Dodonpachi Blissful Death [$4.99] is a port of Cave’s 2002 arcade title Dodonpachi Dai Ou Jou, and is a direct prequel to their previous iOS effort Dodonpachi Resurrection [$7.99/Lite] (which also happens to be my favorite of the Cave iOS shooters, FYI). Blissful Death is similar to its sequel at a basic level, but it lacks some of the complexity and strategy found in Resurrection. But, like Cave’s last release Bug Princess [$4.99/Lite], its simplicity is also its strong point for those who maybe aren’t hardcore bullet hell people or those who just like to blast the crap out of everything without much fuss. If you’re familiar with other Cave titles then you should feel right at home with Blissful Death. You have 2 different ships to choose from, each with a normal cannon and a laser weapon to switch between while playing. There are also 3 different Elemental Dolls to Read More

Here's some unfortunate news. Eurogamer reports that Japanese developer CAVE is switching up its strategy following some disappointing earnings from the first half of their fiscal year, which for them starts on the first of June. As a result, they've downgraded their forecasts for the rest of the year, which runs until the end of May, and have reportedly put some of their current titles on hold to allocate more resources into "social games", according to the company's recently released earnings report summarized in English by Andriasang. Now, us iOS gamers associate CAVE with their awesome App Store shooters like [$4.99/Lite], [$7.99/Lite], and [$11.99/Lite]. I don't really like thinking about the developer of some of the most hardcore games around suddenly switching gears to the surging social/casual games space. However, CAVE has a separate division focused on their mobile titles and I would imagine they are reasonably pleased with the performance Read More

Back in 2004, CAVE released the manic shooter Mushihimesama (Bug Princess translated) into arcades to a warm reception from shmup fans, and two years later released a sequel called Mushihimesama Futari, which was also ported to Xbox 360 in 2009. Then, as most of you probably know, an iOS spinoff based on the Mushihimesama series called [$6.99/Lite] was released late last year to critical acclaim. It wasn't the typical CAVE scrolling shooter, and instead was more of a dual-stick action game with similar bullet hell craziness and over-the-top enemies. Today, CAVE has released a teaser video for their new forthcoming iOS game, and it looks like they're going back to that original title from 2004 Mushihimesama and bringing it to the App Store as Bug Princess this winter. We don't have many solid details on Bug Princess just yet, but based on CAVE's previous iOS efforts you can bet that there Read More

For more than a year now, CAVE has had a reputation of releasing high quality shooters on the App Store that featured hefty amounts of action, depth, and replay value. Their bullet hell shooters Espgaluda II [$11.99/Lite] and Dodonpachi Resurrection [$11.99/Lite] are two of the finest shooters around, and they proved they could translate their particular brand of manic gameplay to a more traditional action game with Mushihimesama Bug Panic [$6.99/Lite]. CAVE’s latest title, Deathsmiles [$11.99/Lite], furthers their reputation of offering top quality shmups and us yet another excellent shooter to add to our collection. Like the aforementioned CAVE shooters, Deathsmiles consists of a mode that mimics the arcade version of the game as well as an iPhone-specific mode with exclusive features. The arcade mode features 4 different playable characters and 8 total stages to play. The underlying gameplay mechanics are fairly straightforward. Your character automatically fires, and a button in Read More

Just a couple of weeks ago, CAVE released a new trailer for their upcoming iOS version of manic horizontal shooter Deathsmiles, along with an apology for the game missing its intended Spring release window. It turns out that they didn’t miss it by much though, as CAVE has officially announced that Deathsmiles will be releasing next Thursday July 7th. In addition, just as they’ve done with their previous iOS releases Espgaluda II [$8.99/Lite], Dodonpachi Resurrection [$8.99/Lite], and Mushihimesama Bug Panic [$4.99/Lite], Deathsmiles will launch at a discounted price of $4.99 for the first 4 days before jumping up to its regular $8.99 price tag. Also like those games, the iOS version of Deathsmiles will feature an exclusive iPhone mode in addition to the regular arcade mode that features new gameplay elements and a brand new playable character. If having to wait until July 7th to see Deathsmiles being played on an Read More

"Once more, the angels descend upon Gilverado..." On Friday we reported that Cave announced that their 2007 arcade danmaku / bullet hell shooter DeathSmiles, which made its way to the Xbox 360 in 2009, would be coming to the iPhone this Spring. The studio has followed up with a press release providing additional details as well as a trailer video showing the action to come. Enter the world of Gilverado, a kingdom plagued by hideous monsters and tortured souls. Choose from four angels with unique demonic familiars and battle against a storm of enemies pouring out of Hell's gates! Fight your way out of tight spots as you are surrounded by enemy units and bullets from both sides of the screen. The unique left and right shooting mechanic of Deathsmiles will keep you on your toes as you dodge and weave through complex enemy fire, beautifully crafted by the modern masters Read More

Fans of CAVE’s manic shooters get ready for some exciting news. The developer has just announced over their Twitter that their next iOS game will be none other than the oft-requested Deathsmiles. Deathsmiles is a departure from their traditionally vertical scrolling shooters, like Espgaluda II [$8.99/Lite] and Dodonpachi Resurrection [$8.99/Lite], and scrolls horizontally. However, the intense bullet hell, humongous bosses, and general over-the-top nature of their games is present. We literally have zero information on what the iOS version will contain, but check out this trailer for the Xbox 360 Deluxe Edition that was just released in Europe to get an idea of what Deathsmiles is all about: Keep your eye on this space as we expect CAVE to send out an official press release detailing their upcoming launch of Deathsmiles, but we were so excited for the news that we just had to get the announcement out there. CAVE is Read More

Back in October, we posted a preview video of Bug Heroes from Foursaken Media, developers of the popular iOS title N.Y. Zombies [99¢]. The aim of Bug Heroes was to provide a dual-stick shooter combined with elements of tower defense, as well as multiple playable characters who could also level up and upgrade in a somewhat RPG fashion. It sounded like a tall order for an iOS game, possibly too tall, and we were anxious to get our hands on the game to see how it would pan out. Today, Bug Heroes [$1.99] has launched in the App Store, and not only has Foursaken come through with all their promised gameplay variety but they have surprised me with just how remarkably well it all works together. The bulk of Bug Heroes takes place in the Adventure mode. Here you battle in 4 different environments using a combination of three different characters Read More

Last month, CAVE released Mushihimesama Bug Panic [$4.99/Lite] to the App Store. Like their previous offerings Espgaluda II [$8.99/Lite] and Dodonpachi Resurrection [$8.99/Lite], Bug Panic offered frantic bullet-hell style gameplay, intense explosions, and attractive pixel graphics. But instead of their trademark vertically scrolling shooter, Bug Panic was a dual-stick affair. We really enjoyed the game in our review, noting that it was a satisfying and unique take on the typical dual-stick shooter formula. However, Bug Panic contained a high level of difficulty, and many players felt frustrated as they got stuck at the harder levels later in the game. CAVE has addressed this pretty effectively with the latest 1.0.1 update for Bug Panic that hit a few days ago. They have tweaked the difficulty across the board to make things more balanced, and added an auto-bomb mechanic to help prevent cheap deaths. If you have at least one explosion seed saved Read More