Back in March, some waves were made among the shoot ’em up & gaming communities when Exa-Arcadia announced that a new version of CAVE’s popular DoDonPachi Saidaioujou would be gracing the platform. Very few details on the game were proffered since, but today the curtain has been peeled back a little more as the game will begin testing in Japan on September 16th. The English banner has been translated as DoDonPachi True Death EXA LABEL.
The announcement was made this morning via tweet (as with all other Exa location tests), where the game will test at the Taito HEY Hirose in Tokyo. Testing will take place from the 16th through the 22nd, but there is a little more interesting info to chew on beyond that. First, let’s look at some screenshots from the upcoming version:
Now for some details. one surprise is who is working on this – a new development team by the name of “TEAM EXA-AM2.” Exa-Arcadia has gathered together various talented individuals who have a history in the business, although we don’t know exactly who is a part of this team. There is a TEAM EXA-AM1, who is responsible for the remake of Sunsoft’s NES platformer Gimmick! – I don’t know if there’s a Team #3 or more, but this certainly means that you can expect plenty of exclusive content that will set this edition apart from previous DDP releases.
As you can tell from the screenshots above, one of those is the addition of the “EXA LABEL” game mode; It will come with 4 total game modes, although only two will be available during the test. One of those is a “faithful recreation of the original” game, while EXA LABEL comes with a specialized balance that is easier for new users to play while still providing a challenge for seasoned players. Per Gamer.jp, they have details on some of the other changes: It will include a new ranking system and hyper grazing; the game will detect the skill of the player and adjust the difficulty on the fly; Bombs & Hypers added when making a mistake; more power-ups (I think that’s what the translation means with “gadgets.”) and much more. Sound design/soundtrack is being done by Manabu Namiki, who has worked on the DDP series and many other beloved shoot ’em ups. Also from another tweet from the Exa CEO, ShouTime, he stated that the game features 4K compatibility and “2 frame low delay” which I take to mean is that the input lag is down to only 2 frames (while the game would be running at 60fps I imagine). It also supports 16:9 horizontal mode, just like Aka & Blue Type-R and the other STGs on the EXA do. Also, note that this version will NOT be available on Steam or consoles. It has been designed specifically for arcades to give operators something different to have and to earn.
That’s all we know for now; What do you think about this upcoming arcade exclusive?
