Mushihimesama

From Shmups Wiki -- The Digital Library of Shooting Games
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Mushihimesama Logo ENG.png
Mushihimesama Logo JPN.png
Mushihimesama
Mushihimesama Title PC GameInfo.jpg

Mushihimesama Title Screen, from Normal mode on the PC/Steam release of the game.

Developer: CAVE
Director: Tsuniki Ikeda
Producer: Kenichi Takano
Music: Manabu Namiki
Masaharu Iwata
Program: Tsuneki Ikeda
Takashi Ichimura
Art: Tomoyuki Kotani
Designer: Akira Wakabayashi
Hiroyuki Tanaka
Hideki Nomura
Tomoyuki Kotani
Release date: 12 October 2004 (AC)

21 July 2005 (PS2)
04 December 2011 (iOS)
24 May 2012 (X360)
12 Nov 2015 (PC/Steam)

15 June 2021 (Switch)
Next game: Mushihimesama Futari

Mushihimesama (虫姫さま, literally "Bug Princess") is a vertical scrolling shooting game released in arcades by CAVE in 2004. The game centers around Reco, princess of her home village, Hoshifuri. The world is inhabited by large anthropod beasts called Koju, who emit a strange magical energy called Levi-Sense, which is poisonous to humans. The story follows Reco flying into the forest on the golden beetle Kiniro, seeking out the God of the Koju in order to save her village from the Levi-Sense Miasma.


The game released in arcades in 2004, later followed by several ports to home consoles. The game was first ported to the Playstation 2 in 2005, featuring a new Arrange Mode. Later, the game was ported to iOS devices under the english translated title, Bug Princess, in 2011. Finally, Mushihimesama saw an Xbox360 port in the next year, 2012, which would become the base for all future ports of the game. This version features 4 gameplay modes, Novice, Normal, Arrange, and a previously exclusive 1.5 version that was only playable for a limited time at the Cave Matsuri Festival in Japan. This port of the game was later released on PC via the Steam marketplace in 2015, and on the Nintendo Switch console in 2021.


The game's theme is styled around insects, bugs, and nature. All the enemies in the game are depictions of various kinds of arthropods and insects, from the variety of beetles, to butterflies, moths, mantids, crickets, and many other creatures. These large insect creatures are named the Koju (literally “Ko” for “carapace” and “Ju” for “beast”). The stage locations showcase a variety of settings in nature, from the forests, deserts, volcano, lakes, and caves of the world. Reco's dress also resembles the wings of an insect, and she rides atop the Golden Rhinoceros Beetle, Kiniro. The theme of insects and nature are notably distinct, especially when compared to other arcade shmups of the time, which focused heavily on sci-fi and mechanical themes, such as the DoDonPachi series. Kiniro being the player's "ship" for the game deviates greatly from the much more common planes and spaceships controlled in other arcade games in the genre.


The game is often held in high regard among shmup players, and its lighter tone and colorful design, along with solid gameplay elements and various game modes, has attracted many fans and overwhelmingly positive reception worldwide. With its most recent release onto the Nintendo Switch, Mushihimesama is one of CAVE's most accessible games, in terms of availability on various gaming platforms.

( Insert Game Title Here )

(Template Page) is a page that is dedicated to be easily copied and modified, in order to massively simplify the process of creating new game pages. The introduction to the player should be a simple, concise summary of the game, including information like release date, ports, and making sure to note who the developer is using [] brackets.

It's also important to note when games might contain specific cultural relevance, such as innovating on a new style of game, or excellent/poor critical reception.

The infobox (on the top right on this page) should contain all basic information about the game such as developer, people involved, release date etc. The image included should be the title screen of the game. You can change the color of the infobox and add a variety of other parameters. For this, please check the template page for the infoxbox: Template:GameInfobox


Gameplay Overview

The gameplay overview section starts out with the controls of the game, including all of the buttons used and what they're used for. It's recommended to keep the control layout simple and easy to understand. Feel free to note the directions that the player can move as well, if you wish or if it's notable (horizontal only, 4 way, 8 way, analog, etc). Advanced and strategic ways of manipulating the controls can be included in a following Strategy section, or wherever that information might be the most relevant.

