Congrats! This game is brutally difficult. One of my favourites from CAVE, in fact the local arcade has a cab which I've sunk countless hours into. I've beaten the game at home but never on the original hardware, which is always a little embarrassing because I'll inevitably yell "fuck's sake!" or "god damn it!" or "this fucking game's impossible!" in what is, purportedly, a family-oriented venue.

They have a ton of CAVE games and other classic shmups there, actually. They're basically almost always free so I have my pick, but if I play any for long enough, a small crowd of neckbeards will inevitably form around me, almost cheerleading me with their subdued murmurs of "almost had it that time!", "use your bomb, use your bomb!" which always makes me wonder why such enthusiasts aren't at the cabs themselves...

Also, the back of the box for the 360 release of Deathsmiles says "Death smiles. Lolis smile back." Something about the word "lolis" printed on the back of an official-release 360 game just amuses me. That certainly wouldn't fly these days.