Comparison

DODONPACHI MAXIMUM vs The Tawashi

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

DODONPACHI MAXIMUM

Experience intense bullet-hell action with this mobile shooter. Navigate through overwhelming enemy fire with intuitive one-finger controls. Features include multiple difficulty modes and a remixed soundtrack.

Highlights
  • One-finger controls
  • Bullet-hell gameplay
  • Easy and Normal modes
  • Remixed soundtrack
  • Combo system
Features
Read full description

Now updated for iOS 11 or later! Enjoy the bullet hell with your new iOS! ###CAVE'S FIRST ALL-ORIGINAL SMARTPHONE SHOOTER### Take a ride on EVAC Co.'s maximum bullet-hell simulator, the M.B.S.! Survive an incredible array of bullet-hell weaponry! CAVE shooters are now mixed up! ≪ Game Overview ≫ [OPTIMIZED FOR ONE-FINGER WARFARE!] Weave through walls of bullets! Smash through the enemy and build combos! Manic, full-throttle gameplay, all controlled with your thumb! [BEGINNERS CAN JUMP RIGHT IN! EASY MODE INCLUDED!] If you're not sure you've got what it takes, start off with Easy Mode. Once you've conquered that, test your mettle with Normal Mode! [REMIXED MUSIC INCLUDED!] Remixed versions of classic Dodonpachi series tracks included! Remix composer WASi303 has written a new soundtrack for a new Dodonpachi world! ### Important ###: Please read the following before downloading this application. ●Compatibility: iPhone5S or later, iPod touch 6thGen. or later and iPad Air or later. ●Compatible OS: iOS 11 or later. ●This application will use mass volume of memory. Please note the application may not function properly or shutdown without any notice when used with limited memory space. ●Turning ON the accessibility option setting may cause malfunctions in certain features.

About

The Tawashi

Engage in a retro-style shooter where you must evade enemy bullets while simultaneously attacking them. Collect power-ups and treasures to boost your score and gain extra lives. Master five challenging stages with adjustable difficulty levels.

Highlights
  • Bullet evasion and shooting gameplay
  • Multiple control options (touch, gamepad, keyboard)
  • Weapon power-ups and upgrades
  • Collectible treasures for extra lives
  • Five distinct stages with boss battles
  • Adjustable difficulty levels
Features
Read full description

- What kind of game is it? A game where you evade enemy bullets whilst shooting them down. Don't think, just evade and shoot! - Controls Smartphone: Move: Tap and slide Attack: Tap Precision control: Slowly slide Pause: Tap with 2 fingers Horizontal feed: None Vertical feed: tap and slide Gamepad: Move: Left joystick Attack: Button 1 (A) Precision control: Button 2 (B) + direction Pause: Menu button Horizontal feed: Button L/R Vertical feed: Right joystick The game is best experienced using a gamepad. Select the 'Gamepad' icon on the settings screen when using a gamepad. However, the compatibility of gamepads may affect the controls of the game. If this occurs, please use another method of control. You can also use the arrow keys or numeric pad for keyboard controls. Disable NumLock to use the numeric pad. Failing to do so will prevent the game from stopping. - Gameplay Select a stage and difficulty. Use the directional controls to avoid enemy bullets, and shoot down enemies using the attack button. Collect your friends to boost your score, and shoot at present boxes to switch to better weapons every now and then. When you see a flash on the ground, dig up the treasure, and if you get bombarded with enemy shots then use your precisions controls to slowly dodge them. Don't forget to 'pause' if you get tired. It might sound difficult, but you'll get the hang of it as you play. - Game rules Getting hit by enemy bullets reduces your HP. You lose 1 life when you run out of HP, and the game ends once you've lost all your lives. Complete a stage by defeating a boss before you lose all of your lives! Bumping into an enemy will not reduce your HP, but you may get knocked back or paralyzed. - Stages You can select the next stage once you have cleared a stage. There are 5 stages in total! Can you clear all the stages? Cleared stages and proceeding unlocked stage are always available to play, so you can constantly play stages you're good at or practice difficult ones at your leisure. - Power-ups Collect the weapons that appear when you destroy present boxes! They change the bullets shot from your character. Choose from various weapons to suit the situation. Some strong enemies can be easily defeated by switching weapons. Just a quick heads up - all weapons are disposable. - Difficulty There are 5 difficult levels: Easy, Light, Normal, Hard, and Hell. Select a difficulty level that suits you at the Start Stage screen. Try playing on 'Easy' or 'Light' if you're new to these kinds of games. If you're a veteran to this scene, then choose 'Hard' or 'Hell' and aim for a high score! The harder the difficulty, the higher your possible score. - Treasure Collecting various treasures in the game will increase your number of extra lives at the start of the game. When you collect 50/100/200/300/400/450/ALL different types of treasures, you will gain 1 extra life. (Note: collecting multiples of the same type of treasure does not count) The more extra lives you have, the easier it is to clear a stage. Try dropping the difficulty to collect more treasures if you're having trouble avoiding bullets. Each stage features different treasures, so play through different ones to collect more of them. - Any bombs? No, nothing like that. - What about 1UPs? Nope. Nothing. Collecting various different treasures will increase the number of lives you start with. - Any HP recovery? Your HP is recovered when you clear a stage. You can do it! - What about replays? Sorry to break it to you, but no. Please use the automatic highlights recording function. Recorded videos are saved to your gallery or my videos folder. Videos are saved in GIF format, so please use compatible software to view them. Unfortunately, there is no sound-recording function.

