| DonPachi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Cave |
| Publisher(s) | Atlus |
| Producer(s) | Kenichi Takano |
| Programmer(s) | Hiroyuki Uchida Toshiaki Tomizawa Tsuneki Ikeda |
| Artist(s) | Atsunori Aburatani Jun Fujisaku Kazuhiro Asaba |
| Composer(s) | Ryūichi Yabuki |
| Series | DonPachi |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation Network, Sega Saturn |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Bullet hell |
| Mode(s) | |
| Arcade system | CAVE 68000 |
DonPachi[a] is a 1995 vertical-scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Cave and published by Atlus in Japan. Players assume the role of a recruit selected to take part in a secret military program by assaulting enemy strongholds in order to become a member of the "DonPachi Squadron".
DonPachi was conceived as a project that evoked the same spirit from shoot 'em ups created by Toaplan, a request Atlus wanted as publisher though conflict emerged as to how close the game should be to Toaplan shooters while members at Cave pointed out elements uncharacteristic from Toaplan during development. Although first launched for arcades on Cave's first-generation hardware, the title was later ported to Sega Saturn and PlayStation, each featuring several changes and additions compared to the original version. The PlayStation version has since been re-released through the PlayStation Network download service.
DonPachi proved to be popular among Japanese arcade players but was later deemed by Cave to be a "creative failure", while the Saturn version was met with mixed reception from critics. It was followed by six sequels: DoDonPachi in 1997, DoDonPachi II in 2001, DoDonPachi DaiOuJou in 2002, DoDonPachi Resurrection in 2008, as well as DoDonPachi Maximum and DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou in 2012.
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