Cave's flagship import more than lives up to it's (really sizable, at least in shooter circles) hype.
Stylistically, it feels like blasting your way through the Castlevania universe (with some creatures directly, ahem, borrowed...), which is more than a little refreshing
in a genre jammed to the gills with spaceships and giant mechs.
Gameplay is white knuckled blasting action with a scoring system deep enough to keep you coming back to try different angles in hopes of
bigger scores, but not so complicated you need a mathematics degree to fully understand it.
But most importantly, Deathsmiles is just a whole lotta fun. Whether you're a shooter novice or have 1cc'ed the entire Psikyo catalog, you'll have a good time.
It's mechanics are simple enough so that gamers of any age or skill level can find an entry point, yet deep and challenging enough
to keep the hardcore happily coming back for more punishment.
Kudos to Game Revolution for giving this title one of it's only glowing reviews. 