Kind of like the shop in the original Danmaku Unlimited, DU2 has an upgrade, experience and leveling system. That’s right, you’ll be earning experience in each game that you play that’s tacked on to your total experience and builds up your ships level. For each level that you achieve, you’re awarded points which you can use in the game’s shop. Here, you can change your shot type between focused, tracking and wide, with each shot type upgradeable to level 3. Even cooler; you can mix and match shot types. If you’re willing to dump points into shot types, you can even go into games with all 3 shot types active once you have enough points. Points can also be spent on bombs, lives and continues. Even better? Points are permanent. Once you earn them, you own them and can distribute them however you see fit. There are no IAPs, so purchasing points is not an option, meaning that players can’t just buy their way onto the leaderboards. Once you’re at the top level, you can mix and match and figure out what the best set-up is for what you’re trying to do during your run; going on a score-chasing run or trying to just complete the game. 

The controls are another huge plus. DU2 is free of all on-screen buttons. To do this, Doragon has made it so that entering Burst and Trance Modes, as well as switching from your regular shot type to the laser shot type, in Classic Mode, is all done by either swiping up (to enter Trance Mode) or down (to enter Burst Mode or change to your laser shot). You’re also able to customize the relative touch ratio from anywhere between 1:1 to 2:1, adjust the size of the gaming screen, change Trance Mode from auto to manual and on the iPhone, switch between normal and iPhone aspect ratios (in the iPhone aspect ratio, the screen will be able to scroll left and right instead of having everything smaller and centered). And yes, you can also adjust the music and sound effects separately. All-together, along with the game’s upgrade shop, this has made Danmaku Unlimited 2 a customizers paradise. 

Graphically, DU2 picks up where the original left off; exaggerated neon projectiles with huge ships and loads of items on the screen at almost all times. Your ships hit-box is very easy to see as the dot in the middle of your ship, even when things get insanely hectic. There have been some complaints that the Burst Mode orbs look very similar to the Track shot’s tracking missiles. Personally, I don’t see the issue with it, as your missiles go up towards the enemies and you never need to worry about collecting anything that’s going up. There’s also a few shades of color difference between the two, and doesn’t really distract from the game at all. But I thought it was worth bringing up since there are some people who are obviously having an issue with it. Hopefully Doragon can come up with an elegant solution for this; maybe making the Track shots missiles more missile like - long and straight - instead of tracking orbs. I don’t know. 

The background music is done by the same artist that did the music for Doragon’s previous bullet hell title, Storm Strikers, and fits the game beautifully. The mix of electronica and metal definitely adds to the intensity of the gameplay no matter what mode or difficulty you’re playing on. Animations also add quite a bit to the gameplay, with huge explosions and item movement all fitting together to create a visually intense gaming experience. All of it running at a smooth 60 frames per second too, which is very impressive. 

And, like any other SHMUP, DU2 wouldn’t be fully complete without GameCenter leaderboards. There are separate boards for each mode and each difficulty, as well as boards for your total combined scores for all difficulties in both Classic and Burst Modes. On top of that, there’s also leaderboards for the Boss Rush Classic and Boss Rush Burst Modes that are unlocked once you complete the game. There are also 30 achievements to snag, all adding to the already crazy high replay value. 

All of this is put together in a Universal and iPhone/iPod 5 widescreen supported package priced at $4.99. Considering the price of similar games (I’m looking at you Cave) it’s a real steal. Doragon has definitely cemented their place in the iOS bullet hell genre and hopefully we’ll be able to see more from this incredibly talented one-man development studio in the future. If you’re a fan of the genre, Danmaku Unlimited 2 is a must own. I really can’t recommend it enough, and if this glowing review isn’t enough to win you over, you can check out the lite version of the game which contains the first level in both of the game’s amazing modes. You’ll also have access to the game’s upgrade and shop system, which is a pretty cool thing to get acquainted with if you’re still on the edge of deciding whether or not to throw down the $5 for the full version. 

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Phoenix HD [Firi Games] - FREE

There aren’t many endless shmups available in the AppStore. Or on any gaming platform, period. But there is one that’s always stood out, offering up insanely addictive, along with multiple types of, gameplay; Phoenix. Now, I first got Phoenix back when all I had was a 2nd Generation Touch, and all that was included was the original Phoenix ship. Since it’s release, it received 2 more ships, it’s first real overhaul, the HD update, another ship, and then it’s second biggest overhaul , adding a 5th ship, and the introduction of coins, shop and it’s IAP system. We’ve been waiting for this update to hit before reviewing the game, mainly because we were told that it was going to be a huge update, and it was, changing the gameplay quite a bit. 

