Deathsmiles

Deathsmiles

North American box art
Developer(s) CAVE
Publisher(s)
  • JP AMI (arcade)
Designer(s) Junya Inoue (graphic)
Composer(s) Manabu Namiki
Series DeathSmiles
Platform(s) Arcade, Xbox 360, Android, iOS
Release date(s) Arcade
  • JP October 19, 2007
Mega Black Label
  • JP October 10, 2008
Xbox 360
  • JP April 23, 2009
  • NA June 29, 2010
  • EU February 18, 2011[1]
iOS
Genre(s) Manic shooter
Mode(s) Up to 2 players simultaneously
Distribution CD-ROM (Xbox 360)
Cabinet Upright
Arcade system CAVE CV1000B
CPU Hitachi SH-3 (133 MHz)
Sound Yamaha YMZ770C-F (APU)
Display Raster, horizontal

Deathsmiles (デススマイルズ Desusumairuzu) is a horizontal side scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game by Japanese developer Cave, released in late 2007. It is notable for its aesthetic style, featuring heavy occult and gothic influences. It is the second Cave shoot 'em up to be played using a horizontally-oriented monitor (the first being Progear, followed by the recently released Akai Katana). It was the first Cave shooter released in North America on a console,[3] and the first one in Europe.[4] Cave has also released it on the iOS market.[5] A sequel, Deathsmiles II, was released to Japanese arcades on May 14, 2009.

Gameplay

Instead of the typical lives in traditional shooters, the player is given a pool of life points (initially 3). The player loses 1 point if they are hit by a bullet, 1/2 point if they collide with an enemy or are hit by a non-bullet attack. The game ends when the player has no more life points. Life points can be restored by items, and the maximum life point is increased when reaching certain scores (default 20 and 45 million points).

When an enemy is destroyed, it fires a yellow "counter bullet" that is smaller than the regular bullet fired from an enemy. If the player's familiar is hit by a "counter bullet", the player's item counter is increased, which leads to an increased score. Stage bosses do not fire counter bullets.

Familiar

Each player has an accompanying familiar, which can fire its own shots and chooses target in auto lock shot. It can also block enemy bullets. Its movement is opposite to player's.

Items

Jewelry can gain points. "Life Up" items recover life points. Magic gains 1 bomb.

Item counter system

When player obtains an item, or when the familiar touches a counter bullet, the item counter is incremented (maximum 1000).

When the item counter is full, pressing the A and B buttons simultaneously causes both player and familiar to fire more powerful shots than normal, while the item counter begins to decreases. The player does not lose life points for colliding with enemies in this state. The enemies drop more items when destroyed by the powerful shots. The power-up effect finishes when the item counter reaches 0 or if the player is hit by a bullet.

Stages

Stages are arranged in a chapter and scene format, with 3 chapters and 2 scenes per chapters for the first 6 stages. The Player can choose the order of stages by arranging the A, B, C at the start of the game. The stage order within A, B, C cannot be changed. When choosing a stage, the player can choose difficulty levels between 1 to 3 (or 999 in MBL).

After completing 6 stages (Chapter 3 Scene 2), the final stage (Chapter 4) begins, which is organized in 2 parts. The player can choose to play an extra stage if certain conditions are met at the end of Stage Chapter 3 Scene 2.

Releases

Mega Black Label

Mega Black Label is a limited (150 copies total) arcade edition of the game released in Japan. It added Sakura as playable character, as well as the Crystal Shrine stage, and Level 999 difficulty level. There are other scoring changes.

Xbox 360 release

An Xbox 360 port was released in Japan on April 23, 2009 in both regular and limited editions. The Limited Edition includes a Manabu Namiki Selection Deathsmiles Premium Arrange Album soundtrack CD. New game modes include an Xbox 360 mode and Ver 1.1 mode. The player can also adjust the screen brightness, background frame, game screen position and zoom level.

Downloadable content for the Japanese market included the "Mega Black Label" (1200MSP)and a full voice download card for preorder and limited edition users. A "Mega Black Label Ver.1.1" was later made available as DLC.

Hori produced a controller for the Xbox 360 game that was an Amazon Japan exclusive.[6]

On April 8, 2010, the Platinum Collection re-release came out in Japan, containing both the main game and the Mega Black Label downloadable content on the disc.

