Dogyuun

Dogyuun^[a] is a 1992 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Toaplan. Set on the colonized fictional planet of Dino in the future, where an alien race of metallic robots have invaded a police communication center and held its inhabitants as hostages, players assume the role of two fighter pilots taking control of the Sylfers bomber space fighter crafts in an revenge attempt to overthrow the invaders and free the surviving colonists after one of their comrades is killed by one of them during a reconnaissance assignment.

Headed by Tamsoft founder and Battle Arena Toshinden producer Toshiaki Ōta, Dogyuun was created by most of the same team that previously worked on several projects at Toaplan such as Snow Bros. and who would later go on to work at one of its offshoots after the company declared bankruptcy in 1994, putting emphasis on visuals instead of gameplay.

The team originally planned on making a mecha title but later settled on doing a vertically scrolling shooter instead after initial testings of the mech game proved to be unsuccessful, while integrating some of their original ideas from the former project into the final release. It is also notable for marking the debut of mangaka and Knuckle Bash designer Junya Inoue in the video game industry, serving as one of its graphic designers.

Dogyuun was praised by reviewers for its visuals, sound design, gameplay, multiplayer, challenge and overall intensity but others felt that some of its mechanics were underdeveloped. As of 2019, the rights to the title is owned by Tatsujin, a company founded in 2017 by former Toaplan member Masahiro Yuge and now-affiliate of Japanese arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia alongside many other Toaplan IPs.

Gameplay – Dogyuun

Dogyuun is a science fiction-themed vertically scrolling shoot ’em up game reminiscent of Aero Fighters and Recca, where players assume the role of two pilots who took a part on a reconnaissance mission on planet Dino taking control of the Sylfers bomber space fighter crafts through ten stages in a revenge effort to defeat an invading alien race of metallic robots who have captured a police communication center and its inhabitants after their comrade, Kyle, was killed by one of them.^[2][3][4][5] 

As far as vertical scrolling shooters go, the game initially appears to be very standard; Players start with a single laser beam that can be held on at close range for dealing minimal damage against enemies when not firing and other weapons can be acquired by destroying incoming carriers, ranging from homing lasers to a lightning beam, which can be distinguished by their color.^[2][3][4] If a weapon module of the same color is picked up, a 5000-point bonus is granted.^[4]

A unique gameplay feature of Dogyuun is the “Unit Beam” system; players have the ability to combine the two ships into one and increase their firepower much further than normal but this can also prove to be a highly risky proposition, however, as both ships can be destroyed by a single enemy fire or colliding against enemies but players are able to detach their ships at any given time. When separated, players are also able to capture a small enemy to gain points continually or hold items for later use.^[2][4] 

There are only two types of item modules that can be attached to the ships; A single-use bomb module capable of obliterating any enemy caught within its blast radius that can also be triggered after taking enemy hits and a speed module that enhances the ship’s speed to quickly avoid enemy fire, in addition of activating a set of two satellite “options” when using the default weapon.^[2][3][4]