Originally, before this most recent update, Phoenix was great when it came to catering to all types of gamers, from light casual to the most hardcore bullet hell fans, and all because of it’s dynamic difficulty system. You were able to lock on a difficulty, shown by stars 1-5, with 1 being the easiest and 5 being the hardest. Now, if you decided to play on 3 star difficulty, the game would raise the difficulty if you could destroy enemies without getting hit, but once your ship did take a hit, the star difficulty would drop back down, but never go under your locked difficulty of 3. Being able to do this at the beginning of every game was great, because even non bullet hell gamers could enjoy the game, and even play for high scores. 

Now, after the update, when the game starts up for the first time the difficulty is set to 1 star. This rises depending on how well you do in your first game, but reaching the 5 star difficulty is not hard at all, which means that the game will lock in on the 5 star difficulty for your next game, and stay there until you reset the difficulty back to 1. 

Along with the new difficulty set-up, the developers over at Firi Games have added a new ship, the Trinity, to the list of ships that can be used. Like the Corsair (with it‘s missile‘s and system that allows you to lock-on to enemy‘s turrets), Mirage (using a super-powered laser system that has 3 settings, activated by staying in one place) and Shogun (a ship that attacks enemies by grazing bullets), the Trinity allows for some very distinct, unique and original gameplay. The Trinity has 2 abilities; slow down time and teleport, and like the other ships, will require some messing around with before becoming familiar with it all. Lifting your finger up off of the screen activates the slow-motion ability, while tapping anywhere on the screen when you place your finger back down will teleport the ship to that location, so long as it’s far enough away from the ship’s current position. 

Focus Vision is another new mechanic that slowly turns the gameplay area black and white, having everything but the bullets and your ship’s hitbox in the background. The way this is implemented is great, as once you reach 50% health, the gameplay area’s colors start to fade a bit, and as you loose health, it changes more and more until it’s fully black and white. Personally, I love this feature. It’s like having a full screen visual on your health instead of needing to constantly glance up at the top of the screen to see how much health you might have, you can now just know if you’re close to death by the game’s colors. This also does help players ‘focus’ more on the bullets, though, technically, you should be focusing on them the entire time you play. At first, I didn’t much care for it. Every time I was in ‘Focus Vision’ I just wanted the colors back, but with that, I realized that it’s another driving force to try and get back to full health as quickly as possible, and the Focus Vision mechanics grew on me pretty fast. 

The last real major change is the addition of the shop and coin system. Now, instead of every run being a chase for a high-score, the added coin system makes grinding a large part of it all as well, and score-chasing takes a bit of a back seat. Right now, I’m not too sure how I feel about the whole coin/shop/IAP system, because I do see both sides of the coin, very well, and agree with a lot of points for both arguments. First, before this update, Phoenix wasn’t getting too much gameplay out of me over the last couple months, and now, it feels like there’s more drive to play it, and play it more. There’s also not only the score-chasing aspect, but also the coin collecting side. Knowing that you’ve earned 3,000 coins in a great run, as well as earned yourself a great score is a fantastic feeling. But then again, there’s also the knowledge that, if you didn’t use coins to purchase upgrades in the shop beforehand, there is a significant possibility that your game would have lasted longer, and your score would have been even higher, making it feel like not every run is just for score, and that, unlike the previous versions, you need to plan out when and what you’re going to use when you will be playing for a high score. Sort of like it’s almost pre-determined, instead of never knowing if your game will be a good one, or just wind up being horrible, dying before you hit the 2 million mark. But from what I’ve gathered hearing what people have to say, most players hadn’t been playing Phoenix as much. That drive to play had been fading away for quite some time, and this addition of a shop and coin system had added a lot of that drive back into the game, and players. 

There is, of course, the addition of IAPs, but these are largely unnecessary, as 1 or 2 decent games with the coin doubler enabled will give you about 6-7,000 coins which you can use for a shot at a high-score. But, that feeling like those who are willing to pay are basically buying their high-scores can’t really be avoided, and in a game like Phoenix, or any Bullet-Hell/SHMUP, this is a VERY bad thing. Cave did a fantastic job with their implementation of upgrades/cheats by creating two separate leaderboards, and I think Phoenix would benefit greatly if Firi Games would do the same. 