Aksys Games has released the game in North America on June 28, 2010. A Limited Edition was released that includes, along with the game, an exclusive Xbox 360 faceplate and a "Premium Arrange Album" soundtrack CD. As with the Japanese Platinum Collection re-release, the North American port integrates the Mega Black Label (MBL) content, providing a total of 6 game versions selectable from the front-end menu: Arcade, Ver 1.1, Xbox 360, MBL Ver 1.1, MBL Arcade, MBL Xbox 360. The additional playable character, Sakura, is available in the MBL versions.

Rising Star Games released the game in Europe on February 18, 2011 as "Deathsmiles: Deluxe Edition". This contained a soundtrack CD and a CD intended for use on the PC including desktop themes. Originally the soundtrack CD was misprinted and was released as a data CD including the music as .wav files. Rising Star sent out correct audio CD versions to customers for free. The European release contains Arcade, Ver 1.1, Xbox 360, MBL Ver 1.1, MBL Arcade, MBL Xbox 360 as per the North American release.

In "Ver 1.1" mode, players can independently control familiars via the Xbox 360 controller. Lock shot and powerup shot are located on different buttons.[7] Other changes include:

Xbox 360 mode includes following changes:

iOS/Android release

Cave released a port of Deathsmiles on the Apple iOS App Store in 2011. The special features to this version included:

On July 22, 2013 the game was released for Android devices.

Media

On the back of the arcade game poster, there is a template for a skirt blowing game. In the game, the player attempts to blow up the skirt or petticoat of the model to see her underwear. The player scores 30 points for blowing up a skirt and 50 points for blowing up a petticoat. Points are deducted if a pumpkin or tombstone is knocked over.[8]

Adaptations

Music

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings79.70%[9]
Metacritic76%[10]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Edge8/10[11]
GameSpot8/10[12]
GameZone8.5/10[13]
NTSC-uk10/10[14]

Japanese video game magazine Famitsu's "Famitsu Xbox360 monthly" awarded the game a score of 8/9/7/8. Weekly Famitsu gave the game a score of 7/7/7/8. Edge Online gave the game a score of 8 out of 10. GameZone gave the game an 8.5/10, saying "Shmups are slowly making the journey back into the hearts of westerners, but I fear that Deathsmiles may ruin it for other games to come. From the numerous modes and adjustable options, to the beautiful artwork and masterful touches, Deathsmiles is the new shmup to be reckoned with."

NTSC-uk praised the game's approachability, writing that "it gently eases in newcomers yet underneath has an incredibly sophisticated set of scoring mechanics and level layouts", further stating that the title was "proof of the continuing viability of the genre". GameSpot wrote in their review of the American release that "Deathsmiles is a top-notch shooter that brings the crazy Japanese arcade action in spades with a great presentation and a lot of options for bullet-hell buffs".

References

  1. ↑ "Deathsmiles - Games". Rising Star Games. 2011-02-18. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  2. ↑ "Cave's Next Game for iPhone/iPod Touch". Cave (Company). Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  3. ↑ "Deathsmiles Magically Gets Stateside Release". Siliconera. 2010-01-15. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  4. ↑ Parfitt, Ben. "Cave bringing boxed shooter to West | Games industry news | MCV". Mcvuk.com. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  5. ↑ "Deathsmiles for iPhone/iPod touch Promotional Video". YouTube. 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  6. ↑ 2009年1月30日 (金). "お待たせしました: 開発日誌". Cave-game.cocolog-nifty.com. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  7. ↑ 2008年12月18日 (木) (2008-12-18). "操作: 開発日誌". Cave-game.cocolog-nifty.com. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  8. ↑ "Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Death Smiles". kotaku.com.au. 2007-11-04. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  9. ↑ "Deathsmiles for Xbox 360". GameRankings. 2010-06-29. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  10. ↑ "Deathsmiles for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. 2010-06-29. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  11. ↑ "Review: Deathsmiles | Edge Online". Next-gen.biz. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  12. ↑ "Deathsmiles Review - GameSpot.com". Uk.gamespot.com. 2011-02-18. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  13. ↑ Young, Jason. "Deathsmiles Review | GameZone". Xbox.gamezone.com. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  14. ↑

External links