A uniquely bizarre, immersive bullet-hell shooter that reels you in and doesn't let go.
A faithful replication of an arcade shooter developed by Cave, Deathsmiles features four-plus different modes of play. The traditional Arcade mode is a straight-forward, pixel-perfect port of the original coin-op. Version 1.1 tweaks the formula with a handful of gameplay changes (i.e. controlling your familiar with the Right Analog-a feature not available in the Arcade game). The Xbox 360 mode benefits from a gorgeously enhanced visual makeover to compliment high definition displays. Finally, the Mega Black Label mode is the ala carte of the package-incorporating everything from the latter three modes and introducing a new stage and playable character; a powerful Witch named Sakura. Furthermore, you can play cooperatively with a friend via local or online means through Xbox Live, and upload your scores through Score Attack. These modes are always a welcome endeavor to have available at the outset-especially for purists who prefer playing Deathsmiles in its unaltered iteration----offering something for just about anyone.
Bullet hell shooters tend to be overly difficult exercises of feverish dodging and frayed nerves, and Deathsmiles is no exception. Far from it, actually. From the moment you spread your angelic wings and hit the air flapping, you're immediately greeted with a not-so-welcoming array of bullets that seem almost impossible to dodge. Thankfully, things are made easier with the fact that you can only so much as get injured by a direct hit to your glowing little heart box on your character, making hit detection less intimidating than it appears. Oh, and you've also got a modest life bar as a safety net, as well as three super bombs at your disposal in case things get too harrowing. There are a total of four unique characters (Angels) to select from (five, including the aforementioned Sakura, if you're playing the MBL modes). There's Windia, a wind-based Angel and a bit of a crybaby of sorts; Casper, a crass, Death-based Angel with a mysterious past that even she apparently doesn't know about; Follett, a Fire-based Angel with a lurid French accent, and Rosa, a vuluptuous Fairy-based Angel with a Texan flair and a tendency to crack vomit-inducing one liners. Although they play similarly to one another, each character has their own unique Familiar that acts both as a second attacker and a bullet-absorbing satellite. The objective story revolves around these playable Angels as they fight to curb a monster infestation that encroaches upon a dream-like world known as Gilverado; the calamities a direct result of experimentations wrought by a man named Jitterbug (I kid you not-I'm not making this stuff up.) During the course of the game, you'll have the opportunity in choosing your level path as well as individual difficulty rankings (even the dreaded Level 999!), so it is never the same game twice. In fact, if you choose a particular order of levels, you'll even unlock special stages and fight additional bosses. Coupled with the fact that you can earn individual achievements for every ending you unlock for each character, there's always a great incentive to play the game multiple times, and that makes up for the Arcade mode's relatively short length.
The bread, butter and cream cheese of Deathsmiles are the massive score chains you can earn by way of releasing bonus items from each and every enemy you've killed. You have access to rapid fire successive shots and charge shots, and different items are dropped from kills depending on the type you use. For example, if you kill an Ogre using a Charge Shot, you'll drop 32 or so Tiaras, and a smaller enemy fried by a normal shot yields 10 or so Gold Skulls, and so forth. And if that weren't enough, you'll also have to contend with the likes of Suicide bullets that occur in higher levels of difficulty; during which enemies leave a parting shot of bullet clouds after being destroyed, even in midsts of ordinary bullets encroaching the screen. Your Familiar can absorb these bullets (and only these bullets), thereby increasing your chance of dropping even more items than before. This seems like a lot of information to take in, but everything will fall into place if you play the game continuously through hands-on experience. And if you are playing by means of Score Attack, you can upload your ungodly exploits through online Leaderboards to display to the world. How's that for nifty?
Graphically, Deathsmiles is appealing-even if not all that groundbreaking---and they look all the more better in the high-definition 360 modes; although, if you prefer, you can smooth out the rough edges of the standard Arcade mode. But let's face it-it's nowhere near as impressive. Environments range from gaudy port towns to creepy graveyards and lush forests, and you can also expect to run into some extremely bizarre monsters, like an enormous cow named Mary and that creepy large head in the Graveyard level (damage it good enough and watch what happens). The action never slows for a second-even with a thousand bullets and enemies flooding the screen at once. The music is appropriate for a game of this nature with a few memorable tunes, but nothing else that's really noteworthy.
You can finish a single story campaign in less than thirty minutes or so, but you'll invest a lot more time going it all the way through with every character, and earning the numerous achievements. Of course, considering how much fun you'll have playing, this should come as little surprise. If you love arcade shooters as much as I do, there's little reason to pass this up. But, if you're a happy glutton for punishment and don't mind staring down a bunch of screen-flooding bullets, then Deathsmiles will hurt you real good….. sadistically grinning all the while.