Dogou Souken - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 38 years ago:

Dogosoken © 1986 SNK.

Dogosoken is the sequel to Ikari. It was developed by SNK, and released in the arcades in 1986, later in the same year that the original game appeared. Like the original, Dogosoken featured an 8-way rotary joystick that could be twisted in place to rotate the onscreen character allowing the player to face in one of eight directions while moving in another. The rotary joystick serves two simultaneous purposes. The joystick can be pushed in any one of eight direction to direct the players to move in that direction. As either player advances to the top of the screen, the screen will automatically scroll down. If the player retreats, the screen will scroll up, but only to a limited extent. The second purpose of the joystick is to control the orientation of the players. The joystick can be rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise. As the joystick is rotated, so too will the players rotate in the same direction. In this manner, a player can move in any direction while continuing to face one particular direction.

The objective is to defeat the enemy aliens using grenades and other weapons. The story directly picks up at the ending of Ikari Warriors. Congratuled by General Kawasaki for rescuing him, Paul and Vince return home to their native country in a plane arranged by the general. Expecting a hero's welcome upon arriving home, a mysterious storm appears and they are hurtled thousands of years into the future. They are met by an alien creature who says that the villain Zang Zip has taken over the land.

The arcade features sampled voiceovers from the main characters and the game's bosses.

TECHNICAL
Main CPU: (2x) Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound Chips: Yamaha YM3526 (@ 4 Mhz), Y8950 (@ 4 Mhz)

Players: 2
Control: 8-way joystick (rotary)
Buttons: 2

TRIVIA
Released in October 1986 in Japan.

The title of this game translates from Japanese as 'Bellowing Atmosphere'.

This game is known outside Japan as "Victory Road".

The main characters Ralf and Clark appear in one more Ikari game (Ikari III - The Rescue in 1989), and they later enter the fighting tournament known as The King of Fighters.

TIPS AND TRICKS
Gameplay:
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Weapons no longer have limited ammunition.

Player begins with a flamethrower, but when player loses a life, it is changed to machine gun.

Weapon powerups are scattered throughout the levels often hidden under rocks destroyable by the bazooka weapon or grenades.

There are no vehicles in this game, but it was replaced by armour, which allows player to take limited number of hits without time expiration.

Weapons:
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Flamethrower - Player's beginning weapon. It can destroy walls.

Machine gun - Player's weapon after losing a life.

Red machine gun - Similar to machine gun, but the bullet has longer range, and shoots through enemies.

Boomerang - Weapon shoots through enemies, and flies back to player.

Sword - When spinning a sword, player can hit back enemy bullets. When pressing fire button, player fires shot using the last available machine gun type. The sword blade damages enemies upon contact.

Grenades:
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Black - Small explosion.

Red - Larger explosion. When it detonates, an 8-way blast appears.

SERIES

• Ikari (1986)
• Dogosoken (1986)
• Ikari III - The Rescue (1989)

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

Nintendo Famicom (1988) "Ikari II - Dogosoken [Model KAC-DS]"

CONTRIBUTE
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