Game Review: Deathsmiles

Japanese shoot-em-up (“shmup”) games are often notorious for being insanely difficult. In a world where shmups such as Ikaruga and Castle of Shikigami challenge the player to an extreme level of frustration, it’s refreshing to see Deathsmiles. While Deathsmiles is certainly no pushover, it offers hours of fun gameplay across various degrees of difficulty so that players of all skill levels can enjoy it.

Deathsmiles takes place in the fictional world of Gilverado. A group of young girls have been trapped inside this magical land for several years. Jitterbug, one of the girls’father, is obsessed with finding a way back to the real world, and in doing so, he’s accidentally opened the gates of hell! Demons are pouring into Gilverado, and it’s up to the girls to stop them.

Of course, if you’re playing this game, there’s a good chance you don’t really care about the story; you simply just want to blow stuff up. So let’s move onto the gameplay…

Deathsmiles allows you to choose from up to 5 characters, each of which have their own distinct bullet patterns, movement properties, and familiars. Your familiar is a small creature that follows you where you go and provides some extra firepower to help you out. All the characters seem fairly balanced, and they are all very playable, even for beginners.

When you select your character, you’re given the option of viewing the tutorial, which briefly and helpfully explains how to play. Your character can shoot in two directions: left and right. Tapping the A button shoots left and tapping the B button shoots right. Naturally, you will find that enemies often come from both directions, so learning to quickly switch the direction in which you’re shooting is something you should master early on. Holding down the A or B button (instead of tapping) activates your Strong Shot, which deals extra damage. While it may seem to make sense to use the Strong Shot all the time, pros trying to master the game will find that a balanced use of both fire types is essential in obtaining a high score.

Holding both A and B at the same time will create a circle around your character (or your familiar, depending on which character you are using) and any enemies that enter that circle will take damage. Using this ability uses up your Item Points, however, so if you’re shooting for a high score, keep your use of this to a minimum. Of course, no shmup is complete without bombs, so if you find yourself in a sticky situation with no way out, press the Y button to unleash your bomb ability, granting you temporary invincibility while clearing the screen of most enemies.

When you defeat an enemy, it will drop items which you can collect for Item Points. When you collect 1,000 Item Points, enemies will begin to drop even more valuable items and allow you to really rack up your score. At this point, pressing A and B at the same time will power up your shots for a limited time and make you invulnerable to contact with most enemies (but not enemy bullets). This is especially useful for boss battles, which can be quite taxing on your skills, especially on the higher difficulty levels.

Blasting a giant cow: oh, so satisfying

Deathsmiles allows you to choose your own path; the stages can be played in whatever order you wish, and with varying levels of difficulty. Once all the mandatory stages have been played, you can opt to go straight to the final stage or play the Extra Stage for an even greater challenge.

This game offers several different game modes. Those looking for a port of the arcade version can play the Arcade mode, which emulates the settings and resolution of the arcade version. The “Xbox 360″ game mode is the default mode, which offers enhanced graphics and gameplay specifically designed for the Xbox 360. There’s also the “Mega Black Label” mode which unlocks an extra character, an extra stage, and another level of difficulty. Finally, the “Ver 1.1″ game mode adds a whole new array of gameplay mechanics into the mix. Once you’re tired of playing by yourself, you can call a friend and play 2-player co-op mode either locally or via Xbox LIVE. With all of these options, Deathsmiles promises to deliver hours upon hours of entertainment that doesn’t get stale, even after several playthroughs.

While Deathsmiles‘ graphics don’t stand anywhere near the standards set by games of today, it’s still a very pretty game with lots of huge explosions and cool effects. The game’s sound is extraordinary, and with a soundtrack full of upbeat tunes accompanied by classic shmup sound effects, your ears are in for a treat.

This spectacular game has also received a spectacular release. The Limited Edition includes a bonus CD with the game’s incredible soundtrack and also a faceplate to spruce up your normally bland-looking Xbox 360 console.

With great gameplay that players of all skill levels will enjoy, combined with excellent graphics & sound, plenty of game modes, and cool extras, Deathsmiles is one hell of an awesome game. Whether you’re the casual type who just wants to have some fun or the hardcore type who shoots for the high score, you’re almost certain to have an amazing time with this game.

GAMEPLAY
Tons of game modes, brilliant mechanics and varying difficulty make the game feel close to perfect

AESTHETICS
Fun graphics and amazing sound, with explosions that will shake the room

OVERALL
A well balanced shoot-em-up that players of all kinds can enjoy