If you don't know, Death Smiles was originally an arcade horizontally oriented 2D shooter from Cave featuring loli characters that has fairly recently been ported to the Xbox360. The 360 version boasts some gorgeous updated graphics (and the original if you so prefer), an extra "remake" type version called Ver1.1, and this week Cave is releasing the Mega Black Label DLC for the game, which adds an extra character as well as an extra level (and tweaks some thins, as per usual with Cave's "Black Label" endeavors). So! Death Smiles, where to begin? The core game is brilliant. It really offers something for gamers of any skill level. For those that rather suck at shooters, then you can play through the game on Rank 1 and get to the final boss on 1 credit (where you will probably die). For those who are well initiated into the genre, you've got Rank 2, which isn't too difficult really, but it still offers a little challenge and if you're feeling bold there's always that damned extra level you can play. And then, for those who spend their time either in a basement with a PCB or off in a Japanese arcade (not a diss, I salute ya!), then there's rank 3 complete with suicide bullets, suicide bullet eating, and a plethora of score opprotunities. And even that aside, the artwork is fantastic, the music is top notch, the level design is pretty good (not the best ever, IMO, but solid), boss fights are fun, scoring system is both complex and enjoyable (unlike some of Cave's other games which just want you to memorize the entire game and where every enemy is going to come from, BOO! that, or the scoring is too convoluted) and all in all its just a great game. So... if you have a JP360, go get it! Even if you aren't very good at 2D shooters its worth it and is a ton of fun. And if you don't have a JP360... then... you might want to consider getting one, because the shooter library is SOLID! :nod: It might even eclipse the Saturn at some point. h: So... here's some videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f0ucrsjn4U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSvW3fPA4Hc Anyways, I'm gonna get back to messing around with Ver1.1. :icon_bigg Being able to use the right analog to control your familiar is frickin' AWESOME!!!!!
Does anyone know what system the arcade version uses? And is this ever going to get a stateside release, or a release on any other console?
This resolution is bloody awful though. If Cave didn't have the "for 360" and "1.1" modes this would be terrible. If you have a CRT it's merely interlaced and fuzzy. If you have anything 480p and up, be prepared to scratch your eyes out (or simply play the other modes). That being said, I've only been playing 1.1 though, and am enjoying it thoroughly...even though they've got a number of bugs to hammer out. Luckily only a few rare ones affect the game itself. Most are interface and score saving related. Even Rank 3 is a joke in terms of difficulty when compared to most other Cave games. The Suicide bullets don't appear until the 5th Rank 3 stage. That's the main complaint w/ most people. It starts off way too easy. Then you go to the Canyon (on all Rank 3) and get your ass handed to you. I like 1.1's difficulty ramp. Much more gradual, starting off quite challenging. Did you see this yet? http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm6998982 While it's a very forgiving game, if you want to score high, and play all stages on the highest rank, you have to memories all the enemies just about as much as any other Cave game (sans DOJ). It's still fun though. My only valid complain w/ the port is that Score Attack and NOrmal are separated. You can only save scores on Live in Score Attack (a mode that sometimes "loses connection" rendering your play null & void) and you can only get achievements in the other mode. Not that I care about those, but still... SH3... a recently retired board (Death Smiles Mega Black Label was the last release). Unlikely unless a 3rd party picks it up. Very unlikely.
sh3 http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=868 CPU : Hitachi SH-3 CPU, 133 Mhz Clock Sound Chip : Yamaha YMZ770C-F Other Chips (Based on Ibara) : Altera Cyclone EP1C12F324C8 FPGA (i think used as Video-DSP and SD-RAM Controller), K9F1G08U0A 128M x 8 Bit NAND Flash Memory, 1x MX29LV160BBTC-90 Flash Memory and, 2x MX29LV320ABTC-90 Flash ICs (space for up to 2 more Flash ICs is not used), 1xMT48LC2M32B2-6 SDRAM, and 2x MT46V16M16. LA4708 Audio amplifier. I believe it doesn't use rom chips it instead uses flash memory. It's an interesting type of pcb. Very small. I find it interesting that first generation cave games used a cave pcb. Second generation cave games were done on hardware by other companies (cps2, pgm). Then for their third generation they went back to using their own hardware (sh3, above picture) I highly doubt there will be a stateside release and it's terrible because cave is F#CKING AWESOME I have 2 friends with jap 360s who already picked up copies. They're huge cave and stg nuts. I can't wait to give it a try.
Probably following the trend of Toaplan (who also used their own PCB architecture) seeing as how Cave was formed in the ashes of Toaplan. Based off of various interviews, I would say the CPS2 was a special case in that Capcom likely approached Cave about doing a game, rather than Cave making a game and finding a distributor (whom was Atlus for their STGs up until this time). I'm basing that on the fact that Capcom was clearly in the driver's seat for many aspects of the game. Certain characters were scratched from the initial plans, and the game wasn't released until almost a full year after it's completion so it wouldn't compete w/ other CPS2 STGs.
well I guess we know who the resident stg expert around here is. Anyway my friend invited me to come and play it this weekend and I'm really excited about this. I've heard nothing but good things about this game. All we need is a daifukkatsu port and everything will be sweet
Nah, I'm just a dork who just so happens to have read/translated a number of interviews w/ Cave developers. I actually find them quite interesting as they talk a lot about the development process, things that work, things that don't, etc. etc. That stuff fascinates me b/c they were the last company putting out classic Arcade style games (although that has apparently stopped). I could care less about hardships developers would face on current consoles or PC-based arcade hardware. If you get bored... http://www.gamengai.com/cmnt_ix.php?type=translation&l=e
Gaijinpunch is the Cave man here, and his website has many interesting things if you like shoot'em ups, but never try to hotlink one of his images XD
