Mushihimesama
| Mushihimesama | |
|---|---|
 Promotional Flyer | |
| Katakana | 虫姫さま |
| Developer | Cave |
| Publisher | AMI |
| Programmer | Tsuneki Ikeda |
| Composer | Manabu Namiki |
| Series | Mushihimesama |
| Release date |
2004 2011 (Cave Festival Ver. 1.5) |
| Genre | Shooter |
| Control | 8-way Joystick, 3 Buttons |
| Orientation | Vertical |
| Arcade hardware | CAVE CV1000 |
| Display | 15KHz |
Mushihimesama (虫姫さま) is a 2004 bullet hell shooter developed by Cave and published by AMI, the first game released on the CAVE CV1000 hardware. It is the first game of the Mushihimesama series. There have been several ports to consumer devices: the first to the Playstation 2 in 2004, second to iOS in 2011, and finally to the Xbox 360 in 2012.
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 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.[1]
Modes
There are three modes to choose from in Mushihimesama: Original, Maniac, and Ultra. Only Original and Maniac are available to the player on a new PCB. In order to unlock the Ultra mode, one hundred points must be earned or a code must be entered. One point is given for completing Original mode with one credit and two points are given for completing Maniac mode with one credit.
If you don't want to earn 100 points, a player may enter the following code at the title screen, after inserting a credit: up, left, B, right, A, down, down, A, A, B.
Reinitialization
It was previously believed that there was no way to disable Ultra mode or reset the all time high score lists. While it is true there is no software reset, one can hack the hardware to totally restore factory settings.
However, this is done at your own risk. Some revisions may not relock Ultra mode but will still reset the all time high score lists. It is also possible that, on the first revision of the game, the PCB will never save Maniac high scores correctly again, even if Ultra mode is locked.[2]
Weapons and Options
There are three weapon choices to select. Weapon selection occurs before the game begins but can be changed during gameplay.
S-Shot: Focused attack. Reco moves faster with the S-Shot.
W-Shot: Wide shot. Reco moves slower.
M-Shot: An average between S-Shot and W-Shot in both shot spread and speed.
There are two option choices to select. Option selection takes place when the first option item is collected by the player. Like the weapon, the option type can be changed during gameplay.
Trace: Your options follow your movements.
Formation: Options remain alongside you.
Options always shoot straight ahead regardless of type selected.
Special Editions
Mushihimesama received an update titled Mushihimesama Cave Festival Ver. 1.5. It was sold exclusively on Cave's online store on 27 May 2011 from noon until 8 PM and 28 May 2011 from noon to 8 PM, for ¥180,000. The Cave Festival edition has a new soundtrack, brighter bullets, new shot patterns, new scoring rules, and a new MAX power mode in which players always have the highest shot power but begin the game with only one bomb. Bullets move faster in the MAX power mode. Ultra mode is available to the player and does not have to be unlocked in the Cave Festival version. Mushihimesama Cave Festival Ver. 1.5 was released as First Print DLC in the Mushihimesama HD release for the Xbox 360.