Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara
Title screen
| Developer: | CAVE |
|---|---|
| Program: | Shinobu Yagawa Yuji Inoue |
| Art: | Tomoyuki Kotani |
| Release date: | Arcade JP: April 21, 2006 Xbox 360 JP: February 24, 2011 |
| Previous game: | Ibara Kuro: Black Label |
| Next game: | Mushihimesama Futari |
Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara (ピンクスゥイーツ ～鋳薔薇それから～, Pinku Suītsu: Ibara Sorekara, abbreviated: PS) is a bullet hell shoot-em-up developed by CAVE in 2006. In terms of story, this game is a sequel to Ibara.
Pink Sweets was later ported to the Xbox 360 in 2011, included in a double-pack with Muchi Muchi Pork!.
Contents
Gameplay Overview
Controls
Pink Sweets is a 2-button game in normal play, with an 8 directional joystick for movement.
- Not shooting will build up your Shield and charge your Rose Cracker. 142 frames after the last regular Shot from your ship, the Rose Cracker Gauge is fully charged.
- A: 1) Fires your Shot & Rose Hips. However, pressing the button fast enough will raise the internal autofire rate; 2) In case your Rose Cracker Gauge is fully charged, you will additionally release a Rose Cracker.
- B (press): Cycles through your Rose Hip Formations, if you have any collected on your current life. Cycling between: Forward, Wide, Back, Reverse & Turn in that order.
- B (hold): Fires your Rose Hips only.
- A+B (press): 1) Changes your speed; 2) The current charge of the Rose Cracker Gauge is cancelled.
In-Game HUD
1) Rose Cracker Gauge. When fully charged you'll be able to release a Rose Cracker
2) Speed meter. There are 4 different levels of speed
3) Internal auto-fire rate (#10, #12, #15, #20, #30)
Characters
Each character has 4 different sub-types to choose from. These types usually have slightly different attacks from Shot Level 1 onwards. Shot Level 0 is the same for each type. The types are decided by which button you press when you select a character: A, B, A+B, and Start.
The 4 types of each character and their Rapid Shot as well as their Wide Shot at Shot Level 3 are as follows.
|
Meidi Rose & Midi Rose | 
| |
| Gloire de Meidi & Midi | |||
| A | Rapid | Six straight shots to the front | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | Five wide shots to the front | ||
| B | Rapid | Four straight shots to the front Two straight shots to the back | |
| Wide | Five wider shots to the front | ||
| A+B | Rapid | Four straight shots to the front Two straight shots to the back | |
| Wide | Five even wider shots to the front | ||
| Start | Rapid | Two straight shots to the front Three wide shots to the back | |
| Wide | Two straight shots and one shot each at 45° to the front One shot each at 45° to the back | ||
|
Kasumi Rose | 
| |
| Hana Kasumi mk2 | |||
| A | Rapid | Six missiles to the front, which accelerate in the center and your level 0 Shot | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | Six homing rockets to the front and your level 0 Shot | ||
| B | Rapid | Six missiles to the front, which are fired first on the sides and your level 0 Shot | |
| Wide | Five homing rockets from each side and your level 0 Shot | ||
| A+B | Rapid | Six missiles to the front and your level 0 Shot | |
| Wide | Five homing rockets from each side and your level 0 Shot | ||
| Start | Rapid | Six missiles to the front and your level 0 Shot | |
| Wide | Homing rockets from all sides and your level 0 Shot | ||
|
Shasta Rose | 
| |
| Child of Mount Shasta | |||
| A | Rapid | Two fixed laser beams to the front | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | Two laser beams to the front (leaning angle 20°) | ||
| B | Rapid | One fixed laser beam and your level 0 Shot to the front Single straight shot to the back | |
| Wide | One laser beam (leaning angle 60°) and a 5-way shot to the front | ||
| A+B | Rapid | One fixed laser beam and your level 0 Shot to the front 3-way shot to the back | |
| Wide | One laser beam (leaning angle 80°) and a 6-way shot to the front Laser locks on to enemies | ||
| Start | Rapid | One fixed laser beam to the front 4-way shot to the back | |
| Wide | One laser beam (leaning angle 90°) and a 6-way shot to the front Laser locks on to enemies | ||
|
Lace Rose | 
| |
| French Lace S | |||
| A | Rapid | Three straight lightning beams to the front | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 3-way wide lightning up to 30° to each side | ||
| B | Rapid | Two straight lightning beams to the front One straight lightning beam to the back | |
| Wide | 3-way wide lightning up to 45° to each side | ||
| A+B | Rapid | Two straight lightning beams to the front One straight lightning beam to the back | |
| Wide | 3-way wide lightning up to 60° to each side | ||
| Start | Rapid | One straight lightning beam to the front Two straight lightning beams to the back | |
| Wide | 3-way wide lightning up to 90° to each side | ||
Speed
There are four levels of speed you can switch to by pressing A+B anywhere in the game. In terms of speed, Meidi&Midi and Shasta are both faster than Kasumi and Lace. The speed values in the table below are measured by counting the frames it takes to cross the screen horizontally. Therefore, a high value corresponds to a slower speed and a low value to a faster speed.