Screenshots

DODONPACHI MAXIMUM4 screens
The Tawashi4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: DODONPACHI MAXIMUM at every 2 months against The Tawashi's every 22 months. DODONPACHI MAXIMUM also leads on ratings volume (53 vs 5). The Tawashi's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 72%). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

DODONPACHI MAXIMUM costs $3.99 and The Tawashi $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Tawashi holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DODONPACHI MAXIMUM has 53 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of DODONPACHI MAXIMUM's written reviews are positive against 100% of The Tawashi's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DODONPACHI MAXIMUM ships an update every 2 months, The Tawashi every 22 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
DODONPACHI MAXIMUM versus The Tawashi: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDODONPACHI MAXIMUMThe Tawashi
Price$3.99$3.99
Rating4.8 (53 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings53 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 22 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size393 MB115 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperCAVE CO.,LTD.Makoto Umeda

Customer experience

DODONPACHI MAXIMUM

All ratings53 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews189 reviews
Positive72.5%
Neutral7.4%
Negative20.1%

The Tawashi

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

DODONPACHI MAXIMUM

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Screen glitches after iOS updates (especially iOS 18)
  • Graphics breaking/rendering issues
  • Game Center achievements not unlocking
  • Screen shifted upwards, making parts inaccessible
  • Game not displaying correctly on iPad Mini 2024
Show 4 more
  • Game not installing on iPod Touch 5th gen
  • Leaderboard scores wiped
  • Achievements not awarded
  • Game Center integration issues

Requested features

9 requests
  • Adjustable screen size
  • Option to disable letterboxing
  • More varied backgrounds
  • Improved Game Center integration/achievements
  • Support for older devices/iOS versions
Show 4 more
  • MFi controller support
  • Add more Cave games to the store
  • Option to continue from last boss
  • Manual fire option

The Tawashi

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

DODONPACHI MAXIMUM

No in-app purchases

None

The Tawashi

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DODONPACHI MAXIMUM free?
DODONPACHI MAXIMUM costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Tawashi free?
The Tawashi costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, DODONPACHI MAXIMUM or The Tawashi?
The Tawashi is rated higher. DODONPACHI MAXIMUM averages 4.8 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while The Tawashi averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do DODONPACHI MAXIMUM or The Tawashi have ads?
Neither DODONPACHI MAXIMUM nor The Tawashi shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DODONPACHI MAXIMUM or The Tawashi?
DODONPACHI MAXIMUM ships an update every 2 months, and The Tawashi every 22 months. Most recently, DODONPACHI MAXIMUM was updated on October 29, 2026 and The Tawashi on October 15, 2026.

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