Shmup fans, take heed: Cave's upcoming DS port of their highly-lauded Japanese arcade title Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi is set for release October 23rd, courtesy of Arika. 

Trailer:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/24617.html

I'm so glad I didn't discover about this game's existence until late, 'else I would've gone mad with hype.  PlayAsia, YesAsia, and NCSX are taking preorders, though only NCSX appears to be including the Master Play DVD bonus. (Or, at least they're the only ones making mention of it.)

In related news, there are rumblings of a port being developed for the 360, under the project name Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi Extra.  They're looking to make it a retail release, but things still appear to be very much up in the air:

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/03/28 … bla-by-ms/

portable Cave carnage?!?! OMG

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My Death Label came in this morning from NCSX. (How cool did that just sound??)  I've never played a Ketsui title before, but this one is just one gigantic boss rush, as had been reported - which is cool if you dig that sort of thing, but I was secretly hoping it'd play more like a traditional, scrolling shooter.  I think Cave and Arika could've made a really awesome one, given the DS's technical prowess on display here.

With that said, the bosses themselves are ass-kickin' good fun to take on.  Lots of gorgeous waves of bullet hell to plow through, although the collision icons that constantly flow out of enemies can be ridiculously distracting.  I know that appears to be a Ketsui trademark, but it makes dodging bullets more frustrating than challenging.

I still need to get serious with the game, but I'm enjoying it a great deal more than the disappointing Nanostray 2 at the moment.