shmups.system11.org

This ST was created by Matt and posted in the old forum. Matt, if you ever return to the forum and want to regain editorial control of your work, please let me know so that I can subsequently delete this post.


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OK! I finally have a little bit of time to start writing up my ST for Dimahoo, AKA the best shmup ever made. There is a lot of stuff to type, so please bear with me as it'll take a little while.

Of course, if you have anything to contribute, please PM me! Some details I'm interested in knowing more about are the end-of-level "great bonus", and the special item effects.


Introduction

Great Mahou Daisakusen is the third and final game in Raizing's Mahou Daisakusen series. Published in 2000 by Capcom, it was fortunate to receive distribution in the US under the name "Dimahoo", so some of you might be fortunate enough to play the game on a local cabinet. Henceforth, the game will be referred to by its English name, as it's easier to type.

Dimahoo features what are arguably Raizing's most in-depth gameplay and scoring systems. It's a relatively easy game to pick up and play, but focussing on survival and completion will only scratch the surface of this incredibly rich and polished game. There is an incredible array of features available to those players interested in getting good high scores.

How to play (Basics)

Main Shot

Tapping the fire button gives a standard rapid-fire shot. Depending on the character, this can be either very narrow or rather wide.

Magic Shot

In addition to the standard shot, each character has a pair of options on the sides of his/her ship. Unlike the main shot, the magic shots are elemental, and will affect enemy fire patterns of the corresponding colour.

Charge Shot

Holding down the fire button for a brief period of time enables the charge shot. The charge shot is very powerful, and is heavily tied into the elemental and item collection systems. Charge shots and the time required to charge them can be vastly different between the characters, which heavily influences playing strategy. It is important to note that an active magic shot is required for the charge.

Bomb
Pressing button 2 fires a bomb, as seen in most shooters. While the bomb is active, your ship is invincible, heavy damage is inflicted upon enemies, and any onscreen bullets are destroyed. Bombs are slightly different for each character; it's important to note that Karte and Miyamoto slow down significantly while the bomb is active, making it more difficult to pick up items.


Characters

Dimahoo has a total of eight playable ships: four main characters and four secret ones. The main characters are all excellent and can be used effectively, but at the same time are very unique. It can be very difficult to transfer techniques and patterns from one character to another; when playing for high score or completion it's a good idea to stick with one character and use them exclusively.

The secret characters are a little more, shall we say, experimental. In general they feature the same type of features as the standard four, but mixed around a little.

Solo-Bang: The Warrior

Solo-Bang is a great all-round character, and isn't too hard to get the hang of. His speed is decent but a little on the slow side, which can be a good thing when dodging tight bullet patterns. His magic shot is among the most useful in the game - two narrow columns of fire that shoot straight out from the ship. Using these, it's possible to very accurately snipe at enemies or boss weak points. Also, these can be used to "sweep" elemental bullets, clearing the way through otherwise difficult patterns. His main shot is a fairly wide spread.

Solo-Bang's charge shot is a powerful sword that's dropped in front of his ship. One of Solo's biggest advantages is that his charge shot is very precise and doesn't move around a whole lot, making it easy to grab those elusive secret items. The downside is that it's a little slow to charge and doesn't last an awful long time.

Karte: The Sorceress

Karte is probably the easiest character for beginners, but she can still pack a mean punch. Her above-average speed makes it easy to dodge bullet patterns, but she's still easy to control. Probably her greatest asset, though, are her homing magic shots. This makes it easy to take out enemies to the sides, and to keep shooting at enemies while dodging their bullets. To offset Karte's convenience factor, her firepower is a little on the weak side.

Karte's charge shot is essentially "fire-and-forget". Her options grow large and fly around the screen, homing in on enemies and shooting at them. This is great when there's a lot of bullet junk onscreen, since you can use your charge shots without having to worry about steering into the flak. But, it can be difficult to predict exactly where your options will end up, making it hard to reliably collect some of the secrets. (Busturtle's fairy and the Takenokos on stage 4 are good examples of this.)

