Death Smiles 2 [Cave 2009]

Chi_Ryu · Post by **Chi_Ryu** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:52 pm

jonny5 wrote:autobomb

I didn't see no autobomb in the vid of DS2; In the vid he dies 20 seconds in... it's DFK that had autobombing :{

(Edited to remove ambiguity)

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:55 pm

oh....but i thought i saw a bomb get dropped 3/4 through the video when he got hit?....

either way....this looks terrible imo....but if it drops the DS and DSMBL prices im all for it

BryanM · Post by **BryanM** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:58 am

How can they not be aware they're making a shit sammich?

The optimistic side of me wants to think they no longer care much about the arcade scene, and plan to use higher detail models in the ports. Ports on consoles with video cards from the past five or so years.

The realistic side notices the third boss is just a plain boring ass snake, and the guy at the end of stage two is a design worthy only of a midboss.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:22 am

price is JPY248000 and apparently the require an 80K deposit to deliver on release day?

ed: release is ~3weeks away btw.. so graphically speaking that youtube vid is proboably as good as it gets

gojira · Post by **gojira** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 4:17 pm

I just played Death Smiles II at an arcade in Kawaski were it was on location test. I must say this was a huge dissappointment. I like most shmups by CAVE, Mushi 1 was a masterpiece and I play Mushi 2 Black Label for over a year now, it's my favorite game. The original Death Smiles is not one of their best games in my opinion, but it is still an okay game and has more players than, say MMP. Death Smiles can be fun. But Death Smiles II is just abysmal. I think it was to be expected that Cave tries to make the transition to 3D, there is nothing wrong with that in principle. But the way they pulled it off. One thing is, they don't seem to use the 3D grafics gameplay-wise in any way. F.e. it would have been possible to include Afterburner-like bonus levels, or changeable viewpoints (zoomed-in, zoomed-out for example). But DS II has nothing like that (from what I have played myself so far). They have not used the 3D effect for anything that would enhance gameplay. So the 3D graphics are only to improve the grafics, which is absolutely okay if it would improve the grafics but Death Smiles II is simply underwhelming. To say it clearly, the 3D grafics of Death Smiles II are what I would expect from a doujin PC game, not what I'd expect from an arcade game maker with a history of one hit after another. Okay, it is their first 3D game but that's no excuse. The grafics are fugly, the animation jerky, the entire visual design unoriginal and boring. Gothic lolita meets Christmas... I'd rather have the spaceships back than that. And they released this in Spring! There is of course a plethora of bullets and the patterns move smoothly. But the animation of the enemies is very jerky, the models are low-poly and there are a lot of colors, but unlike in the original DS the colors just give me a headache and make details hard to make out. Then the controls. I find it impossible to control the "ship" (the lolita, the witch, whatever) precisely, a pixel-exact movement is completely impossible. I have absolutely nothing against 3D shmups. Under Defeat, Ikaruga, or R-Type Final (okay that's not an arcade game but anyway) are examples of how beautiful a 3D shmup can look. And these are old games.

Death Smiles II is just shit.

I hope Cave gets their act together. At AOU 2010 I want to see a new game that does not suck hard, I don't want mobile-phone ports and I don't want X-bawks ports, and definitely not this disaster that is Death Smiles II.

Pointman · Post by **Pointman** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:27 pm

Maybe a bit overly harsh there. When I played it at the AOU Show can't say that it played shit, in fact I had a pleasant time with it. The only thing that struck me was the mediocrity of it all, it was very underwhelming. However since seeing the new loke test footage I am pleased to see that things have improved, though not to Cave's usual standards. I just know that Cave can do a hell of alot better.

Post by **undamned** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:42 pm

JAPJAC wrote:Cave are the most overated company since Treasure if you ask me, bit of a one hit Ketsui wonder.

Shut it. DDP 4 evah.

jonny5 wrote:Come on, you know you want to fight evil santa through a snowstorm of bullet hell

Beat me to it. It's been far too long since the evil mecha-santa of Boogie Wings.
-ud

Battlesmurf · Post by **Battlesmurf** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:56 pm

gojira wrote: I hope Cave gets their act together. At AOU 2010 I want to see a new game that does not suck hard, I don't want mobile-phone ports and I don't want X-bawks ports, and definitely not this disaster that is Death Smiles II.

Everybody is entitled to their opinions- so I'm doing my best to word this so it's not too harsh. Bogus idea to shrug off the Xbox ports. If Cave sees more money with this- that's a good thing!

