Mushihimesama

Mushihimesama
Arcade poster of Mushihimesama
Developer(s)	Cave
Publisher(s)	JP AMI (arcade) WW Cave (iOS) JP Taito (PlayStation 2) WW Degica (PC)
Director(s)	Tsuneki Ikeda
Artist(s)	Toshiyuki Kotani
Composer(s)	Manabu Namiki Masaharu Iwata Hitoshi Sakimoto Daisuke Matsumoto
Series	Mushihimesama
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation 2, iOS, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	October 12, 2004 Arcade Version 1.0 JP October 12, 2004 Blue Label JP December 28, 2006 Version 1.5 JP May 27, 2011 PlayStation 2 JP July 21, 2005 JP August 3, 2006 (limited edition) iOS WW December 15, 2011 Xbox 360 JP May 24, 2012 Microsoft Windows WW November 5, 2015
Genre(s)	Vertically scrolling shooter, bullet hell
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	CAVE CV1000B
CPU	Hitachi SH-3 (133MHz)
Sound	Yamaha YMZ770C-F (APU)
Display	Raster, vertical

Mushihimesama (虫姫さま, Mushihimesama, lit. "Bug Princess") is a manic shooter developed by Cave and released by Taito in 2004. It was ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2005 and iOS in 2011. An Xbox 360 port was released in May 2012 (with ver1.5 as first print DLC). A significantly changed "version 1.5" was released to arcades in 2011. A version for Microsoft Windows was also published by Degica in 2015.^[1]

The game has an insect theme as all of the enemies resemble various insects such as beetles and butterflies. The game is set in various forest environments. It received a sequel in 2006, known as Mushihimesama Futari, and a spin-off iOS game entitled Mushihimesama Bug Panic.

Plot

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-year-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.

Releases

PlayStation 2

Taito released a PlayStation 2 port in Japan in 2005. A limited PlayStation 2 version also includes young Reco and Kiniro figures. Exclusive to this port is Arrange mode. 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.

iOS

Cave ported Mushihimesama to iOS platforms under the title Bug Princess which was released on December 15, 2011. "Hell" difficulty features equivalent bullet patterns to the arcade release.

Xbox 360

Cave released an HD version on the Xbox 360 on May 24, 2012 in Japan. The game featured Novice, Arrange and Xbox 360 modes. Arrange is a modified version of the PS2 Arrange mode; no Arcade mode is included, only the Xbox 360 mode which is identical to the arcade release bar HD visuals. First print copies included Version 1.5 as free DLC. The game was released in both regular and limited editions with different cover art. The limited edition included an arranged soundtrack CD.

Microsoft Windows

Degica released a port for Microsoft Windows through the Steam digital distribution platform on November 5, 2015. This release, developed chiefly by Cave, is based on the Xbox 360 "HD" port, and includes the same Novice, Original, and Arrange modes rendered with HD graphics. Unlike the Xbox 360 version, however, where Version 1.5 mode and the arranged soundtrack were only available in limited quantities, the Steam version offers these as paid DLC available to all. Additionally, whereas the Xbox 360 port was region-locked to NTSC-J hardware, the Steam version will be an international release with no region restrictions.

Reception

Reception
Review scores Publication Score iOS PC PS2 Xbox 360 Destructoid 8/10[2] 9/10[3] Edge 8/10[4] Famitsu 26/40[5] 31/40[6] Hardcore Gamer [7] PC Magazine [8] Pocket Gamer 8/10[9] TouchArcade 4.5/5[10] Aggregate scores GameRankings 84.3%[11] 90%[12] Metacritic 84/100[13] 86/100[14]

Famitsu magazine awarded the PlayStation 2 version of Mushihimesama a score of 26/40 based on four reviews (6/7/6/7),^[5] while the Xbox 360 version got a score of 31/40 (8/7/8/8).^[6]

The PC version holds an aggregate score of 86/100 on Metacritic. Destructoid gave the PC version a score of 9/10, referring to it as a "must play" title and "required reading for shmup fans" and concluding that, "solo or with a friend, on the highest difficulty setting or the lowest, Mushihimesama is incredibly easy to spend an afternoon with for years to come."^[3] Hardcore Gamer gave the title 4.5/5, referring to it as "a classic shooter" that is "beautiful on the surface, but a master class in how to create a challenge that varies in difficulty from completely accessible to utterly insane", stating that the "sheer volume of content is fantastic, making it as easy to replay a mode over and over", and concluding it to be "a phenomenal arcade game and an indispensable addition to any shooter fan’s library."^[7]

Sequel

Mushihimesama Futari (虫姫さまふたり, Mushihime-sama Futari, lit. "Bug Princess Duo"), a bullet hell shooter by Cave, was released in arcades on October 27, 2006 and as a sequel to Mushihimesama. Mushihimesama Futari was released on the Xbox 360 in Japan on November 26, 2009. In April 2012, Cave released a port of the game on the iOS platforms, titled Bug Princess 2 (Mushihimesama was also released on the platforms titled Bug Princess). Even though Mushihimesama Futari was only released in Japan, it was released without a region lock and can be played on non-Japanese consoles.^[15]

References

External links

• Official website