| Speed 0 | Speed 1 | Speed 2 | Speed 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meidi&Midi | 140 | 105 | 71 | 53 |
| Shasta | ||||
| Kasumi | 171 | 128 | 86 | 64 |
| Lace |
Items
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Shot Power Up Increases your Shot Level by 1 Surplus score value: 1,000 |
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Rapid Shot Changes to Rapid Shot or increases your Shot Level by 1 Surplus score value: 1,000 |
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Wide Shot Changes to Wide Shot or increases your Shot Level by 1 Surplus score value: 1,000 |
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Rose Hip Adds a Rose Hip to your ship Surplus score value: 1,000 |
Rose Items
| 100 | 200 | 400 | 800 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Rose Medals
| 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 7,000 | 8,000 | 9,000 | 10,000 |
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Item Drop Order
Generally speaking, ground enemies drop Rose Items in a fixed appearance while airborne enemies drop regular items determined by the item drop order below. Moreover, a couple of ground enemies, e.g. the laser towers in stage 2 or the trains in stage 5 are also guaranteed to drop regular items.
As for airborne enemies, under normal circumstances, every eighth popcorn enemy destroyed will drop an item. Airborne enemies with more than 1 hp will always drop an item. These kills do not contribute to the popcorn enemy count.
When a popcorn enemy is destroyed in the deadzone, it will neither drop an item nor does it contribute to the kill count of 8 (it does, however, still contribute to the ZAN counter). On the other hand, airborne enemies with more than 1 hp will always drop an item, even in the deadzone or when they are off screen. In this case, if the spawned item happens to be a medal, it will immediately break your medal chain.
The items are determined according to a specific order, governed by the following table.
| Drop Number | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | |
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- If you fulfil the conditions for a Special Power Up, it appears as the next Shot Power Up, Rapid Shot, or Wide Shot item. As a visual key, this item is blinking rapidly.
- If you fulfil the conditions for a Search Rose Hip, it appears as the next Rose Hip item. As a visual key, this item is blinking rapidly.
- If you fulfil the conditions for a 1 Up item, it appears before the next item drop. Succeeding this, the regular item drop order then continues. The 1 Up item will not replace a regular item.
Rank
There are two separate difficulty settings affecting the rank in Pink Sweets. Difficulty 1 determines the starting base rank as well as the minimum rank cap. After the player has started a run, the rank is then gradually increasing determined by difficulty 2, which is the per frame rank increase. Under normal circumstances the game always starts with a base rank 1,048,576 (100,000 in hex) higher than the minimum rank cap. Starting a game in Special Version always begins at minimum rank.
| Difficulty 1 (base rank) | Starting rank in dec (hex) | Minimum rank in dec (hex) |
|---|---|---|
| Super Easy | 15,204,352 (E80,000) | 16,252,928 (F80,000) |
| Very Easy | 14,680,064 (E00,000) | 15,728,640 (F00,000) |
| Easy | 14,155,776 (D80,000) | 15,204,352 (E80,000) |
| Normal [default] | 13,631,488 (D00,000) | 14,680,064 (E00,000) |
| Hard | 13,107,200 (C80,000) | 14,155,776 (D80,000) |
| Very Hard | 12,582,912 (C00,000) | 13,631,488 (D00,000) |
| Super Hard | 12,058,624 (B80,000) | 13,107,200 (C80,000) |
| Unbelievable | 11,534,336 (B00,000) | 12,582,912 (C00,000) |
| Difficulty 2 (per frame rank) | in dec (hex) |
|---|---|
| Minimum Slow | 4 (4) |
| Very Slow | 8 (8) |
| Slow | 12 (C) |
| Medium [default] | 16 (10) |
| Fast | 20 (14) |
| Very Fast | 24 (18) |
| Maximum Fast | 28 (1C) |
| Unforgettable | 32 (20) |
Notes:
- Rank maxes out at 00,000,000 (000,000 in hex) regardless of the difficulty settings.
