is a

bullet hell , also known as manic shooter, is a subgenre of shoot 'em up video games with large amounts of projectiles the player is required to dodge. Introduced in 1993 with '' Batsugun'' and initially limited to vertically scrolling shooters, bullet ...

game by

Cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

, released in 2009. It is the third Cave shoot 'em up to be played using a horizontally-oriented monitor (preceded by ''

Progear ''Progear'' is a 2001 side-scrolling shooter video game developed by Cave (company), Cave and published by Capcom for Arcade video game, arcades. Set in the fictional kingdom of Parts, players assume the role of children controlling a plane equ ...

'' and the original '' Deathsmiles''). ''Deathsmiles II'' is also the first

CAVE Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

arcade game to use polygons instead of their traditional sprites for graphics. A compilation of ''Deathsmiles I'' and ''Deathsmiles II'' was released on

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

, and

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

in Japan in December 2021 and later for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

in June 2022.

Gameplay

In ''Deathsmiles II'', players control a character armed with a magical weapon, navigating through levels filled with enemies and obstacles. The game features multiple characters to choose from, each with their own unique abilities and playstyle. As players progress through the game, they can collect power-ups and items to enhance their character's abilities and make them more powerful. ''Deathsmiles II'' also features a "Mega Black Label" mode, which is a harder version of the game with different levels and challenges.

Development and release

''Deathsmiles IIX'' was ported to the Xbox 360 with additional modes in 2010. It was released both regular and limited editions which included a soundtrack CD. On release week, ''Deathsmiles IIX'' sold 16,112 copies in Japan according to

Media Create is a Japanese company that gathers and analyzes data from the digital entertainment industry, specifically focusing on the Japanese console gaming market. Business operations include publishing, market research and consulting. It is a popular w ...

. A platinum edition was released in 2011. The unlocalized Japanese release was made available on the US "Games on Demand" store in 2011.

Reception

In Japan, ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' gave the X360 version a score of 30 out of 40.

GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and ''Computer ...

rated the

XBLA Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers. Titles on the ser ...

release a 3.5 out of 5 and called ''Deathsmiles 2X'' one of the better shooters available in the Western market.

References

External links

* 2009 video games Arcade video games Cave (company) games Christmas video games Dark fantasy video games Horizontally scrolling shooters Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Video games scored by Manabu Namiki Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games with 2.5D graphics Windows games Xbox 360 games Xbox One games Multiplayer and single-player video games {{Shmup-videogame-stub