Mushihime-sama
Encyclopedia
is a manic shooter developed by Cave
and released by Taito
in 2004
. It was ported to the PlayStation 2
in 2005
. The game has an insect
theme as all of the enemies resemble various insects such as beetle
s and butterflies
. The game is set in various forest
environments. It received a sequel in 2006, known as Mushihime-sama Futari
.
A limited PlayStation 2 version also includes young Reco and Kiniro figures.
In order to save her people, she enters Shinju Forest once more, riding the golden Koujuu beetle Kiniro (with which the golden bracelet grants a telepathic link) on a quest to meet the Koujuu god himself.
Cave (company)
Cave Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game company, known primarily for its manic shoot 'em ups. Cave remains one of the most active makers of arcade shoot-'em-ups in the Japanese market...
and released by Taito
Taito Corporation
The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....
in 2004
2004 in video gaming
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. It was ported to the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
in 2005
2005 in video gaming
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. The game has an insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
theme as all of the enemies resemble various insects such as beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s and butterflies
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
. The game is set in various forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
environments. It received a sequel in 2006, known as Mushihime-sama Futari
Mushihime-sama Futari
, a bullet hell shooter by Cave, was released in arcades on October 27, 2006 and is the sequel to Mushihime-sama. On the 21st of April 2009 it was announced at Microsoft's spring press conference in Japan that Mushihime-sama Futari would be released on the Xbox 360 in Japan on November 26, 2009....
.
A limited PlayStation 2 version also includes young Reco and Kiniro figures.
Background Story
The world of Mushihimesama is a wild, untainted one where large desertic areas abruptly change into lush forests, all inhabited by arthropods called Koujuu: such beasts (basically oversized insects) are capable of surviving due to their hardened shells and, upon their deaths, leave them behind for vegetation to grow around them, in a natural cycle of life and death. However, their life force, called Levi-Sense, proved to be poisonous to the humans to the point of being named the Miasma; only sparse human settlements were allowed to survive, one of them being the Hoshifuri village, in exchange for the sacrifice of a 15 years old girl every 200 years. However, the daughter of the royal family, Reco, is apparently the next in line after being given an ornate bracelet by a mysterious boy in Shinju Forest, where she lost herself at young age: by the day she turns 15, the Miasma contaminates the village.In order to save her people, she enters Shinju Forest once more, riding the golden Koujuu beetle Kiniro (with which the golden bracelet grants a telepathic link) on a quest to meet the Koujuu god himself.
Game modes
- Original - The easiest mode with fewer (but usually faster) bullets than the other difficulty settings.
- Maniac - Features more bullets and a chaining system to drastically change scores.
- Ultra - The most difficult mode, has an even higher bullet count than Maniac and retains the chaining system.
- Arrange - Exclusive mode to the PlayStation 2 port. Seemingly a version of Maniac mode, only the player starts out with much more firepower but no continues. Also, if the player makes contact with a bullet or an enemy while holding at least one bomb, the player does not die and instead releases a bomb. The player can also cycle through all three weapon types by pressing a button.
Powerup
- S-Power: Concentrated attack, increased mobility.
- W-Power: Wider attack range, decreased mobility.
- M-Power: Between S and W power types.
Blue Label
This is a version debuted in Cave Festival 2006. It includes following features:- Original and Ultra modes can be selected from the beginning.
- Faster bullets.
- Initial equipment change.
- Option formation change.
Version 1.5
This version was released for arcade in Cave Festival 2011 on May 27, 2011 at the price of ¥180000. It was only available for purchase from Cave's online store, from 12pm to 8pm on May 27th and 28th, 2011. It is considered a proper arcade release. In this version of the game, all difficulty levels (Original, Maniac, and Ultra) are initially selectable, all the music has been remixed, the colour palette is brighter, and there is a new mode called MAX Select (with Original, Maniac, and Ultra difficulties). In standard (non-MAX Select modes), there are changes in enemy number and bullet patterns, and ground gems can be sucked by releasing A as per Futari. An incomplete summary of MAX Select gameplay differences follows:- Reco starts out with full attack power (W-, M- or S-Power) and 4 subweapon options in the Formation configuration. Main shot powerups still spawn, but only grant score, and Trace/Formation powerups still spawn, but will only grant score and/or a subweapon configuration change.
- Original difficulty features an amber counter, which is increased both by collecting amber chips and passively by remaining in the bottom half of the screen. If this counter increases past 10000, enemy bullets gain a green shadow and increase moderately in speed, but being near enemies while shooting will generate large amber chips instead of small ones. If the counter increases past 50000, a yellow shadow appears and bullets increase dramatically in speed. These changes do not occur if the player uses the 2P side. Dying, bombing, and boss fights decrease the counter, and the counter is halved when transitioning to a new stage. The counter maxes out at 99999.
- Enemies fire more bullets in Original mode, and additional enemies may appear.
- Reco spawns with only one bomb instead of three, though more may be collected as normal.
- If Reco has bombs in stock when hit, a bomb will automatically be released to save Reco, but her entire bomb stock will be depleted.