Deathsmiles

Every 2D-shooter fan needs to have this game in their collection. Shmup releases of this caliber are extremely rare outside of Japan.

DeathSmiles is an old school shoot'em'up with an excellent art direction, frantic gameplay, wonderful soundtrack and a good amount of contents. The product however can be fully appreciated only by the old time shoot'em'up lovers, in search of new challenges.

A classical game ported with love and a lot of good ideas. Heartily recommended to shoot'em up fans.

Accessible arcade fun with oodles of depth.

It's no-hold barred old-school shmup action. If stripped of its additional content, Deathsmiles could have been an XBLA title. Instead Rising Star Games have created a niche product – a well presented old-school shmup with plenty of additional material to bring you back.

Deathsmiles has plenty of love for the absurd and changes the shoot-em-up formula enough to delight and surprise you. The minimalistic focus on avatar movement and bullet streams invigorates the genre by bringing it back to its roots, and the deluxe package offers great bang for the bucks.

With DeathSmiles Cave offers a pure arcade experience, the kind of shmup that made us fall in love with the company in the 90s.

Simple, elegant and deceptively deep. [Issue#106, p.125]

Those able to see past the idiosyncratic, somewhat stale visuals to perceive the zeros and ones ticking away beneath the surface will discover one of Cave's finest achievements: a game that lowers the barrier to accessibility without compromising its ultimate depth, a new Defender of the shoot-'em-up faithful.

It will still be far too difficult for most, but the game is one of the developer's most accessible titles to date, and while its jagged 2D art and unpopular genre will never grant it more than an extremely niche audience, the few who are interested will be more than satisfied with both the game and Rising Star's commendable publishing efforts.

You'll need dozens of playthroughs to get a handle on everything that's going on, and Deathsmiles is addictive enough to keep you replaying. [Aug 2010, p.79]

Bullet hell at its finest, with some genuine innovation for a 2D shooter and some great visuals.

To me, this game is well worth the dough -- Cave's superior development quality is more apparent to those who play these games a lot.

Cave knows what it does and does it well. Fans won't be disappointed and if you want a hair-pulling challenge and can actually fathom what's happening on the screen in these bullet-hell shooters, you'll feel right at home.

The bullets are plentiful in this crazy, colorful shoot-'em-up.

Superbly well-realised and balanced shooter that delivers a cerebral high-score challenge. [Apr 2011, p.99]

A decent, fun and challenging shoot'em up, that is not the best one in the last years, neither the best one Cave has made, but is very welcomed considering the shortage of this kind of game.

Although it may not be totally friendly for newbies, Deathsmiles is still a great choice for shmup fans, especially those limited by the choice of titles due to the lack of localised shmups.

Apart from a few minor flaws like endless continuous or the few levels Deathsmiles Deluxe Edition offers a great gameplay with great controlls and crazy boss-fights. Plus: There are Japanese schoolgirls in it.

If you're an hardcore fan of Cave games, this is your game.

It's all too rare that bullethell shooters see a release 'round these parts, and that's a shame. Luckily, Deathsmiles is a strong offering with unique visuals that is sure to please fans of the genre. Decent price, too.

DeathSmiles is a brutal shooter with pretty (but a little bit dated) visuals, solid gameplay mechanics and a short life span. If you're an hardcore fan of Cave games and you're searching for another tough challenge, this is the SHMUP you were waiting for.

A well-made shoot'em up that's a bit too short for the price tag.

All this enthusiasm leads us to the sad reality of the game's release. This would have been a glorious XBLA title at $10-$15, but Deathsmiles comes as a boxed copy and asks the uncanny price of $50. Sure, the game has replay value, but after a few playthroughs, only the ultra dedicated score chasers will have reason to keep going.

DeathSmiles is a tough game to recommend. Not because it's bad though. It's great, for the market it's targeting. However, that market is pretty niche these days. If you don't fit in the SHMUP demographic, there is no compelling reason to add DeathSmiles to your game library.

One for devoted aficionados of "bullet hell" only. [Issue#69, p.88]

Quotation forthcoming.