Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
It's Halloween time again so I figured why not pull out Deathsmiles (デススマイルズ) by CAVE for another go? This time I'm taking on the Extra stage / Canyon route which introduces a whole new level of difficulty to the game. This was played with the actual arcade PCB, not the Xbox port or PC version.
Stage Listing:
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Stage A-1 - Harbor Town
02:45 - Stage A-2 - Graveyard
05:05 - Stage B-1 - Forest
07:05 - Stage B-2 - Swamp
09:44 - Stage C-1 - Lakeside
12:10 - Stage C-2 - Volcano
16:14 - EXTRA Stage - Canyon
22:06 - Final Stage - Castle
29:11 - Final Bosses + Ending
You may remember (probably not) that I played the PC/Steam version of this several years ago and got a very quick and dirty clear of the basic game. Well now I've upgraded to the real PCB and I wanted to get something a bit more special so I went for the Canyon stage before the final level. This basically changes the final stage into "Loop 2" difficulty with added suicide bullets and other nasty surprises.
I think the meanest thing about this is that Jitterbug (the second to last boss) gains a new final phase that is truly terrifying, and can only really be dodged by exploring the pattern with some pixel perfect positioning. I thankfully pulled it off otherwise I probably get hit twice there and the run is over.
This playthrough isn't really meant to demonstrate any scoring whatsoever, as I'm still not really very good at that part of the game, as this one has a fairly complicated and in depth scoring system. I know enough to get the extends but beyond that I don't really try anything interesting as far as that goes. This was my first time clearing this route so I was just happy with that.
It's Halloween time again so I figured why not pull out Deathsmiles (デススマイルズ) by CAVE for another go? This time I'm taking on the Extra stage / Canyon route which introduces a whole new level of difficulty to the game. This was played with the actual arcade PCB, not the Xbox port or PC version.
Stage Listing:
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Stage A-1 - Harbor Town
02:45 - Stage A-2 - Graveyard
05:05 - Stage B-1 - Forest
07:05 - Stage B-2 - Swamp
09:44 - Stage C-1 - Lakeside
12:10 - Stage C-2 - Volcano
16:14 - EXTRA Stage - Canyon
22:06 - Final Stage - Castle
29:11 - Final Bosses + Ending
You may remember (probably not) that I played the PC/Steam version of this several years ago and got a very quick and dirty clear of the basic game. Well now I've upgraded to the real PCB and I wanted to get something a bit more special so I went for the Canyon stage before the final level. This basically changes the final stage into "Loop 2" difficulty with added suicide bullets and other nasty surprises.
I think the meanest thing about this is that Jitterbug (the second to last boss) gains a new final phase that is truly terrifying, and can only really be dodged by exploring the pattern with some pixel perfect positioning. I thankfully pulled it off otherwise I probably get hit twice there and the run is over.
This playthrough isn't really meant to demonstrate any scoring whatsoever, as I'm still not really very good at that part of the game, as this one has a fairly complicated and in depth scoring system. I know enough to get the extends but beyond that I don't really try anything interesting as far as that goes. This was my first time clearing this route so I was just happy with that.
![Twin Cobra (Arcade) - 1-ALL Clear [2-9] 3,703,660 Pts](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/J_xaYpa5xBA/mqdefault.jpg "Twin Cobra (Arcade) - 1-ALL Clear [2-9] 3,703,660 Pts
Full run of the first loop (and most of the second) for Twin Cobra. This is the international version of Kyuukyoku Tiger, made by Toaplan.
Stage Listing:
00:00 - Intro / Stage 1
05:00 - Stage 2
09:15 - Stage 3
13:35 - Stage 4
17:45 - Stage 5
22:37 - Stage 6
26:51 - Stage 7
31:22 - Stage 8
35:41 - Stage 9
39:54 - Stage 10
43:08 - Final Boss / Fortress
44:13 - Loop 2
Twin Cobra is basically the easy version of KyuKyoKu Tiger, released for international audiences (outside of Japan that is). It shares all of the same levels of the Japanese version but alters several important characteristics of the gameplay.
I guess you could call this a balance revision for the most part although it does also allow 2 player simultaneous play which the previous version did not have. A lot of Toaplan games had revisions like this with several alterations to accommodate the 2nd player.
Anyway, the main changes basically boil down to:
1) Your ship is now red and you have a slightly faster ship speed!
2) Extends come at every 150K instead of every 200K!
3) Lower rank, enemy firing speed
4) NO CHECKPOINTS!!!
....
5) You have nerfed firepower :( Basically you can only have 3 shots on the screen at a time instead of 4. This does make quite a bit of difference and renders many quick kill strategies with the blue weapon useless now. So you will probably need to use the green weapon for some of the bosses now.
So you do get a whole lot of buffs, especially the removal of the checkpoints, which makes for a more approachable and accessible game.")
![Contra: Hard Corps (Genesis) - No Death Run [Alien Cell Ending]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K7OVVu8VLm8/mqdefault.jpg "Contra: Hard Corps (Genesis) - No Death Run [Alien Cell Ending]
Full no death run of Contra: Hard Corps (魂斗羅 ザ・ハードコア in Japan) by Konami for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive! This run was done with the US version of the game, which has 1 hit deaths unlike the Japanese version. Im playing as Ray and go through the longest path of the game ending in the alien missile launch.
This was played on a JVC XEye with real cartridge, no emulation or cheats were used.
Stage Listing:
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Stage 1 - City Battle
03:30 - Stage 2 - Air combat
06:43 - Stage 3 - Junkyard
10:20 - Stage 4 - Jungle
16:52 - Stage 5 - Trap
20:04 - Stage 6 - Sea Struggle
23:59 - Stage 7 - Missile
27:57 - Final Boss + Ending
Contra: Hard Corps is the follow up to Contra III, but unlike the previous game this one appears on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive instead of the Super Nintendo. The plot centers around the Hard Corps soldiers trying to stop a lunatic from obtaining Alien cells from the previous war and using them to destroy the world. I do appreciate that there is a sense of continuity between this game and Contra III, as if youve seen my last video, that is one of my favorite games of all time.
This time around you get to pick from 4 different characters, all of which have different weapons and abilities. I picked the default character Ray, who basically has the same weapon load as was seen in Contra III.
On top of that, there are several different stages and endings you will encounter based on choices you pick throughout the game. In this video you will get to see the longest (and possibly hardest?) route through the game. In future videos I plan to tackle all of the different endings.
The controls are a bit different in this game than in Contra III as there are fewer buttons to work with. You have 5 different weapons (including the bomb) to cycle through instead of 2 but the advantage is all of your weapons are always available to use at any given time, assuming you dont die and lose it.
Contra: Hard Corps is one of the best games in the series and ranks right up there with Contra III. Id personally still rank III a bit higher but Hard Corp does offer much more variety and replay value.")
