Mobile Phone :Dodonpachi Resurrection: Bullet Hell Shooter Rains Down On App Store

Cave Software, fresh from the success of bringing anime-drenched shooter Espgaluda II on the iPhone have decided to convert another crazily-named game from their stable to Apple’s device, Dodonpachi Resurrection. Available from today at an introductory price of £2.99 (it’ll

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Cave Software, fresh from the success of bringing anime-drenched shooter Espgaluda II on the iPhone have decided to convert another crazily-named game from their stable to Apple’s device, Dodonpachi Resurrection.

Available from today at an introductory price of £2.99 (it’ll jump up to £5.49 from the 29th…), Dodonpachi Resurrection is close to an arcade perfect port of another revered entry in the ‘bullet hell’ shoot ‘em up genre, complete with screen-filling bosses, waves of merciless enemies and all new iPhone exclusive play modes and a remixed soundtrack.

The action is so intense in Dodonpachi Resurrection that it can only be handled by latter day iDevices, with the iPhone 3G and original iPod Touches having to sit this bullet storm out. Thankfully there is also a ‘Lite’ version to see if your handset is up to the task before you buy.

Even on the office iPhone 4 the game is a massive memory hog, with frantic missile-dodging gameplay taking a frame rate hit during some particularly large explosions, but it manages to feel part of the fabric of the twitchy gameplay, giving you an extra moment to relish the destruction before it ramps up all over again.

The all-important high-score table is present and correct with OpenFeint powering global rankings for international bragging rights and a set of challenging achievements to unlock.

The touch controls are a little fiddly, as is always the case with games needing swift reflexes on the iPhone, but the steep learning curve is levelled somewhat with a Practice Mode, making learning the risk and reward strategy of attack a lot more accessible than the convoluted modes in Espgaluda II.

It’s not as cheap as a lot of the other shooters on the App Store, but one play of the Lite version will show that Dodonpachi is a cut above in terms of retina-searing graphics, relentless level design and a double shot of sheer arcadey fun.

Besides, how can you not like a game that has you wielding a Supreme Weapon of Annihilation?

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