Game: Mushihimesama

Game: Mushihimesama
Platform: Sony Playstation 2, Arcade
Developer: Cave
Publisher: Taito

Author: Slateman ([email protected])
Version: 1.1
Date: 20 September, 2005

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INTRO / OVERVIEW
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Mushihimesama was released in Japanese arcades in 2004 and was ported to
the PS2 by Taito for release in 2005. This game is just about what you
would expect from a vertical Cave shmup and is a good installment into
their long-running shooter line of games.

In fact, the game feels very familiar to the entire Cave catalog. This
isn't a fault IMO, but it doesn't really have any one thing that makes
it stand out above the rest. The inclusion of 3 Arcade modes and an
Arrange mode give it added depth and replayability.

After such marvelous ports of DoDon Pachi: Dai-Ou-Jou and ESP Galuda by
Arika, I feel this doesn't quite live up in terms of options and features.
However, the gameplay, music and overall feel is solid and this makes
for a very enjoyable gaming experience.

Version Info
------------

1.1 Counter, Banking, Scoring information.
1.0 Initial Release.

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CONTROLS
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X Normal Attack (hold for laser)
Circle Bomb
R1 Rapid Attack
Square Switch between Modes (Arrange Mode Only)

Additional Controls can be configured in the Options Menu.

This includes a rapid-fire option for both your laser and regular shot.
These will affect your Counter Banking (see below).

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Power-Ups
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There are 4 different pick-ups found in the game. These are as follows:

- Mode Pickup
- Option Pickup
- Bomb
- Extra Life

The latter 2 are self-explanatory. The 1-Up is inly available at the
end of level 3. Destroy the 8 arms of the large 'creature' just before
the boss. After the arms, then destroy the center to reveal the 1-Up.

The other 2 require some explanation. There are 3 modes in Mushihimesama
with a pair of options.

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Mode Pickups
------------

Unlike other Cave games, you have only one ship to fly Reko through, but
there are 3 different mode power-ups which affect you. Similar to their
other titles however is the importance of speed and shot attributes.
I've always had better luck with faster ships, so I steer clear of
W-Mode entirely. Other gamers may appreciate the wider shot though,
so the decision is based on how you play.

Speed Attack
----- ------
M-Mode (green) Medium Medium
W-Mode (red) slow Wide
S-Mode (blue) Fast Narrow

You will have the option to switch modes while playing, however it's
important to choose your preference at the start of the game.

Each Mode and Option Icon that floats on the screen will be accompanied
by a timer bar. After several seconds, the timer will run out thereby
changing the kind of icon it is. In this case, the icon will cycle
through all 3 kinds of modes. If by default you choose S-Mode, you
can change to the other 2 whenever you pick up an icon, by allowing it
to change colors. Upon dying though, your character will revert back
to the default mode you chose before starting. For this reason, it is
good to choose your mode carefully, and not rely on swapping power-ups.

..Unless you are a truly skilled player who rarely dies, that is!

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Option Pickups
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Options are helper ships that form next to your character. You can
hold up to 4 of these in Arcade Mode, 6 in Arrange. These options
will follow Reko as you navigate through the game and come in 2 forms,
Trace and Formation.

Much like the Mode Icons listed above, these have a timer on them and
will change attributes if you wait long enough. If you currently have
Trace Options, you can switch to Formation by allowing the icon enough
time to switch over. Beside each Options detail below is a description
of what each icon looks like.

By holding down the fire button, your options will form around you to
produce a more centralized, stronger attack. While in rapid-fire mode
(either tapping the X button or holding down R1), they will return to
your sides. How they act while firing in this manner is described
below.

Trace Option (ship with small circles near it)
------------

Each option you receive in this form will have a smaller ship follow
you completely. These ships will be your shadow, if you move, they
move, if you stop, they stop, if you go around in circles, they too
will go around in circles.

This option is good as you can position yourself under an enemy and
move slightly out of the way of the bullets while allowing the
option ship to shoot where you were before.

Formation Option (ship with arrows pointing up to its left and right)
----------------

In formation your options will align themselves next to you, spread
out. Your option ships will form to your left and right. This
allows for a much wider range of firing and is good to clear out
enemies across the screen. It is harder to centralize an attack,
though, and as usual, for a Cave shooter, defeating enemies
quickly isn't always the best route to racking up points.

Once again, you can change options when an icon appears. Be wary
though! After dying, your option icons float around. These will
disappear if you don't collect them immediately though. If you're
in one mode and want to switch, now is not the time! Pick them up
before they disappear and wait for the next power-up icon to appear
before switching.

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Arcade Mode
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There are 2 different modes in Mushihimesama, Arcade and Arrange.

In here, there are 2 different types of gameplay, Normal Arcade and
Maniac/Ultra Arcade & Arrange.

The difference between these game modes is the manner in which
scoring works. More on that in the Scoring section below.

All 3 modes are essentially the same, just with a ramped up
difficulty and a whole lot more bullets. The Maniac and Ultra
modes add a counter to the upper-left hand portion of the screen,
but the gameplay itself remains. Kill Everything, Don't Die.

