shmup studio focus no. 6: cave
Cave is a Japanese development company which came into being as a successor to the now defunct arcade developer Toaplan (they made titles including Snow Bros, Truxton and the now infamous "All your base" originator Zero Wing).
Although Cave has been producing titles since the mid 1990s, it is in recent years that their titles have gained an even wider circulation with PS2 ports of their more recent titles proving to be incredibly successful.
The best known series that Cave has produced - and certainly their longest running - has been the DonPachi series. The title is a play on words as such, loosley translating as "Angry Bee Boss". DonPachi introduced many of the trademark Cave gameplay characteristics: Manic pace and game-speed, coupled with an eye-watering intensity of on screen enemy bullets that have to be dodged – curtain fire (or, 弾幕 danmaku). The DonPachi series originally made its debut in the arcades in 1995, and this was followed-up on the SEGA Saturn a few years later as DoDonPachi. The most recent instalment - DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou – has seen Cave partner with Atlus to deliver this game to both arcades PS2 as well.
Much of Cave’s recent success lies in the home market. It has usually been the norm for home conversions of shmups to be published on incredibly small budgets. For a lot of smaller and independent companies budget restraint often restricts the ambitiousness of game presentation, technical features, as well as accompanying published material and boxart.
But Cave took a very ambitious approach; packing the PS2 port of DoDonPachi with all manners of extras: A full Superplay DVD came packaged as standard – showcasing expert Japanese players completing the game in one credit (even one life!); in-game art galleries, as well as a choice of multiple screen and gameplay modes. This has had the effect of leaving a lot of other shmup offerings looking rather sparsely featured.
In following this success, arcade follow-ups continued with Espgaluda (a follow up to ESP Ra De), and the original Mushihimesama and most recently issued Ibara. All of these games have had similar publishing strategies adopted on PS2.
What strikes, which is surprising in today’s climate of 40 hour plus epics, is that all of these games comprise of only five levels. However, once you begin to play, it is evident that the whole aim of a Cave game is that of engendering mastery. Anyone can complete a Cave game if you throw enough credits at them and max the life counter at the options screem. But can you (the game seems to challenge) complete it in 5 lives? Perhaps even in 1 credit? Without using special shot?
The Cave ethos harks back to the best type of gameplay that the 16-bit eras offered and coupled with the increased processing power of today’s consoles, enables a dizzying array of sprites to be simultaneously animated at once - all of which combine to test your skills to breaking point - and beyond!
Although Cave has been producing titles since the mid 1990s, it is in recent years that their titles have gained an even wider circulation with PS2 ports of their more recent titles proving to be incredibly successful.
The best known series that Cave has produced - and certainly their longest running - has been the DonPachi series. The title is a play on words as such, loosley translating as "Angry Bee Boss". DonPachi introduced many of the trademark Cave gameplay characteristics: Manic pace and game-speed, coupled with an eye-watering intensity of on screen enemy bullets that have to be dodged – curtain fire (or, 弾幕 danmaku). The DonPachi series originally made its debut in the arcades in 1995, and this was followed-up on the SEGA Saturn a few years later as DoDonPachi. The most recent instalment - DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou – has seen Cave partner with Atlus to deliver this game to both arcades PS2 as well.
Much of Cave’s recent success lies in the home market. It has usually been the norm for home conversions of shmups to be published on incredibly small budgets. For a lot of smaller and independent companies budget restraint often restricts the ambitiousness of game presentation, technical features, as well as accompanying published material and boxart.
But Cave took a very ambitious approach; packing the PS2 port of DoDonPachi with all manners of extras: A full Superplay DVD came packaged as standard – showcasing expert Japanese players completing the game in one credit (even one life!); in-game art galleries, as well as a choice of multiple screen and gameplay modes. This has had the effect of leaving a lot of other shmup offerings looking rather sparsely featured.
In following this success, arcade follow-ups continued with Espgaluda (a follow up to ESP Ra De), and the original Mushihimesama and most recently issued Ibara. All of these games have had similar publishing strategies adopted on PS2.
What strikes, which is surprising in today’s climate of 40 hour plus epics, is that all of these games comprise of only five levels. However, once you begin to play, it is evident that the whole aim of a Cave game is that of engendering mastery. Anyone can complete a Cave game if you throw enough credits at them and max the life counter at the options screem. But can you (the game seems to challenge) complete it in 5 lives? Perhaps even in 1 credit? Without using special shot?
The Cave ethos harks back to the best type of gameplay that the 16-bit eras offered and coupled with the increased processing power of today’s consoles, enables a dizzying array of sprites to be simultaneously animated at once - all of which combine to test your skills to breaking point - and beyond!
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 03, 2006 at 3:05 pm.
