California-based company Aksys Games is the bringer-outer of fine titles like BlazBlue and Record of Agarest War. The publisher announced today on its Web site that it will be handling the North American localization of Cave's amazing Gothic Lolita shmup, DeathSmiles.
As if this confirmation weren't great enough news, the company's press release states that the game's optional Mega Black Label add-on (which was $15 DLC in Japan) comes standard right out of the box, giving you Sakura as a playable character, the Crystal Shrine stage, and the 999 difficulty level.
Additionally, it's got online co-op, which, unless I'm mistaken, Japan didn't get at all. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) We Cave fans can officially move our excitement meters from "hopeful drooling" to "full-on idiotic glee."
There's no word on a release date yet, but this project is already in the oven, and here's confirmation before Cave has even had time to reply to my request for comment. Hit the jump for the full press release with all the available details.
Torrance, CA (January 18, 2010) – Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, announces the gothic-lolita shmup hit that took Japan by storm, Deathsmiles, for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
Enter the world of Gilverado, a kingdom plagued by hideous monsters and tortured souls. Choose from four angels with unique demonic familiars and battle against a storm of enemies pouring out of Hell’s gates! Fight your way out of tight spots as you are surrounded by enemy units and bullets from both sides of the screen. The unique left/right shooting mechanic of Deathsmiles will keep you on your toes as you dodge and weave through complex enemy fire, beautifully crafted by the modern masters of shmups, CAVE.
Triggering “Power-up mode” will unleash great streams of golden crowns, white tiaras, and grey skulls as you cut through enemies with your little angel’s mighty magic shot. Try not to get distracted by the bling as you collect these gorgeous trinkets en masse and pump your high score to the limit!
“Most shooters feature space ships heroically charging through bullet showers to kill some alien nuisance,” says Cherie Baker, PR Specialist. “With Deathsmiles, you’ve got little girls flying through a gothic otherworld to destroy the horrific, necrotic Imperator Tyrannosatan. Really, what could top that!?”
Deathsmiles Key Features:
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Five Characters to Explore Gilverado
Choose Windia, the foppish English girl; Casper, the sassy German; Follett, the cautious French girl; or Rosa, the California valley girl. Travel down the roads of Gilverado and discover hidden conversations between the angels.
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Mega Black Label
Test your supernatural powers against the onslaught of the Ice Palace and its forgotten protector! Put your skills to the test with a new scoring system that demands more, but pumps out even more explosions of shiny tokens!
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Choose Your Path and Difficulty
You can choose your own route through the game’s stages and set the difficulty for each, from a level of 1 to 3. These difficulty levels allow you to customize the bullet count and boss toughness. Watch out if you choose level 3 four times, though…
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Save and Play Back Replays
Save replays of your own games to watch later for your own enjoyment. Players can also download the top 20 scoring runs on the leaderboard.
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Online Rankings & Online Co-op
Check out your score on the online leaderboard, with rankings for each character and game mode. Two-player cooperative play is also available via: Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network!
Contest:
2:00 PM on 01.18.2010
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This is fantastic. Like really, really awesome.
@Topher
Ooooooo, what's it say?
Will probably just buy this either way. Just to HAVE it. NGNGNGNG
I'm pre-ordering this beauty as soon as I can!
my day just got a little more grey. :(
1) Any word on a price point?
2) FUCK YES DAY 1 PURCHASE
WAIT I DON'T OWN A 360.
If Aksys ports this to PS3 I will be a happy man. I don't care how, just MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Ahh... I want to play thru as Rosa again...
Because I really want to throw all my money at anyone doing that. I mean, like all of it. This is definately a day one.
yes and no. But i'm only going off of just playing Pro Gear sat.
enemies come from all angles, your character can shoot at both sides yadda yadda..the weapon system isn't progear style though but...yea pretty much everything else is there.
and I hate lvl 999. Shit is no joke. It's like Ibara Black Label silly.
It would be awesome of there was a Blazblue cameo in there somewhere.
I was incredibly hyped over Ikaruga thanks to Dtoid (and its awesome!), I just couldn't ever get past the boss in level 2 :(
By full price do you mean the XBLA price of $20, or full retail price of $60?
Same here. I would like a European release too.
He means $60 but I dont think aksys would release it for that much seeing that a lot of people think that 60 dollars is too much for a shmup. Then again this is a niche game and even if they charge $20 not many people will buy it.
Well played aksys well played now give me a release date please.
Second, this game is nothing like Progear no Arashi. Its far better, and its scoring system isn't absolute garbage.
Really excited about this, just imported Mushi Futari 1.5, and I've had DDP DOJ BLEX, Shiki III and Shooting Love 200X for awhile.