Controls

  • A: Shot - Press for basic shot, hold for focused fire and slower movement
  • B: Bomb - Press to throw a bomb. The trajectory of the bomb can be changed by moving.
  • C: Full Auto - Press for full auto shot, hold to move at full speed while firing.


For the Xbox 360, PC/Steam, and Nintendo Switch ports of the game, there are additional button options. The timing intervals for these can be adjusted in the options setting.

  • D: Rapid Shot - A rapid autofire option for shot.
  • E: Rapid Full Auto - A rapid autofire option for full auto.


For the Arrange Mode version of the game, a button is also dedicated to switching between different shot types.


Modes

Normal

The version that released originally in arcades

Difficulties:

  • Original - (classic, inspired by the devs’ Toaplan history; much fewer but faster bullets)
  • Maniac - (danmaku)
  • Ultra - (hard danmaku, required to see TLB)

Novice

A version based on Normal, but with slower and less dense bullets. This first released with the Xbox360 port of the game.

Difficulties:

  • Original (classic, inspired by the devs’ Toaplan history)
  • Maniac (danmaku)
  • Ultra (hard danmaku, required to see TLB)

(The menu for Novice does not include Training, which is odd)

Arrange

Originally a PS2 (?) exclusive arrange, later ported to other platforms. Arrange Mode is a version based on Normal@Maniac with the same shot types

There is no difficulty option, and no shot type option on start. This is because the player is given the ability to switch between all shot types on the fly using a dedicated button. The player also starts with 6 options instead of the usual 4, and there is an auto-bomb feature, which will consume all bombs in stock if the player is hit, instead of losing a life.

The scoring system is different as well, though the same general idea of increasing a counter by shooting down enemies still applies. The player also starts with 300,000 counter, instead of the usual zero.

Additionally, the TLB is always faced at the end of the game in this mode. Their attack patterns are changed slightly compared to their Ultra Mode appearances.

1.5 / Matsuri

A limited-time (only 2 days during Matsuri festival) only arcade version, not initially intended to be released in ports, but was included late in the development

At the start, it is possible to choose between all three shot types, but also whether to start with those types at max level. Choosing the max level will make the enemies more aggressive as well, most notably increasing bullet speeds.

The mode is said to be more refined and closer to CAVE’s style of the time(?). The game also features different bullet patterns and enemy/stage layouts from the original. This can be seen as early as Stage 2, where there are significantly more bushes placed in a different arrangement compared to 1.0 versions.

The player also is given an auto-bomb feature, like in Arrange mode.

Difficulties:

  • Original - (classic, inspired by the devs’ Toaplan history)
  • Maniac - (danmaku)
  • Ultra - (hard danmaku, required to see TLB)

The scoring system is different from other versions as well, seemingly a mix between Normal and Arrange modes(?)

Unlockable Secrets

Extends/1-UPs: There are 3 extends by default in the game. 2 are awarded via scoring, and 1 is a hidden item in Stage 3. to collect the hidden 1-UP extend in Stage 3, the player must destroy all 8 segments of the large creature at the end of the stage, before destroying the head. If done in this order, the head of the creature will fire more danmaku in a rotating pattern, and will release the hidden extend when destroyed.

True Last Boss (TLB): The game features a True Last Boss at the end of Ultra Mode (and Arrange Mode). After defeating the Stage 5 boss, instead of being defeated, Aki (the character riding atop the large beetle) will instead be caught by another beetle, and continue to battle you as the TLB of the game. Aki's final danmaku pattern is infamous for being incredibly difficult to clear by players. Eventually a "No Miss, No Bomb" attempt was completed by player Veresdon in 2021 [6] (See Strategies for more information)


Characters / Ships / Styles

This section should include the characters or ships, if any, that the player can select in the game. Ideally, different "styles" (for games that use them, such as DoDonPachi) would also be included here.

If there is only one playable character and no elements to augment/customize your ship, this section can be omitted from the page.

