The first DeathSmiles was a Cave shooter that first appeared in Japan's arcades in 2007. It was labeled a "Gothic Lolita shooter" thanks to the character designs by Junya Inoue, someone who is well known for his past efforts on other Cave shooters such as DoDonPachi, ESP Ra.De., and Guwange.

There are quite a few features that set the DeathSmiles series apart from the competition. Here are some of the highlights:

• Unlike most of Cave's other games, DeathSmiles is a horizontal shooter. For the most part, the stages scroll either to the left or to the right with some vertical movement here and there.
• Enemies attack from both sides of the screen. Fortunately, you can shoot to the left and to the right using separate buttons.
• Each of the characters is followed around by his or her own familiar. These helpers fire bullets and can act as a shield.
• Instead of using the standard one-hit-and-you're-dead life system that most shooters employ, Cave made use of life bars. This is part of the reason why the original is considered to be one of the developer's easiest schmups.

The arcade release for DeathSmiles II did away with traditional 2D sprites in favor of 3D models, eventually allowed players to choose from four characters, and had only a handful of stages to play through. Many of Cave's followers were quick to dismiss this sequel because of the lack of characters and stages as well as the direction the company went with the game's graphics, but it seems that many who gave it a chance found it enjoyable. Luckily for them and for those who are still willing to give the series another shot, the Xbox 360 port will feature enhancements over its arcade counterpart, including the addition of two new bosses and stages as well as the ability to play as both Rosa and Follett from the first game. It will also have the usual extras found in most arcade-to-console ports such as graphical upgrades, multiple difficulty settings, and an arrange mode.

DeathSmiles II will not be region free, but we can probably expect it to be brought over by Aksys Games if the publisher's upcoming US release of the first game does well enough.

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