But yeah- I'm going into DS 2 not expecting much. One day my testosterone fueled space shooties will make a return. Hell- I'd even take a Halloween themed one at this point

Post by **Dave_K.** » Thu May 14, 2009 1:02 pm

So Deathsmiles 2 is supposed to be released today. Anyone have details on the hardware involved?

And WTF is this?
http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/123606301

neo_frank · Post by **neo_frank** » Thu May 14, 2009 2:03 pm

Dave_K. wrote:And WTF is this?
http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/123606301

Promo USB memory card/stick?!?, pretty sure its not related to the arcade hardware at all.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Thu May 14, 2009 2:43 pm

Apparently it wasn't sold to the public, but that could be bullshit just to make a sale. Chances of them selling it for fairly high are fairly high, just like those telephone cards. I couldn't be less interested unless it came with a bunch of desktop stuff, but then again, DS1 had something similar and I didn't bother with that in the end.

Does anyone have any footage of this game? I've only seen a tiny bit.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu May 14, 2009 11:25 pm

So Deathsmiles 2 is supposed to be released today. Anyone have details on the hardware involved?

And WTF is this?
http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/123606301

There's a few of them up from time to time. Looks pretty retarded. rtw made a post on the hardware involved over at cave-stg.com. Nothing definitive, but better than nothing.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Thu May 14, 2009 11:49 pm

did anyone buy it?

what the fuck is this thing running on anyways, a big bulky computer like contraption or something slimmer more PCB like?

the game doesnt appeal to me one bit but all this mysticism makes me want to buy it anyways

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Fri May 15, 2009 10:56 am

The dimensions were posted on RS, its a PC like Type-X.

JAPJAC · Post by **JAPJAC** » Fri May 15, 2009 12:50 pm

Here is some pictures from my unboxing and installation experience yesterday:

http://japjac.proboards.com/index.cgi?a ... 254&page=1

Cheers.

charlie chong · Post by **charlie chong** » Fri May 15, 2009 12:59 pm

looks a lot less bulky than a type x .thank god!
theres already pics of the hardware crashing too

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Fri May 15, 2009 1:00 pm

Did it come with the SEGA I/O board? And does it have its own internal PSU?

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Fri May 15, 2009 1:13 pm

don't do it pang...

Post by **Dave_K.** » Fri May 15, 2009 1:15 pm

SuperPang wrote:Did it come with the SEGA I/O board? And does it have its own internal PSU?

I doubt it came with the I/O, and the second pic that japac posted shows a diagram with what looks like a PSU and plug on the left side.

I'm curious what format the ROM is in, CD? HD? USB-Stick? Was that YAJ auction I linked above above actually the ROM for the show demo version? There is a little instruction sheet pictured behind the package which leads me to believe this may be the case.

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Fri May 15, 2009 1:17 pm

jpj wrote:don't do it pang...

Credit me with some taste.

Whatever media its on I hope its easy to update.

Mad Mage · Post by **Mad Mage** » Mon May 18, 2009 8:13 am

Hello everyone. I'm Mad Mage, I love shmups but am only skilled at them; not awesome like some of you guys.

My arcade (in Japan) got Death Smiles 2 and since I'm not seeing heap of impressions here (learn how to use paragraphs, gojira, and objective criticism while you're at it) I thought I'd stop by.

The game is 3D apart from shots and effects. It's well done, but simply doesn't look as nice as Deathsmiles 1, or Cave's other gorgeous 2D pixel art. Some of the bosses are pseudo-realistic and can be very strange such as a giant zombie or a deranged reindeer. It's feels ever so slightly parodious like.

The stage difficulty select from the first game is gone. There are four selectable stages the first two of which are really short. Once you beat them all, the game is over, but says "to be continued". Based on the picture of the stage select screen, there are several places that look like they would be selectable levels but aren't. It seems even the really good players didn't know how to access any other stages.

Deathsmiles 2 plays like Deathsmiles 1 should have, in that it's more difficult and takes better advantage of the left/right shooting feature. Even so, this feature still feels not very interesting and is shadowed by games as old as Forgotten Worlds. At least the bullet patterns are nice and the zombie stage is really cool.

There are only two selectable characters and the game can easily be 1CCed with a little practice. I feel more like I've played a demo of the game. Eventually I'm sure people will figure out how to unlock the extra stages and characters, or perhaps they are locked via time release. Until then, the game's not very worthwhile. Deathsmiles is like my least favorite Cave series anyway.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Mon May 18, 2009 12:06 pm

Deathsmiles 2 plays like Deathsmiles 1 should have, in that it's more difficult and takes better advantage of the left/right shooting feature

1: You realize people are ripping the ass out of this game left and right, yes?
2: Play Rank 3 and go to the Canyon.