- Starting rank for Score Attack mode is the same as on Normal.
- Minimum rank cap for Extended mode is 11,010,048 (A80,000 in hex) on loop 1 and 8,257,536 (7E0,000 in hex) on loop 2 on default difficulty settings.
Both the overall rank and the per frame rank are influenced by certain actions of the player, e.g. firing your Shot or picking up an item. All of the actions that have an effect on rank are listed in the tables below. Even though, an increase in difficulty is actually measured by a decreasing rank counter, the numbers below are listed as if the rank counter would count up. This is simply to make things easier to follow.
| Action | Rank increase in dec (hex) |
|---|---|
| Death from 0 lives > Game Over | -2,097,152 (-200,000) |
| Death from 1 life > 0 lives | -1,048,576 (-100,000) |
| Death from 2 lives > 1 life | -524,288 (-80,000) |
| Death from 3 lives > 2 lives | -262,144 (-40,000) |
| Death from 4 lives > 3 lives | -131,072 (-20,000) |
| Death from 5 lives > 4 lives | -65,536 (-10,000) |
| Death while on infinite lives | -1,048,576 (-100,000) |
| Death during Score Attack mode | -524,288 (-80,000) |
| Speed Change | 16,384 (4,000) |
| Formation Change | 4,096 (1,000) |
| Absorb a bullet w/ Shield or RC | 16 (10) |
| Shoot a destructible bullet | 16 (10) |
| Seal a bullet | 1,024 (400) |
Notes:
- Simply pressing the A or B button has no effect on rank. It is only the action that counts.
- Grazing enemy bullets has no effect on rank.
- Absorbing enemy lasers with your Rose Cracker has no effect on rank.
| Action | Per Frame Rank increase in dec (hex) |
|---|---|
| Shot Special Power Up | 1 (1) [permanent] |
| Search Formation | 1 (1) [permanent] |
| Rose Hip equipped (per Rose Hip) | 10 (A) |
| Rose Cracker Gauge fully charged | 64 (40) |
Notes:
- The per frame rank increase from activating Shot Special Power Up and Search Formation stays even after the player dies or unequips them.
| Item | Rank increase in dec (hex) |
|---|---|
| 100~900 Medals | 256 (100) |
| 1,000~9,000 Medals | 1,024 (400) |
| 10,000 Medal | 4,096 (1,000) |
| 100pt. Rose Item | 256 (100) |
| 200pt. Rose Item | 512 (200) |
| 400pt. Rose Item | 768 (300) |
| 800pt. Rose Item | 1,024 (400) |
| Power Up Item | 16,384 (4,000) |
| Rose Hip Item | 16,384 (4,000) |
| 1-Up Item | 524,288 (80,000) |
Notes:
- Dropping a medal has no effect on rank.
| Attack | Rank increase in dec (hex) |
|---|---|
| Any character, Shot (power Level 0) | 5 (5) |
| Rose Hip Shot | 10 (A) |
| Rose Cracker | 32,768 (8,000) |
| Meidi&Midi, Twin Shot | 5 (5) |
| Kasumi, Napalm | 20 (14) |
| Kasumi Homing | 15 (F) |
| Shasta, Laser (per frame) | 6 (6) |
| Lace, Lightning (per beam) | 60 (3C) |
Scoring
WIP
Enemy point values
- Main article: Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara/Enemy list
Video References
References
- Primary info provided by Pearl and Plasmo
- All item sprites taken from CAVE's official website https://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/pinksweets/system/item.html
- Rank info from Archer's website: http://archerstg.web.fc2.com/pinksweets/bitterrank.htm with additions by Serrara Mayfield
