Death Smiles: Countdown to North America Invasion

[Daigoro]

got to play it for the first time this afternoon.

its awesome. i love it.

Which version have you been sinking your teeth into? I liked DS vanilla, then really started to get into the game with 1.1, and then was consumed by MBL.

I think it's a real treat. It's actually quite different than any CAVE shmup released recently(or ever, really), so it's not the same ol' same ol'(even if the same ol' same ol' is usually awesome).

i only tried each mode once so far. had to get to bed before work soon after i picked it up.

i love the fact that there are so many variations on the main game. lots to do. moving the option around in 1.1 seems interesting, just gotta figure out how i want to configure the buttons on my stick. i only lasted about 30 seconds in MBL because i picked lvl999 and well, it was a bit much.

ill have to see how this ranks for my favorite Cave games, but first impressions are really good.

[NR777]

Just improved a bit to 56 mil. I have to put this down now. I've got to move soon, so I should get some damn packing done...

[Anesthetize]

Uh oh, is this a bugged achievement already?

I played through 360 mode once, using continues, and unlocked the "return Windia to the real world" achievement. Afterwards I worked on some individual stages, messed around with some other modes, then played through it again with Windia (having to use continues again...I know, I suck), but this time chose to keep her in Gilverado, but no achievement this time. Are there any other requirements for this? I did restart the first stage a few times until I no-missed it.

[NR777]

I'm pretty sure you can't use restarts if you want to unlock achievements.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Went into my local Riverbank, CA based Gamestop store to pick up my pre-order DS LE set. Asked the GS sales associate how many DS LE sets came in and how many were pre-ordered. Only two of them came in & both were reserved (mine included). No box damage whatsover and the box is quite smaller than what everyone imagined it to be.

Thanks for the clearing the verdict that it won't work on a JPN region Xbox 360 console despite the NTSC logo displayed on the front of the DS LE set retail box.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[GaijinPunch]

I'm pretty sure you can't use restarts if you want to unlock achievements.

The hardest achivement in MBL is available w/ restarts.

[Shuurin]

I dunno if the reasoning for locking it is that sinister, afterall the Platinum Collection version of Deathsmiles JP is cheap and includes all the DLC, doesn't it?

Forgot my sarcasm button. I'm aware of the Platinum Collection having MBL included on it, which is why I don't see the need of lock out. Just ended up being part of the license deal Cave signed with Aksys and a true answer we will probably never receive.

[emphatic]

So nobody who's bought the NA release has a camera? Pics people!

[mannerbot]

For people that want to see pictures, here's a post from NeoGAF:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.ph ... tcount=183

[gs68]

So nobody who's bought the NA release has a camera? Pics people!

Fine.


The box.


Enjoying my VERY temporary no. 1 spot before the majority of game stores get this game and I get slammed down about 40-50 places within a month.

[meancode]

I am so glad I took the time to pre-order from Amazon.

From their estimates I will get it the end of next week.

[KisakiProject]

I'm loving. I spent about 5 hours after work playing. I beat the game with each character then played around in MBL label for awhile. I'm kinda achievement whoring it with this game before I go back and really learn the scoring system and stuff.

In regards to the box. F*** you gamestop. So they only got the copy I pre-ordered in. Yet they still did the last copy open it put it on the shelf. So my pre-ordered copy was opened but still "new" bs. I would have flipped out but the dude was on crutches so I felt I should be nice.

Also its my first relabeled xbox 360 game. I like the old label better. Got the faceplate on my 360 first time in awhile I've changed it.

[NR777]

I'm pretty sure you can't use restarts if you want to unlock achievements.

The hardest achivement in MBL is available w/ restarts.

I stand corrected.

[brentsg]

I'm loving. I spent about 5 hours after work playing. I beat the game with each character then played around in MBL label for awhile. I'm kinda achievement whoring it with this game before I go back and really learn the scoring system and stuff.

In regards to the box. F*** you gamestop. So they only got the copy I pre-ordered in. Yet they still did the last copy open it put it on the shelf. So my pre-ordered copy was opened but still "new" bs. I would have flipped out but the dude was on crutches so I felt I should be nice.

I would have told them to just keep it. That's pretty stupid if you preordered it.

[Phellan Wolf]

Is MBL 1.1 finally included in the DVD?

[Kiken]

Thoughts from someone who has had the game since Japan launch in April 2009. The US version:

There's no full voice option.
Having "(NA)" after the title looks tacky.
The achievements are trimmed as fuck, kinda un-fun to get the same ones again.
The text font is pretty ugly.
Translations are stupid. See: this thread.
The arranged soundtrack is still lame as hell. The real OST is so much better.
Faceplate isn't really cut correctly, the space for the disc drive is too big.
The box is cool, and especially since they used it to introduce the new 360 cover art design that will become the standard from now on.
I just have a very "I don't care" feeling about the whole thing. I didn't have that excited "new game" feeling after I bought it, it was just a buy for collector's sake.

