Off the back of last year's exquisite Dodonpachi DaiOuJou Blissful Death Re:Incarnation, publisher Live Wire has announced that it's bringing DoDonPachi True Death to Switch in Japan on 19th December.
True Death (or 'DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou', in Japan) is the sixth entry in Cave's vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up series, initially launching in arcades in 2012 before coming to Xbox a year later.
As one glance at the above trailer will likely demonstrate, this one contains all of the vertical-scrolling madness that you would expect from the series, with a handful of new features like challenges and a gallery. Like last year's release, it looks to be one for the big-time shmup fans first and foremost, but those who like a challenge need look no further.

Also like the 2023 release, this one appears to only be for Japan at the time of writing, with Japanese as the only language option. True Death will arrive on the regional eShop on 19th December for 4,400 yen, so you'll need a Japanese Nintendo account if you want to check it out digitally.
We had a fantastic time with Blissful Death Re:Incarnation when it came to Switch last year, stating that it "comes closer to perfection than any other in the bullet-hell sub-genre" in our 10/10 review. High praise indeed. Let's see whether the upcoming release can reach the same high bar.
Will you be picking this one up later this month? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 23
This is such fantastic news!
After the EXA-release I didn't think this game would be released on any other platform soon.
I can't wait to dive into SDOJ again and send my xbox 360 copy into retirement.
Hopefully this will receive a physical release.
I 1cc'd the arcade mode last year and love the game, hopefully Live Wire will be able to reduce the high input lag of the xbox 360 version.
Great news. Hoping for a physical announcement as well.
Still waiting for Limited Run Games (or anyone else) to bring a physical release of DDP DOJ to the west, would be great if they could tie it in with a western release of DDP SDOJ.
hoping for a physical!
Love to hear it for shoot 'em up fans!
@Edd-O differ t publishers. M2 v livewire. So small chance.
Still happy that this will be here. 360 version got bad reviews due to lag. Never played this one
Cool. Hopeful it does to the states but I think it will.
Another schmup "Under Defeat" were supposed to release on Switch last week, but delayed.
Super excited for this release!!
I've played this game a lot through emulation, and it is fantastic, as expected from the series. Definitely a different visual vibe though compared to earlier entries. Will buy this immediately if it gets a release outside of Japan. I'm not hopeful though. Cave just really seems to not want players outside of Japan to enjoy this series.
@MARl0 It’s like they live inside their own cave.
No one beat the full final boss in this game, ever, until this year. 12 years of dedication by superplayer Sairyou. It's incredible, watch starting at 28:19
https://www.youtube.com/live/OUv0y_5O-yw?feature=shared
Brutal game, even for Cave. Can't wait.
@Edd-O
https://www.play-asia.com/dodonpachi-blissful-death-reincarnation/13/70gf0p
Minimal use of Google translate on the menu at first, perfectly playable in-game
Dodonpachi and ESP Ra.De Best for switch
@SearchingS I agree they are truly great but for me personally I just enjoy Mushi slightly more. It's just such a joy to play, and I love the art and catchy tunes.
Bring on True Death and make it phyisical as well please. Looking forward to playing it!
Wondering if there's a harder final boss in gaming. One person in the world can beat this. And not artificial challenge difficulty, this is as the devs intended.
@jake1421 Thanks, I'll end up getting the Japanese version (and the same for ESP Ra.De and DDP SDOJ) if they don't get a western release before Switch 2 comes out.
A shame this isn't part of M2 STG series, but the X360 version instead. Hopefully it will get to the west alongside Mushihimesama Futari at some point.
@rushiosan Is there a difference I should be knowing about?
@jimnorman only an hour after i pointed this out to you in the other article:)
@MARl0 ALL of the other Live Wire Cave ports got a release outside of Japan, did they not?
DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou is one of 64 games to make it onto Shmups Forum's "Annual Top 25 Shmups of All Time" lists over their 20-year history.
It was an "Honourable Mention" this year.
Today! Saw that shmuos on switch says the lag was better than the 360 version
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...