It feels like a few years ago when I played my first Cave shmup (shoot ’em up), but that was eleven years ago! It was a spin-off of MushihimeSama, which is out on the Switch now nearing a 20 year anniversary. Once an arcade game, it’s seen a few ports, although it’s not on everything. Is it worth checking it out now?
No matter how often I write about shmup games, I still have trouble finding the best way to describe them. They shoot ’em ups for starters, you’re firing a lot of bullets, and the enemy is firing even more and often flying in the one direction evading the projectiles coming your way while you shoot down the enemies. In games considered to be bullet hell games, you’re facing an overwhelming amount of projectiles to avoid, often following patterns to give you a fighting chance.
Being a shmup, you won’t be surprised to find out there isn’t a lot of plot to talk about. Ok, well, there is some if you look for it. There is a story about a young royal called Reco, responsible for saving her town from the Miasma, which threatens the people. To do this, Reco will fly her beetle across the world’s varied landscapes, killing a lot of giant bugs. Not that having a sliver of plot matters. Chances are very slim you’re coming to this game for a 30-hour adventure.
So now you’re firing a lot of projectiles at every bug on-screen, and there are a lot of them firing a lot of projectiles back at you. If you’ve played or even seen a shmup like 1942, then you’ll have an excellent idea of what’s going on. You collect power-ups to enhance your projectiles, keep collecting them, and you’ll be unleashing your own bullet hell back on the bugs.
A single run through every level might not take you too long, but then that feels like the point. You can always see how fast you can clear the game while losing as few lives as possible or even aim for a high score.
This version of MushihimeSama contains the original normal mode, arranged mode, and version 1.5. You can run a practice game, too, if you want to see what’s ahead before you try aiming for higher scores. Several difficulty modes make the game accessible to new players and hardcore shmup fans.
Having not played the arcade original, I can’t speak for how much has been changed or how close it is to the original. There is extra content from other ports that is now part of the game. Unfortunately, it’s not always clear what the changes between each mode are without some outside information. For the unfamiliar, the modes do offer remixed versions of the game in a few ways, whether it’s how powerful you are at the start or different scoring. Regardless of which mode I played, it was still enjoyable, even if I didn’t always know what was different each time around.
The game would slow right down during some of the more extreme moments where the screen is filled with bullets. It’s unclear if it’s the game struggling or an intended effect to give you a fighting chance. While running through the game, I felt great managing to survive the endless waves of projectiles heading my way.
Like other arcade games that are better suited to having the Switch handheld screen on its side for maximum screen coverage, MushihimeSama includes it as well. While you can select from a few aspect ratios, I could not get the playing area to be full screen. Borders surrounded regardless of what I picked. When you play in handheld mode, it feels like the borders limit getting to enjoy the visuals to the fullest, especially when there’s so much happening all the time. When playing docked on the TV, you’ll have less of an issue, although either way, the game still looks nice given it’s been a while.
MushihimeSama might’ve been around for a while now, but it’s still as enjoyable, providing a nice change of pace from flying all those old aeroplanes around. Despite looking like there’s too much going on at once. Even an average shmup player like myself can feel like a master bullet dodger. If you’re looking for a Cave shmup with all the modes included, then MushihimeSama is a worthwhile purchase.
Rating: 3.5/5
Mercs, Vectorman and ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron.
It's Black, Back Again.
Makes sense to us.