Video without commentary: • DoDonPachi DFK 1.5 1CC...
An unexpected clear that arrived while I was dabbling in DDP DFK 1.5. I have minimal experience with the game overall and this was one of my first full runs in the mode (the replay list at the beginning is a pretty good summary of my total playtime), so this definitely was a surprise.
100% of what made this possible was Strong style, which honestly feels a bit like "cheating" when I compare it to some of the other games I've played by CAVE. The fact that you get an auto-bomb that only consumes one bomb per hit, coupled with starting each new life with a FULL stock of bombs (with a capacity that increases the more you die...) is mind-boggling - it allows you to take 15+ hits throughout the course of the game. If you couple this with the hyper system and its bullet cancels, you can largely get through entire stages without really knowing what you're doing, as I very clearly demonstrate in the laser-wheels of death in stage 5 (they have collision hitboxes?!)
Of course, to those looking to get started in the genre, this mode can still pose a tremendous challenge, especially with the amount of visual noise on the screen. I seriously don't know what half the enemies look like in this game, as the sprites get buried in seas of lasers, bullets, and explosions. If you aren't aware of mechanics such as laser "fencing" or using hypers to cancel enemy bullets, you can also dramatically increase the difficulty of the game.
In the video, I go over some of the basic strategies that can pretty effectively mitigate these challenges in Strong style, and make it a very accessible CAVE 1CC for any interested player. While it looks super intimidating, I can see some truth to the stereotype that this game is considered one of the "easiest" CAVE survival clears by veterans (c.f. Softdrink's well articulated comment in this old thread: shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.... I hope the video helps to show that "normal gamers" can reach this milestone without years of experience, grinding, and memorization.
Thanks for watching.