I have noticed a really odd audio glitch in the US version. When using laser/rapier, the familiar shot sound effect tends to get really loud, producing this low groaning sound which drowns out the regular shot noise. I've never heard this happen in the Japanese version. Also, when switching firing directions, there's an occasional spike in shot audio which causes a sudden loud scratching noise. Anyone else experience this?

Also, after beating Bloody Jitterbug in MBL 1.1, the credit roll went completely silent. I'll just chalk this up to a momentary loading glitch.. guess I'll try again later today to see if it was just a once-only thing.

[Square King]

In regards to the box. F*** you gamestop. So they only got the copy I pre-ordered in. Yet they still did the last copy open it put it on the shelf. So my pre-ordered copy was opened but still "new" bs. I would have flipped out but the dude was on crutches so I felt I should be nice.

They did the same thing to my preordered copy of Raiden IV. Bastardos.

[NR777]

Is MBL 1.1 finally included in the DVD?

Yes.

[Game Rogue]

This is probably a stupid question, but I don’t’ understand something. When you play lvl 3 to score higher – what I noticed in another’s saved replay was tons of these yellow crosses to be collected that appear to build up a counter in the lower left of the play screen. When I play I cannot get the counter to build consistently like in the replay - what is the trick? Are there other tricks to DS that can be divulged here?

[Matsunaga]

I just picked it up. They have a whole shitload of them at my gamestop. The girl at the store was staring at the box forever, probably trying to figure out what kind of game it is.

[Anesthetize]

I'm pretty sure you can't use restarts if you want to unlock achievements.

The hardest achivement in MBL is available w/ restarts.

I stand corrected.

Well, for what it's worth, I just chose to keep Windia in Gilverado again, this time without restarting, and got credit for the achievement. Might have nothing to do with restarting, but figured I'd mention it anyway.

[Vectorman0]

Well, for what it's worth, I just chose to keep Windia in Gilverado again, this time without restarting, and got credit for the achievement. Might have nothing to do with restarting, but figured I'd mention it anyway.

Some (I'm guessing most) of the achievements won't unlock with restart. It tells you in the mid-game pause menu, when you have the restart option selected.

[MachineAres 1CC]

I have noticed a really odd audio glitch in the US version. When using laser/rapier, the familiar shot sound effect tends to get really loud, producing this low groaning sound which drowns out the regular shot noise. I've never heard this happen in the Japanese version. Also, when switching firing directions, there's an occasional spike in shot audio which causes a sudden loud scratching noise. Anyone else experience this?

Also, after beating Bloody Jitterbug in MBL 1.1, the credit roll went completely silent. I'll just chalk this up to a momentary loading glitch.. guess I'll try again later today to see if it was just a once-only thing.

I noticed this as well. I was talking to Taygeta last night while playing and I told him the audio was flipping out and he said he hadn't noticed that at all, so I'm glad someone else noticed. This has never happened on the Japanese version.

[gs68]

This is probably a stupid question, but I don’t’ understand something. When you play lvl 3 to score higher – what I noticed in another’s saved replay was tons of these yellow crosses to be collected that appear to build up a counter in the lower left of the play screen. When I play I cannot get the counter to build consistently like in the replay - what is the trick? Are there other tricks to DS that can be divulged here?

You have to pick level 3 five times to activate the yellow suicide bullets. Then you use your familiar to absorb those bullets, which add to your counter (kinda like picking up crowns and skulls).

[lawnspic]

Don't know if this was mentioned in a previous post but it seems the NA release supports higher resolutions (720p, 1080i, 1080p) than the Jp release (D4 aka 720p)

[Game Rogue]

So nobody who's bought the NA release has a camera? Pics people!

Deathsmiles x2

[drunkninja24]

In case anyone here was on the fence , IGN review is up:

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/110/1103150c.html

Funny how they give it a decent score, but the whole review reeks of "Waaahhh why isn't this on XBLA".

[Kollision]

Why the fuck 99 out of 100 said "revierws" keep bringing up fuckin' overrated Ikaruga in every single piece of writing they do?
Damn, that's beyond annoying. Scheisse!

[mannerbot]

Because Ikaruga was the first shmup ever made. Don't you know your history?

[Dale]

Why the fuck 99 out of 100 said "revierws" keep bringing up fuckin' overrated Ikaruga in every single piece of writing they do?
Damn, that's beyond annoying. Scheisse!

I couldn't agree more. It's the Citizen Kane of not being Citizen Kane.

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this yet but I just tried my NA DS on my Japanese 360 and it does not work. Just had to check and make sure.