Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi

Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi
Developer(s)	Cave
Publisher(s)	JP AMI Arika 5pb
Platform(s)	Arcade Nintendo DS Xbox 360
Release	JP 2003-1-28 (Arcade)
Genre(s)	vertical shooter
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously

Ketsui - Kizuna Jigoku Tachi (ケツイ〜絆地獄たち〜) is a vertical shoot 'em up arcade game by Cave. It was released in Japanese arcades in 2003. A Nintendo DS version was released on October 23rd 2008 in Japan. It included a Superplay DVD featuring a world high record scoring run by a top ranking player. A Xbox 360 version is due called Ketsui Kizuna Jigoku Tachi EXTRA on January 29th 2009.

Game play

Fighters:

• AH-Y72: Fires in wide formation, slow movement, fast lock-on
• FH-X4: Fires in straight formation, fast movement, slow lock-on

Stages

1. INTERCEPTION
2. SUBURB
3. CANAL FLEET
4. DEFENSIVE LINE
5. EVAC INDUSTRY

Player can enter 2nd round if player does not continue, uses 6 or fewer bombs, loses 6 or fewer lives. In addition, an alternate 2nd round can be reached if player does not lose a life, does not use bomb, and obtains 120,000,000 points. In this mode, there is an additional boss after defeating 5th stage boss.

Consumer versions

At one time, Arika, publisher of the ports for DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou and Espgaluda, expressed interest in porting the game to the PlayStation 2, but later stated that the console was insufficient for what they wanted to include.

DS version

On 2007-3-26, Arika's vice president Ichiro Mihara mentioned the release of Nintendo DS version of Ketsui in his personal page[1]. The game, subtitled Death label, was available for download in test events in 2007-3-31. Video footage of the game was also released by Mihara. In the time-limited demo, players had 120 minutes to face off against Doom with a single ship and no bombs.

Another demo event took place at Cave Festival in Akibahara on 2007-9-23 to 2007-9-24. This version has time limit of 24 hours, and contains extra levels.

Arika's DS page was opened on 2008-5-23.

Retail version

The retail version of the game includes a DVD walkthrough video.

The game adds the ability to save replays, which can be sent to other Nintendo DS units. In addition, it can upload the Ketsui demo game to other Nintendo DS units. EVAC Report feature allows players to unlock panels when specific conditions are met.

Single player modes:

• Novice: 4 mid boss + 1 boss stages.
• Normal: 5 bosses stages.
• Hard: 6 bosses stages, increased bullet density.

Multi player modes:

• VS mode: Competes against other player for multiplier chip. When one player has a longer win/loss gauge, multiplier chip goes to that player when an enemy is destroyed.
• Kizuna mode:

Training mode: Allows selecting stage, boss difficulty, player's ship, ship stock, bomb stock, auto bomb.

Xbox 360 version

2008-03-07 issue of Famitsu Weekly magazine reported that 5pb.Inc.'s 5pb.Games Division #2 would bring 3 titles, including Ketsui, to Xbox 360 platform as Xbox Live Arcade titles. However, 5pb representative Masaki Sakari claimed Microsoft rejected 5pb's proposals and 'decided to cut down faithful arcade ports.'[2] A Xbox 360 retail version called Kizuna Jigoku Tachi EXTRA is due January 29th 2009 in Japan.

Mobile phone

In 2003, Cave released mobile phone version of the game as 2 separate titles, available for imode (for 504/505/506 series, FOMA90*i series) and Yahoo platforms. A DX version for FOMA 900 and 901 was released in 2004. EZWeb version was released in 2005.

Danmakukenteishiken Ketsui hen (弾幕検定死験 -ケツイ編-) is a spin-off title based on Ketsui, released in 2006 for i-mode. This version is a boss battle version of the game, emphasized on dodging bullets. Player goal is to earn ranks by repeatedly defeating the same boss, but with increasing difficulty in successive runs.

External links

• Cave game page
• Arika page
• 5pb page