[Review] Deathsmiles
Deathsmiles was originally released on Arcade machines in Japan of late 2007. It proved to be very popular with the later release of a new version titled ‘Deathsmiles: Mega Black Label’. This offered ‘sadistic’ players who found the game too easy(?!) an even greater challenge with ‘Level 999’ as well as the original Levels 1-3. This literally took players to bullet hell but only 150 copies were made so more than likely very hard to find unless you lived in the big cities.
Cave eventually felt the need to release the game in April of 2009 on the Xbox 360 in a country where it’s inhabitants would rather demoralise themselves on TV than buy an Xbox 360. It must’ve sold enough copies though to warrant DLC releases from Cave, releasing ‘Mega Black Label’ & ‘Mega Black Label 1.1’. All this risk taking obviously wasn’t enough for Cave as they released the game in NA 14 months later and then in Europe another 8 months later.
The story of the game is very… Japanese to be fair. Young girls who are from different parts of Earth are transported to a different world after being involved in individual, life-changing events (what is it with the Japanese and separating kids from their parents somehow in their media?!)
Upon arriving in this new world (Gilverado), these girls each discover a magical power depp within them and are looked after by Count Dior, an elderly man who was also brought to Gilverado as a child. The four girls, Windia, Casper, Follett and Rosa, all live peacefully with Count Dior, despite the ordeal of being separated from the real world. But, as this is all going on, legendary demons start attacking Gilverado, and it is up to these four girls to save the world they now consider home.
Now comes the gameplay. Deathsmiles is a side-scrolling shmup, unlike many of Cave’s other titles where the screen moves in a vertical direction. The character you control can be moved all over the screen and shoot either to the left or right. Unlike other shmup games though, where the entire character is the hitbox, the characters in Deathsmiles have a heart on their chest which acts as the hitbox. This means that you can be a bit more daring whilst flying around, and actually allow bullets to fly through your head. With each credit/continue, your character has three lives, indicated by three red bars. You lose one bar if hit by a bullet or half a bar if hit by a non-bullet attack. You’re also equipped with bombs to clear the screen of enemies and bullets if you’re in a bit of a pickle. These replenish if a life is lost or you find an item in-game (there are also life items as well which replenish one bar).
Each character also has their own demon familiar to assist them. They act as the bomb, but also shoot their own bullets at enemies when you’re shooting. Depending on which mode you play, you can either manually control them or not.
The speed of the game is mildly fast-paced but does slow down when there is a shedload of bullets on the screen. This helps with dodging, but only just! It does actually look quite doable without using a continue. Will take a LOT of hard work though, even on Level 1.
The visuals of the game aren’t particularly special but, I don’t think they really need to be. The original arcade version really does stick to its roots and has all its pixelated sprites there. One thing to point out though is that the Xbox 360 versions of the game have updated visuals. The resolution of the game is higher and everything that isn’t the background has been updated to 3D. Everything does look as if it has been worked on with thought as well. Demons are… bizarre to say the least and do look rather mean. And the heroines are all dressed frilly to the max to emphasise the gothic lolita theme of the game.
Speaking of visuals, amongst all the demons and various other enemies trying to devour you, you have the odd pumpkin and other Halloween themed objects flying around the screen, adding that sort of atmosphere to the game. Could be quite fun to use as a Halloween party game as co-op is available to use.
The music has a mix of Halloween, techno and rock to it which can be quite catchy. I’ve definitely found myself humming along with the music whilst playing and playing it inside my head outside of the game after playing through it a few times. And if that isn’t enough, the game even comes with the soundtrack on disc!
The contents of the package is actually quite substantial, containing the original game plus all the DLC that was released in Japan. This offers six versions of the game! With each version having it’s own set of achievements to unlock. You can also play all the modes on Score Attack mode and Training mode (unable to die or unlock achievements). You can also play a majority of them on local and Xbox Live co-op to add more replay value and fun to the game.
As previously mentioned, the game comes with the soundtrack on disc, but also comes with a disc containing desktop accessories for your computer (very old school!). And considering this is a retail release of a game from Japan, it only costs £20!
Overall, I think this is something definitely worth picking up. It’s easy to jump into, novice or expert, and the sheer amount of content just adds to the replay value. Some might find it a bit repetitive after a while, as some of the achievements require you to play through the game twice with each character. The levels are quite short though, so it can be played through in 20-30 minutes total.