Cave's Deathsmiles bringing bullet hell to North America via Aksys

click to horizontally scroll through our gallery Japanese developer CAVE is famous for its hardcore "bullet hell" shooters -- at least among importers, because the console versions of those shooters have never been localized. Nobody's been crazy enough to put the time and money into one of the super-hard niche shoot-em-ups, until today, when Aksys Games (the company crazy enough to localize Cho Aniki Zero) announced that it will publish Deathsmiles on the Xbox 360.

While this is going to be incredible news to shmup devotees, Deathsmiles may be a hard sell to general audiences, with its "gothic lolita" aesthetic and punishing difficulty. Those who do check out Deathsmiles for whatever reason will find a horizontal shooter with branching paths, online co-op play, and, in the words of Aksys's Cherie Baker, "little girls flying through a gothic otherworld to destroy the horrific, necrotic Imperator Tyrannosatan."

Aksys has yet to announce a release date for Deathsmiles.

Deathsmiles (Xbox 360)

Reader Comments (20)

That's as entertaining of a title as Birth by Sleep.

*shudder*

Aw crumbs, I wanted Espagaluda II!

Say, wouldn't all those interested in Deathsmiles already have it imported?

Tyrannosatan?

Damn... so he isn't just the lord of darkness and evil incarnate, but now he's also part T-rex? God... the only way he could be scarier is if he replaced his nether-regions with a lava-spewing, rocket-launching mechanism that fired upon him pelvic thrusting towards someone.

and, I'm interested in this game, but don't have the money to import it, soooo... yeah, good news for me!

...but they're not just rockets, they're rocket propelled chainsaws.

bullet hell games are not my cup of tea. Fun to play for a few levels, but as soon as I start dying over and over again I lose interest fast. Maybe if they put in an easy mode a la the next megaman ;)

God the 360 is the shmup king this gen. I'm loving it from Ikaruga, Raiden Fighter Aces, to R-Type Dimensions. Just for the hell of it I been thinking of picking up Mushihimesama Futari since thats region free.

The more the more shmups merrier.

Indeed. I'm love me some shmup's and 360 has more than delivered the old-school fun. Such rewarding and challenging arcade gameplay.

"Mushihimesama Futari since thats region free."

wat wat wat.

I agree, and if you dont have it already pick up Platypus on the indie games marketplace. Its really good.

I bought Mushiemesama Futari. First game I've ever imported. LOVE IT, and love playing it with friends. Look into it, I recommend it.

Will preorder regardless of cost. I have faith that Aksys will do well with localization.

Bluebreaker, a Japanese 360 is required to play the home version of Deathsmiles right now, so those folks who were interested but didn't want to spend $200+ on another console will probably be very happy.

I also preordered two copies of Espgaluda II today, but will gladly buy it again if it's localized! I've been waiting over 3 years to play it, so buying a Japanese 360 was a no-brainer for me. I didn't want to spend $1000+ on the arcade board and a Supergun.

Stevetrop, if you're on the fence over Futari, get off...buy it already! It's so worth it. It's got more replay value than any other single-player game on Xbox 360, from any region. If you like pure action, it's one of the very best games, period.

Yea I been looking at getting it since December. I think when I get some tax cash on hand I'm going to go for it.

I mean its just something about it when you see wave after wave of purple beams of death coming down at you while your blasting away at the boss.

I was GOING TO BUY a Jap 360 when I visit Japan, just to play THIS game. Now I wont have to! Yay Im so happy Death Smiles is coming.

Might want to get it for Death Smiles 2 since I doubt that will be brought over quickly.

This is awesome! Please, more shmups! I'll definitely be reserving this one! Keep them coming Aksys!

Remember when you played videogames to take you OUT of reality and into crazy-ass worlds like this? Now it's all physics engines and high-res textures, blugh. I miss the Japanese madness of old so bad

Love me some shmups... My 360 is US, so i miss out on so many of the good shooters in Japan - glad when some make it hear.

And tbh, I'd love Arksys to continue to put more of these games on the Wii as well; Shikigami No Shiro 3 rocked. I love the classic controller, and most of my shmups are on Virtual Console or are WiiWare titles like Star Soldier R.

still, i"ll take what I can get and this looks pretty.

Nice. I hope Aksys localizes more Cave titles as well.

Cave's Deathsmiles bringing bullet hell to North America via Aksys

Deathsmiles (Xbox 360)

Reader Comments (20)

Posted: Jan 18th 2010 2:48PM HTCEVO said

Posted: Jan 19th 2010 10:10AM arrrgh said

Posted: Jan 18th 2010 2:51PM Bluebreaker said

Posted: Jan 18th 2010 2:56PM DevilSei said

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Posted: Jan 19th 2010 6:15AM JeezWhiz87 said

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Posted: Jan 18th 2010 3:15PM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

Posted: Jan 18th 2010 3:25PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jan 18th 2010 4:13PM Engerz said

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Posted: Jan 19th 2010 12:56PM Bryan T said

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Posted: Jan 18th 2010 4:42PM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

Posted: Jan 18th 2010 6:37PM MyAbsolution said

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Posted: Jan 18th 2010 10:42PM SoulMonkeyRhythm said

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Posted: Jan 19th 2010 5:17PM (Unverified) said

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