On top of all of this, the leaderboards have also been redone. Instead of having lists of scores by region, now you’re able to view scores on a map. There are some gamers who are kind of upset about this for two reasons; 1) Other players are able to see what street you live on, and around about where your house is. If you live in a bad neighborhood, I can see why this can be kind of troubling. 2) The boards are now kind of hard to navigate through. You’re able to show only scores that have earned medals, or all scores, and all ships, or specific ships. Instead of just seeing a list of scores, you now have to search the map to find the other high scores, and it can be a pain finding the #1 score, or score right above yours, especially in places that have lots of Phoenix players. The up side, though, is that the leaderboards are now free for everyone, but if you previously purchased the leaderboard IAP in an older version of the game, you’re awarded 10,000 coins when you first start up the game, giving you a chance to check out everything in the shop, and give you a sort of head start on the scores. 

There are some other changes, like enemies tossing out different projectiles once you reach higher levels, that do more damage to your ship, rebalanced turrets, the EMP power-up now turns all bullets into coins (and if you activate this at just the right time, you can get upwards of 300 coins in one second!), and graphical changes making the game run smoother, and look better. Basically, this is the biggest update Phoenix has gotten since it’s HD update, and even with the HD update included, this could very well be the biggest change that Phoenix has gone through since it’s original release back in 2010. 

Phoenix HD is FREE, and Universal, giving you access to the leaderboards, shop, and original Phoenix ship. Each additional ship is $0.99, and the IAPs are split up for $0.99, $2.99 and $5.99. If you’re a fan of shmups, or are one of the hardcore bullet-hell gamers out there, Phoenix is a MUST OWN iOS game. It’s one of the very few games that has been on my device for (close to) the last 2 years, is in my personal top 10 all-time favorite iOS games, and will never be removed. Since my original purchase of Phoenix, for $0.99, and the $9 or so that I’ve put into it over the years (purchasing the ships and online pass in the original and HD builds so that I could play on both my 2nd and 4th generation devices), I feel that I’ve gotten way more out of it than I’ve paid for. There are some aspects of this recent update that I’m still adjusting to, but all-in-all, I’d say that the Trinity/Coin update is fantastic, and I can’t wait to see what Firi Games brings to the iOS in the future!

**If you’re curious to see the difference between the original Phoenix and Phoenix HD, pre-Shogun and Trinity, check out the vids below!

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Tameuchi [2dgames.jp] - $0.99

Shmups have really seemed to expand outwards and spawn some new and interesting genres, especially since the introduction of the AppStore. Dodging games like FlipShip, Tilt To Live and Silverfish; Dual-Stick exploration like Isotope and Inferno; Survival games like ElectroMaster, even the endless genre has been touched resulting in games like Hypership Out Of Control and the wave-based Enborn-X. 

Taking a page out of ElectroMaster’s book, and expanding even more on it, 2dgames.jp has recently released their bullet hell survival/dodger, Tameuchi. 

Tameuchi is a bit strange, well, it’s not very surprising that it’s a bit strange, it’s created by Japanese developers who obviously have a taste for the cute and out of the box thinking. You control a little girl up against wave after wave of purple jelly looking creatures, milkboxes, pudding, and more who all seem to have a wide array of bullets and projectiles all ready to take you out. The good news is, you’ve got an endless supply of bullets, can fly, have proper shielding, can level up, and are able to regain health by collecting bananas. 

The controls, like most iOS games, are fairly simple. To move, you just need to touch down anywhere on the screen, and drag your finger in the direction you’d like to move. While you’re doing this, you’ll be charging up your bullets. Once you let your finger off of the screen, your bullets will be released, and the carnage will begin. 

As you collect green and yellow bananas, your projectile charge bar, and health will be regenerated, you’ll also be able to level up as you progress throughout the game, killing everything in sight. Once you level up, your charge gauge will get bigger, and your projectiles will get stronger, being able to take out more and more of the ever increasing onslaught of enemies. As your rank goes up, the enemies will get stronger, and more of them will attack you all at once. Their bullet patterns will also get more complex. What really helps out, is that while you’re charging your bullets, you’re able to suck up some of the smaller bullets with your charge shield. However, you can only absorb a certain amount before you wind up taking damage. Also working in your favor, once you defeat the milk carton, or pudding, all of the bullets on the screen turn into collectible bananas. 

