Friday, March 12, 2010

X360 Death Smiles IIX - Import Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX»
In the original DeathSmiles, the heroines Windia, Caspar, Rosa, and Follet were teenagers who were accompanied by invincible familiars. In the sequel, the girls have devolved and they're no longer teens. They're now "tweens" which accentuates the lolita-gothic theme of the game with a younger-looking cast of immaculately garbed and coiffed junior maidens.

Similar to the first DeathSmiles, the sequel is a horizontal shooter where players fire shots to the right, fire shots to the left, and drop the occasional bomb blast. A lock-shot is also available by pressing the "A" and "B" shot buttons together to lock onto enemies with blazing lasers. In the coin-op version, DeathSmiles II featured a cast of four characters with Windia and Caspar returning to reprise their roles. They're joined by a lad named Lei with an identity crisis. Although Lei's a male, he nevertheless dresses up like a maid and appears to be wearing eyeliner. The fourth character is a youngling named Supe (Soupy) who looks like a baby munchkin just emerging from her swaddling clothes. The Xbox 360 conversion improves on the coin-op original by adding Rosa and Follet as playable characters. The 360 game also includes two new stages for a total of 7 to plow through and attendant bosses who guard the new stages.

DeathSmiles 2 is designed with 3D in mind so the stages, enemies, and bosses are rendered 3D models which may be off-putting to some 2D shmup purists. We like the game just fine however - picked up a used kit for about US$1500. Preorders for the Regular Edition (US$73.90) and the Limited Edition which includes a bonus soundtrack and slipcase (US$119.90) are welcome to ship on May 27, 2010.

Questions and Answers
Why do the girls look so young now?
The lolita fetish is strong in this one.

Region-free?
No, but Cave's intentions and plans might change.

How many copies will the original DeathSmiles sell in the USA?
About 100 copies. Maybe 200 if Walmart throws in a $10 gift card.

2 comments:

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