There are 3 shot types the player can select: M-Power - A standard shot-type with decent damage and movement speed. W-Power - A wide shot-type with weaker overall damage an slower movement speed. S-Power - A narrow shot-type with strong overall damage and faster movement speed.

It should be noted that there is a "supershot" glitch that can be achieved by players by holding Full Auto and quickly tapping Shot. The "super shot" increases damage dealt by roughly 50%. This only works on W-Power and S-Power types, and at different distances from the enemy. (See Weapons and Strategy for more information)

Weapons

This section describes the weapons that you use in the game and elaborates on them further. Stuff like standard shots, focus shots, bombs, weapon pickups that differ in functionality, options, etc. This can be omitted if not relevant to the game in question.

Items

Power-Up Items Power-Up items are released from specific beetle enemies throughout stages. They spawn in the current shot type the player is using, and will increase the player's shot power by 1. A ring around the item's icon indicates when it will switch to the next shot-type. If collected as a different shot-type, then it will change the player to the type indicated by its icon. At max power, these award the player 10,000 points.

Bomb Items: Bomb items increase the player's bomb stock by 1. The player can carry up to 6 bombs. They are released by the same type of enemy that drops Power-Up Items.

Extends/1-UPs: There are 3 extends by default in the game. 2 are awarded via scoring, and 1 is a hidden item in Stage 3. to collect the hidden 1-UP extend in Stage 3, the player must destroy all 8 segments of the large creature at the end of the stage, before destroying the head. If done in this order, the head of the creature will fire more danmaku in a rotating pattern, and will release the hidden extend when destroyed.

Amber (Point Items): The golden gems released by the enemies after being destroyed are called amber (continuing the insect theming of the game). Amber will automatically collect when the player is near. Amber released by ground enemies will stay in place (appearing as a shell or carapace) and will not collect unless the player flies directly over it. This is changed in some modes of the game where holding A for focused Shot will automatically collect all amber on the screen to the player. Amber adds to the player's score based on the main counter built up by hitting enemies with your shot. (exact calculation needed) Amber collected in a stage will also give bonus points at the end of a stage. However, if the player loses a life in a stage, then any amber collected prior to that will not be counted towards the bonus.

The bonus score per collected amber is awarded as follows: Small Flying Amber: 100 Small Ground Amber: 200

Large Flying Amber: 300 Large Ground Amber: 500 (For more information, see Scoring)


Rank

If the game features a relevant rank system, use this section to discuss it in more detail. Otherwise, this can be omitted.

Scoring

This section should cover a general breakdown of the scoring system of the game. Feel free to put the meat and potatoes here. A great example of a scoring section is the DoDonPachi page.

Strategy

See (Template Page)/Strategy for stage maps, enemy and boss descriptions, walkthroughs, and advanced play strategies.

This section details some particular strategic information about the game and its gameplay, such as hidden 1UPs and some basic scoring tricks. For anything particularly deep or highly complex, you can probably leave it in the Strategy page.

(Currently evaluating whether or not this specific section should even include information outside of the separated Strategy pages. Worth thinking about as a community.)


Story

Basic story breakdowns, plot information, and endings are included here.

If there is no story at all, or any information about the setting, then this section can be omitted. Try to include at least small things here when you can.

Development History

If available, you can include information here about the hardware, the development of the game, and its general reception. Try to have as much information in this section cited as possible.

Version Differences

  • Include information here about differences in a game between various versions. This includes regional differences, patch updates/bugfixes, and the like.

Trivia

  • Cool facts and random tidbits go here!

Gallery

See (Template Page)/Gallery for our collection of images and scans for the game.

Video References

For a collection of superplay videos see the Video Index sub-page.

Other

We have support for wikitables, giving us the potential to add lots of cool info in a small box on the page somewhere, but we are not using them at the moment. I'm just leaving this here so we can have it handy in case we decide to actually use them. Feel free to not use this section.

(Template Page)
put your stuff here

References & Contributors

Retrieved from "https://shmups.wiki/index.php?title=Mushihimesama&oldid=13920"