Mad Mage · Post by **Mad Mage** » Mon May 18, 2009 12:19 pm

Oh my God, it's Gaijin Punch, love your site.

Yes, I realize people are trashing the game. Frankly, I don't feel I was very nice to it either. I simply like it more than Death Smiles 1 which isn't saying a heck of a lot..

2: what's rank 3? Do you mean play got to the canyon as your third level? Kinda cryptic, aren't we?

Chi_Ryu · Post by **Chi_Ryu** » Mon May 18, 2009 12:39 pm

Mad Mage wrote:2: what's rank 3? Do you mean play got to the canyon as your third level? Kinda cryptic, aren't we?

He means choose rank "Level 3" for all stages where you have a choice, and choose to complete the Canyon (=Extra Stage) instead of going straight for the castle before commenting on how easy/difficult DeathSmiles was

It sounds to me like you don't actually know DeathSmiles very well. I'm in the same position as you in that I love shoot 'em ups but am only "skilled" not "awesome", but even so I get to know a game in detail before writing it off.

Mad Mage · Post by **Mad Mage** » Mon May 18, 2009 1:06 pm

Okay. I'll grant you both that. I should probably play Deathsmiles 1 some more on more difficult settings before writing the game off.

But I am prepared to say that from the amount of Deathsmiles 1 I HAVE played, that I vastly prefer the Dodonpachi, Mushihimesama, and ESP series'.

adversity1 · Post by **adversity1** » Mon May 18, 2009 1:25 pm

Mad Mage wrote:
But I am prepared to say that from the amount of Deathsmiles 1 I HAVE played, that I vastly prefer the Dodonpachi, Mushihimesama, and ESP series'.

Who doesn't?

Seriously though, are there people that put DS in their top 5? I really like 1.1 so far on the 360 and that brings it up in my ranking so far, but it's just not in my top 5 nowadays.

Chi_Ryu · Post by **Chi_Ryu** » Mon May 18, 2009 1:57 pm

adversity1 wrote:
Mad Mage wrote:But I am prepared to say that from the amount of Deathsmiles 1 I HAVE played, that I vastly prefer the Dodonpachi, Mushihimesama, and ESP series'.
Who doesn't?

Well, I personally rate DeathSmiles MegaBlack Label *well* above Mushihimesama. But that's because I don't like Mushihimesama very much (and I should really play Mushi Futari a bit more than I have - I borrowed it for a month and quite enjoyed it, but it didn't rock my socks in the way that e.g. Ketsui does).

And it did rank in my top 5 this year (along with Ketsui and Flying Shark these were my join 1= ... with Esp.Ra.De, Muchi Muchi Pork, Ibara and Progear no Arashi all 4=), though whether or not it will have the staying power to remain there in a year's time I cannot tell.

I like the ESP series a lot though, to be fair, that's a tough call. Unusually, I'm not fussed on the Donpachi series - with the exception of Dai Ou Jou (and I've not yet played Dai fukkatsu).

There's this thing called "individual preference" y'know

I also like Ibara lots, and some people can't stand it... and despise Pink Sweets, and other people love it. There's no accounting for taste, as the good saying goes.

Mad Mage · Post by **Mad Mage** » Mon May 18, 2009 2:19 pm

Yes, well my initial impressions of Deathsmiles 2 can also be chalked up to personal preference. And while I did not preface my quick review with such a statement, I presumed it would be assumed.

Frankly, I'm not sure what we are talking about anymore. Are we arguing? I never said Deathsmiles 2 was a good game, and I conceded, that I should probably play more Deathsmiles 1 before claiming it to be easy.

But yeah, bottom line: Deathsmiles 2 had better get a lot better through new characters and levels. Otherwise, it's a pretty godawful shmup for 2009.

Chi_Ryu · Post by **Chi_Ryu** » Mon May 18, 2009 3:16 pm

Mad Mage wrote:Are we arguing?

Dunno - not from my point of view. I was replying to adversity1 (since he asked if anyone would put in in their top 5)!

I think it's fair enough that you weren't fussed with DS and think the second is better. I've no intentions of importing it at the mo, so won't be able to decide what I think of it (I might change my mind if I hear of unlocks to make it a bit larger than 4 stages)

kemical · Post by **kemical** » Mon May 18, 2009 6:15 pm

thats interesting it says to be continued..

shmups.system11.org

Death Smiles 2 [Cave 2009]

my opinion about Death Smiles II: fugly

Re: my opinion about Death Smiles II: fugly