Priced at $0.99, it’s a fantastic game to pick up if you’re a fan of the slightly weird Japanese gaming culture, or are into dodging/bullet hell titles. The only bad things I can say about the game is that there is only one game mode, it's not Universal, though, the game still looks great in 2X mode, and there's absolutely no leaderboards. That’s right, not even local boards, it does save your highest score, which is a plus, but nothing else. GameCenter integration, as well as more modes would make Tameuchi one hell of a game. But for 2dgames.jp first at bat within the AppStore, they’ve hit, at the very least, an inside-the-park homerun. 

If you’re interested in the game, but don’t know whether or not to take the plunge, check out Tameuchi Lite. 

****After writing this review, I contacted the developer and asked if GameCenter would be added in a future update, they said that yes, it would be, and asked us to be patient. =o)

So those of you holding off on the game because the lack of it, it will be implemented in the future. *****

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Bug Princess 2 Black Label [Cave] - $13.99

I’ve been a fan of Cave games for about 4 years now, after playing ESPGaluda and ESPGaluda II on a friends PC, and DonPachi on his PSX. Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for any Cave titles I could find. Once they started hitting the AppStore, I knew I would be hooked for life. Now, after 6 iOS releases, 2 HD re-releases, and a whole hell of a lot a bullets, we finally have a BLACK LABEL version on the iOS. Bug Princess 2 (Mushihimesama Futari) Black Label. And I can finally find out what all the fuss is about regarding these Black Label versions of Cave games. 

First off, the price. It’s not normally something I worry about too much, the AppStore is filled with dollar bin gems and ports of titles slashed down to less than a quarter of their original or other platform prices. Yes, a dollar here and there adds up, but when you can get between 20 and 60 games for the price of 1 XBOX or PS3 game, it’s very hard to complain. But is getting a different version of a game that’s already released on the iOS for double the price (or for the price of BOTH Mushihimesama AND Mushimesama Futari) of the original really worth it? When it comes to Cave, most fans will say ‘yes’, and in a heartbeat. Especially when the words BLACK LABEL are attached to the title.

Bug Princess 2 Black Label is basically like the original (vanilla) version. You’ve got 3 different gameplay modes, Original, Maniac, and the coveted God Mode. Then there’s the huge list of tweaks that are included in the Black Label version; Background colors have been changed, gems are darker, every mode contains more bullets and they’re faster, God Mode has been added while Ultra Mode has been removed, harsher penalties for bombing including a reduction of 6000 on the gem counter and a zero end game bonus if you finish the game with no bombs and Extends (Extra Lives) are different; 100 and 200 Million for Original Mode, 150 and 250 Million for Maniac Mode and 350 and 700 Million in God Mode.

The biggest changes are that every stage has numerous changes with the enemy and bullet placement and patterns, bullet patterns for the bosses have changed, are faster, and boss fights are harder, shot types are no longer available, instead you have a mix of Normal and Abnormal and a new TLB “Spiritual Larsa” has been added in God Mode if you no-miss (including the Stage 5 Boss Battle). 

TLDR: It’s been completely re-done, and feels like a new Cave game. 

The main reason Cave fans will probably wind up buying BP2BL is for God Mode. But once you actually get into the game, and see how much has changed, the new Original Mode, new bullet patterns, and new enemy layouts, chances are, you’ll get hooked all over again. The new Original Mode really stands out, as the difficulty at first glance doesn’t seem too impressive, especially when compared to God Mode, but after you get the hang of the scoring system, Original Mode becomes just as entertaining as God Mode. Needing to stay up in the top 1/3 of the screen for most of the game makes the difficulty shoot up, as does figuring out when and where enemies are going to pop out, and which ones give off large quantities of gems, which is how you shoot your score way up. All 3 of the modes have been equaled out, each having their own fantastic mechanics, not one of them being out-shined by the other, and each one offering up endless hours of replayabilty. 

Control-wise, BP2BL is like any other Cave title. Relative touch controls with a 1:1 ratio. They’re some of the tightest controls you can have in a shmup, which is very important when it comes to bullet hell titles. Considering there’s literally thousands of bullets flying at you, being able to weave and dodge through them all is what it’s all about, and the developers over at Cave Mobile have done an outstanding job making sure that it’s as smooth and fluid as it can be. 

