Cave revisit the horizontal shmup with a Western-tinged gothic universe that nicely breaks from their usual shojo style. Patterns are snappy, scoring runs deep and the art direction gives the studio's catalogue a singular flavour.
Your verdict
Category
Shooter1 player12+
Description
Vertical shoot-em-up by Cave and Aksys Games, February 2011. Witch Windia and allies battle demon legions in colorful festive vertical shooting levels with advanced scoring mechanics. Medal system to multiply points, two-player co-op mode and varied difficulties including original Arcade mode. Cave shoot-em-up in a gothic Christmas universe.
Deathsmiles review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
Cave leaves space and Japan for a dark-fairy-tale Europe: gothic villages, moonlit cemeteries, pumpkins and shattered stained glass, monsters borrowed from the Halloween bestiary, and little girls in frilled dresses firing to both sides of the screen. This blend of Victorian engraving and unabashed cuteness remains without equal in the studio's catalogue.
The score borrows from masquerade-ball music: organ waltzes, harpsichord, whirling violins and children's choirs, all held at a carousel tempo that accelerates as the waves close in. Each witch carries her own theme, and the whole thing sounds like a Halloween party gone wrong, laughing on the surface, frankly unsettling underneath.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Engaging"
Difficulty
"Punishing"
A horizontal danmaku with gothic charm from Cave, it lets you pick your difficulty area by area and fire to both sides of the screen. Handling waves that arrive back to back, aiming true and triggering rage mode at the right moment make up the heart of the game. Elegant and tough, it remains one of the most rewarding gateways into pattern shoot-'em-ups.
Lifespan
"Very short"
Witch Windia and her allies battle demon legions across colourful, festive levels: this Cave shooter packs its flavour into short but intense runs. Its brevity is the cabinet's, where the medal system and two-player co-op feed the scoring. The short length extends into the hunt for the perfect combo, well beyond a single crossing.
A Cave horizontal shoot'em up of cute gothic aesthetics, where young witches face a bullet curtain in a perpetual Halloween, brought West in a very limited run. Its appeal lies in genuine physical scarcity, the devotion of danmaku fans and reference-piece status in a Cave library. A hunted target for shmup collectors.
Memorable bosses
Behind its Halloween-storybook looks, this horizontal shooter unleashes swarms of bullets against ever more unsettling gothic creatures. Steering the familiar to sweep fire on both sides becomes vital as the patterns thicken. The contrast between witch-girls and a macabre bestiary, paired with elegant patterns, gives these duels an inimitable flavor.
An underrated gem
A rarity for Cave, which favors vertical layouts, this horizontal shooter sends young gothic witches against hordes of demons in a fantasized Europe. More accessible than the studio's usual bullet hells, it nevertheless barely reached beyond the circle of enthusiasts. Its good-natured macabre charm and scoring system make it an excellent gateway into the genre.
Is Deathsmiles still worth playing in 2026?
Released in 2009 on Xbox 360, Cave's Deathsmiles is a horizontally scrolling shoot them up with a singular gothic charm, where young witches face swarms of demons in a dark fairytale world. Shooting in both directions, depending on enemies coming from left or right, brings an original dynamic to the genre. The generous scoring system and the adjustable difficulty level welcome the curious as much as experts. The ornate art direction sets it apart from the competition. For devotees of Japanese arcade shmups and fans of Cave's signature, this title keeps a real flavour today.