Otherwise, these modes are identical in all other ways.

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Arrange Mode
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Taking the scoring changes from the Maniac and Ultra modes (again,
detailed below), the Arrange mode spices things up a bit more by
changing enemy bullet patterns as well as some other minor tweaks.
The main differences are as follows:

a) Start with 6 options (max 4 in Arcade)
b) Switch between Modes (M/W/S) by pressing Square
c) Reko throws bombs if hit

This mode starts you out with 6 options, 2 more than you can get in
the Arcade Mode. Your ship firing level begins at normal though.
By pressing the Square button, you can change between M/W/S Modes.
This can be useful if you want to change to a wider shot at any
given time or switch to a faster ship.

Here, Reko will automatically throw a bomb if you are hit. With
3 bombs and 3 lives, you've essentially got 9 lives to start with.
Getting bomb pick-ups is essentially the same as 1-Ups. The
added benefit is that you can have this auto life saver and still
get the No Miss bonus at the end of a level.

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Scoring
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This is the big one, and it's not quite as simple as I had
originally thought. In the Original Arcade mode, things are
fairly basic. Kill everything. There is some banking from
what I've read, but overall, there isn't much to it.

Maniac, Ultra and Arrange modes are significantly different,
and here's where we shall begin.

The Parent Counter
------------------

In each of these modes, a counter is present in the upper
left-hand portion of the screen. Very loosely similar to the
system in DoDon Pachi, this counter goes up when you are killing
or keeping your shots on enemies. Once you stop destroying
enemies or hitting your foes with your laser, your counter
decreases.

Using a bomb will cause you to stop firing, and here too, your
counter goes down. Unlike DDP though, the counter won't
automatically hit zero. It just goes down for a set amount of
time.

The main point here is that you should be causing devastation at
all times. This will require you to time things, shoot less
often and think ahead. You want your counter to continually
increase. Scoring is based on this number, according to Icarus,

(Base Point Value) x (Parent Counter) = Points Given

i.e.
50 x 125,000 = 6,250,000 points

He goes on to state, "Gems are also affected by this multiplier
equation, and it is from gems that a large bulk of your
in-stage points will come from."

The Child Counter
-----------------

In addition to your regular counter, many of the larger foes
will have more than one number listed on them. These have been
dubbed 'Child Counters' (as opposed to a 'Parent Counter') by
Icarus and the folks in the shmups forums (see link below).

As you keep your shot on an enemy, both their parent and child
counters will go up. Higher numbers = more points. This leads
us to banking.

Counter Banking
---------------

This is an interesting addition, and can result in many more
points. It is also slightly confusing. You can find all of
Icarus' thoughts on the topic at the link below:

http://forum.shmups.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4049

The concept here is that you can add your child counter totals
to your parent counter. This is achieved by stopping your
attack for a brief moment. This will cause your combo meter
to turn red (decrease) for a short time. However, upon firing
again, your parent counter will increase at a higher rate than
if you hadn't stopped.

This is a *very* basic overview of how banking works, and
I would suggest you take a peek at the above link if you care
to get deeper. it's a strange system, but for those interested
in serious points would do themselves a favor by reading up!

Gems
----

There are 2 different types of gems, coming in large and small
sizes. These give points when you collect them and also at the
end of the level. As described above, the number of gems you
receive is dictated by your current combo.

The scoring of gems goes as follows:

Diamond (sm) 100
Diamond (l) 1,000
Hexagon (sm) 825
Hexagon (l) 2,000

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HUD
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In other games this requires explanation but in Mushihimesama it's
pretty basic. In any event, here's a quick rundown of the HUD and
its contents.

At the top left is Player 1's score, the middle is the high score
and the top right contains P2's score.

Below the High Score is the mode you're playing, in Katakana.
I suppose you may need a reminder that you're in Maniac mode?

If you are facing a boss or mid-boss, a lifebar will appear under
the mode description. This meter will also appear on the bottom
of the screen, moving your bomb total lower.

There are small yellow icons indicating how many lives you have.
I believe these are small picturess of Kiniro.

If you are playing in another mode, you will have a counter
appearing below your life icons.

Finally, at the bottom is a listing of your bombs, as mentioned
before. You can hold up to 6 of these.

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CREDITS
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Please note the 2 following forums. Filled with knowledgeable
shmuppers, some info was taken from postings here.

Icarus (for most Counter & Banking information)
http://www.featheredwings.net

Shmups Forum
http://forum.shmups.com/forum/

Click-Stick Forum
http://click-stick.com/bbs/

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LEGAL STUFF
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This FAQ is copyright (c) 2005, Trevor Esposito ([email protected])
Mushihimesama is copyright (c) 2004-2005, Cave
Mushihimesama is a trademark of Cave.

You may not distribute this for profit.
You may not edit or alter the contents herein without the permission
of the author.

The most current version of this FAQ can always be found at the
following address:

http://www.slateman.net/faqs/

Hope the FAQ was useful in some form.

Good luck and have fun!

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