With BP2BL being Universal, the graphics are a bit better than DeathSmiles and DoDonPachi Blissful Death, but not quite as impressive as the HD versions of ESPGaluda II or DDPR, which is kind of disappointing. Especially with BP2BL having an XBOX 360 version (Mushihimesama Futari Black Label), I was hoping that the graphics would be a little more clearer, but the menus, and dead zone around the gameplay area look super crisp and sharp. 

Bug Princess 2 Black Label is basically a Cave title that will only appeal to hardcore Cave fans. With so many gamers complaining about the price tags of their previous releases, I doubt many of them would be interested in grabbing a $14 suped-up version of a game that they’ve already bought. But for extreme fans of the Bullet Hell genre, knowing that Mushihimesama Futari Black Label is one of the best, if not the best, Bullet Hell title you can expect to experience, and with copies of the game on the XBOX selling between $40 and $120, the price-tag isn’t really a deterrent. There are IAPs, but they’re set up like they are in DoDonPachi Blissful Death, all basically for cheating, and making the game easier (less fun). There is a Boss Mode, which takes you through the bosses of either BP1 or BP2, but you’re given 1 free play a day, so it’s not a required extra purcahse if you want to check it out, only if you want to play it more than once a day, which you might after you’ve gotten your fill of the main game. But by then, another $6.99 for the mode, and endless hours of entertainment will probably seem like a decent deal. 

Here’s hoping BP2BL sells well, and that it pushes Cave to port over more of their Black Label titles; ESPGaluda II Black Label, DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu + Daioujou (Blissful Death) Black Label… I’d jump through hoops (actually, go to more severe extremes which I probably shouldn’t say) to have them all available in the AppStore. 

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Buster Spirits [Iskandar Inc.] - $1.99

Every time a new shmup hits the AppStore, I get extremely excited, especially when it’s from a well known developer. Iskandar, developer of Bit-1, Brutal Fantasy, Cut Him Up, and the ever popular shmup, Buster Red, has just released a follow-up to Buster Red called Buster Spirits. This time around, Iskandar has created a shmup more directed towards fans of the genre than another casual shooter. 

The first thing that stands out about Buster Spirits are the new graphics. Even though they’re retro-inspired, and look old-school, they’re a huge change from Buster Red, which had a more cartoony look to it. But aside from the graphics, like most sequels, Buster Spirits is a lot like it’s predecessor. The game is level based, containing 20 separate stages spread across 4 different worlds, and having 4 huge boss battles. There are also tons of enemies with randomized power-up drops, but in Buster Spirits, the enemies also drop coins, which you’ll need to collect to build up your score. 

Now, unlike Buster Red, Buster Spirits contains a new scoring mechanic which definitely adds to the hardcore feeling of the game. Grazing. Just mentioning the word gets shmup fans charged up. Buster Spirits gives you bonus firepower for grazing bullets and enemies, which can result in clearing out screens after screens full of enemies in a flash, and adds a ton to the difficulty, as well as the fun, factors. 

Unfortunately, it’s not all great. There is no main menu, and no options for the game. Considering the controls are more like a Minter game (think Gridrunner) and there’s no option for 1:1 relative touch controls, it’s a pain to get into. Constantly re-adjusting your finger, and under/overcompensating for the extra space your ship will move while trying to dodge huge amounts of bullets of enemies gets very frustrating, very fast. This is kind of a shock, because Buster Red’s controls are fantastic 1:1 relative touch, so it’s strange that this was left out of the sequel. 

Also, there’s only one Mode in the game, whereas Buster Red has a Boss Rush Mode, and an Elite Mode. This doesn’t really take away from the replay value, because there’s always a high replay value when it comes to shmups, and GameCenter leaderboards, but it does take away from the feeling of a complete game. Almost every shmup in the AppStore either has Arcade and iPhone Modes, Boss Rush Modes, Practice Modes, or more, and not having this included in Buster Spirits does make it seem kind of incomplete. 

There’s also no difficulty settings, and only one ship to choose from, which, when it comes to shoot-em-ups, is a very big deal. Considering almost all of these things were included in Buster Red, I can’t help but wonder why they were left out of it’s sequel. But priced at $1.99, and being Universal, if you’re a shmup fanatic, it’s hard to pass up another Buster title. Unfortunately, you might not be too pleased with the product. Hopefully Iskandar Inc. adds to the game in future updates, but as it is now, it’s a hard recommendation, even with some great Buster titles under their belt. 

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