Shmups is a good forum, although the forum tech is really old. I also reccomend cave-stg.com forums. EOJ does a lot of hard work to post strategy, and thereās a good Deathsmiles Mega Black Label thread there. Let me know if you need any help.
BTW, Deathsmiles out for J360 April 23rd, Mega Black Label DLC about two weeks afterward.
Donāt you need like a jap account in order to download the Mega Black Label?
I canāt see myself playing the non-MBL version.
Also, there rumors going about that there is a small chance Death Smiles may come to North America.
However, chances of it happening is rather small, but possible.
Iād say thereās a possibility, but CAVE definitely hasnāt announced anything.
You will need a jap account to dl MBL, but if you paypal me money I can get you a point card which is the hardest part. Then you just have to get through the J registration process I believe.
Honestly, I like the non-MBL version more, but it was the version I started on. I just didnāt find much use for triggering the counter at 500 or so. 1000 gives you a much nicer bit of time to trigger crowns and skulls. I also didnāt like how death mode (where enemies give off suicide bullets) in MBL doesnāt add to your plus value. : /
Non-MBL, there was too many āsafe spotsā on bosses and the overall game played WAY to easy. Didnāt like the explotes in non-MBL, which is possibly why it didnāt do to well in Japan (or so I was informed).
Thinking back on it, I didnāt like Death Smiles at all until MBL came out.
Also triggering at 500 is VERY, VERY HELPFUL. I canāt even begin to explain how awesome is, getting your bonus capped at 100,000 before getting to the extra stages is too awesome.
The āsuicide bulletsā (enemy counter) gives you points only on EX modes.
Each one gives you about 300 points, so itās very good. Plus, when you power up you can turn all those counters into points anyways, so it was really good.
Also, ādeath modeā (level 999) was not the only mode that gave out Enemy Counters. Basically when you complete a certain amount of stages on Level 3, you are taken to EX mode and the enemy will Counter after they die. I believe this was in non-MBL as well.
Death mode is when enemies start spitting suicide bullets back at you after choosing level 3 stages 5 times. Level 999 is just a different difficulty setting (one I think is um, ridiculous).
I believe EX mode only refers to playing the optional Canyon and Ice Palace levels.
I do agree that it was dope as hell getting the counter up to 100k and then taking on the Ice Palace/Canyon levels. Gotta be honest though I never got through the ice palace without getting a game over. Tough level, tougher boss.
How high are you scoring on this? I got something like 250 mil but never played it as hard as I should have.
I would also say that original DS isā¦not too easy. If you do the canyon level with death mode, the castle level goes to level 2 death mode which spits out even more suicide bullets. Honestly it can get as hard as some of the early Mushi Ultra levels. Boss-wise yeah theyāre pretty easy in this game. Tree boss is a bitch in MBL though damn!
You trippinā? Anyone who plays non-MBL and played MBL canāt go back.
From the sound of it, I donāt think you even played either (even with that score you posted). And if you have, does not sound like you played it much.
You get into EX mode if you played Level 3 a good 4 times.
Also, the Ice Palace is not in the non-MBL.
Not to mention, when picking the canyon stage, you are forced in ādeath modeā regardless of what you do. And yes, beating either stage will make the final stage harder.
250 mil is not very impressive.
My highest score is 1.14 bill but thats because I died halfway on the final stage (which sucked). I can take a screen shot of it with my cell once I get time, however I know I can do a lot better.
And the original DS is damn easy, thatās one of the reasons why it almost died in Japan. It was way to simple, even after beating the Canyon stage. The last boss a joke, even in ādeath modeā. MBL perty much changed that by making you play level 999 for the final stage if you complete the other 2 stages before it (canyon/ice palace).
Regardless, non-MBL is very un-interesting and I really donāt know anyone who actually liked Death Smiles until MBL came out.
Uh, Iām not pretending to be a Deathsmiles expert? Why are you being an ass? I didnāt say I played it much. I played DS original off and on for a couple weeks and MBL a couple times. I did not post up a 250 mil score to impress you dude. My original DS score is 90 mil for instance, I just didnāt play it enough.
Iām only pointing out with the terms that if you pick level 3 5 times, you enter death mode. Your 5th and 6th levels will be death mode even if you donāt choose to go through the optional levels. So again, the optional stages get you the EX on your score.
Well I threw some credits in MBL today. I think power-up mode at 500 is nice for the flexibility, but comes in most handy with the palace and canyon levels where just absorbing suicide bullets/collecting crowns is enough to get you to 500 and you can use your activation almost like a bomb.
On my best run I beat the palace and made it to the end of the canyon, scoring 897 mil. I think half the reason I was sucking at MBL was trying to use Windia and Follett on the EX levels. Iāve never been very good with how the options control in this game, but Sakura is just so much easier with her twin birds that suck up the suicide bullets.
One thing I still donāt get in this game is the āempty lockā technique for triggering tons of crowns from certain enemies like the floating islands in the forest. I know you have to sic your option on an enemy right before it dies as if you were doing a lock-on shot, but it doesnāt always work for me. I think maybe you have to hit the enemy with your option only and then quickly switch to lock shot before it dies.
Oh, what trick is this? Do you know the name of it by any chance?
I remember a friend of mine was telling me these strange techniques you can do with certain characters in the game to have better control over your pet on lvl 999, but he had strange names to them.
Also, anyone else here play DeathSmiles? ITāS AN AWESOME GAME!!! >_<
Nice links.
Ok, I see what she is doing. From what it looks like, it seems like the only characters that can truly do this tech would be Lightning Girl (I forget her name) and Wydina, of course.
Seems like the Rapid Fire version of the petās bullets kills off the enemy while she is using Auto-Aim to get all the power ups.
Sakura seems jewed over any kind of real techs, but at least she has 2 pets, lol ;o
Iāve been avoiding Futari since I donāt have a 9000TB stick for my Supergun. Adversity, think you can hook me up?
I have a bunch of stuff coming from Yahoo Japan, as well. My PS2 collection of shmups is pretty fucking pathetic, so I went ahead and bought Homura, Fantasy Zone CC, Gigawing 1&2, Gunbird 1&2, The Shooting: Shienryu Explosion and Shienryu, Gradius 3&4, and a complete copy of Three Wonders for the PS1.
I didnāt realize Fujita had the PCB of Three Wonders otherwise I would probably have purchased that instead. Hoping like hell that the PS1 version doesnāt have any slowdown in it.
Damn!! If they ever make an Einhander sequal, they better read this. Very nice ideas FC. :tup:
Nice model! If and when I get another job and start making some extra cash, Iām gonna be looking to grab this.
Iāve got to get this game. thatās all there is to it. which system is it on?
Actually, Iāve been tied up with SF4 for the past few months. Iām gonna have to get back into my shooters though. Sethās Git-In-My-Belly Ultra move is getting on my nerves. Iām gonna have to check those clips later on, but anybody pulling a superplay on mushihimesama Futari is worth watching. Everybody, Keep getting shot!!!