Miyamoto: The Samurai Dragon

An old Raizing stalwart, Miyamoto returns one last time for Dimahoo. A difficult character to master, he can be devastatingly effective in the hands of an experienced player. His blazing fast speed makes him the king of bullet herding, and allows him to totally avoid swarms that other characters must dodge through. However, navigating tight patterns is next to impossible, so memorizing the levels is a must in order to anticipate what's coming next. His magic shot is a wide spread of magic bombs, which is quite powerful although a little hard to aim sometimes. Miyamoto's main shot is straight, narrow, and powerful - great for pinpointing boss weak spots.

When performing a charge shot, Miyamoto drops his ninja sidekicks a short way ahead of him, where they stay fixed in place and fire shurikens. The main benefit of this is that it's possible to drop the options off in a specific place without having to get too close to the action. But, it can be rather difficult to aim, especially if Miyamoto's magic level is below maximum.

Grimlen: The Necromancer

Grimlen is another character who is extremely effective but difficult to master. The total opposite of Miyamoto, Grimlen is extremely slow, making it a cinch to weave through tight bullet patterns. Quick dodging is impossible, so memorizing the levels is important to avoid getting caught in tought situations. Grimlen's magic shot - two streams of skull fireballs that sweep from front to back as the ship moves - can be tricky to use, but is extremely powerful. To use his weapon properly, a Grimlen player can sdjust the angle of the shot by moving up and down, and then stay at the same level while firing. Being able to vary the angle from wide to narrow is very usful, and it's worth noting that Grimlen is one of the few characters who can shoot backwards. Main shot is rather unremarkable.

The charge shot is where Grimlen really shines. Far more powerful than any of the other characters', his massive scythe of death shoots up to the top of the screen and back down, obliterating everything in its path. It can be fired very accurately, making it easy to collect tricky items like the Takenokos. As one might expect, charging time is rather slow.

Gain: The Warrior (secret)

Back from the original Mahou Daisakusen, Gain is mostly a clone of Solo-Bang, except with a Miyamoto-esque diagonal magic attack. This is sort of hard to aim and not terribly powerful.

Chitta: The Sorceress (secret)

Yet another classic Mahou character, Chitta is essentially Karte with Solo-Bang's magic shot. It's a neat combination, and Chitta would be a great character if her charge shot wasn't so weak.

Birthday: The Criminal (secret)

To put it nicely, Birthday is hands down the most challenging character in the Dimahoo lineup. She features the speed of Grimlen, the homing options of Karte, and the firepower of a wet sponge. Her charge shot is amazingly useless - a sort of homing saw blade that never goes where you want it. Playing with Birthday is rather pointless, unless you've already mastered the game and want to make things difficult for yourself.

Golden: The Prince (secret)

Golden is a neat character. He plays just like Miyamoto (crazy fast speed included) but with Grimlen's variable magic shot. This can be very cool, as the options can be rapidly swept back and forth to clear the screen of baddies. Mastering the game with him would not be easy, but would certainly be fun!

More to come soon!

Is there a way to make the game less nauseating

Nauseating? This game is awesome.

I think he's talking about the bg graphics. I like them personally, kinda reminds of 8-bit games (neon caves and such).

Anyways, someone should take this over.

The graphics are actually the least of my concerns.

The scoring system just gets my brain out of whack.

The item collection system is very difficult to get used to, and score depends on how quickly you can accumulate full sets - record holders complete all the main sets before the monster chests in stage4, because when monster chests are charge attacked, they release the items you haven't picked up yet (to complete those sets). If you have all the main sets done, they release the legend items instead and each one is worth 100k x (multiplier), where multiplier is normally over 10x (for all main sets done).

The worst thing is, you have to know exactly what enemies drop what, and plan out a stage route so you can get those items at the correct level to complete sets.

Its a shame the old Great Mahou thread from the Gamespy forum can't be salvaged, as it was pretty in-depth, with a decent items-per-stage list being compiled.