Mushihime-sama Futari Ver 1.5

Overview

Mushihimesama Futari is a bullet hell shooter video game released in arcades by Cave on October 27, 2006 and it is a sequel to Mushihimesama (2004). 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).

Selectable game modes include Original and Maniac, with unlockable Ultra mode, with each mode increasing in difficulty. The game features five stages, each with a boss and mid-boss. The players can select two characters, Reco and Palm, and choose normal or abnormal shot type for each. The main scoring system in this game involves collecting gems. In Original and Ultra mode, the gem counter switches colour from green to blue every 500 gems. the players collect more gems by killing enemies with the player's laser when the counter is blue, and with the player's shot when the counter is green.

The basic plot revolves around the death of the antagonist from the first game, Aki, and his mother, Larsa, going insane and seeking revenge on Reco for allegedly killing him. Her younger son Palm goes in search of Reco to learn the truth about his brother on his own. Eventually Reco finds Palm lost far from home and the two become friends, with Palm learning what happened to Aki was not her fault. Together, they aim to travel back to Palm's home and stop the madness of Larsa. Larsa is the main antagonist of the story; she pilots Stage 5's boss, Dragon Emperion.

Mushihimesama Futari does not allow changing of player's shot during mid-game and each character has a specific shot-type associated with them.

The Xbox 360 release includes Version 1.5, Novice and Arrange game modes. The player can select between original arcade graphics, and new high resolution graphics. The players can play the game in tate (vertical monitor), with numerous graphical options, including scanlines. The Xbox 360 exclusive arrange mode allows 1 player only to play through the game with special rules. If a player is a hit they do not die and instead a bomb is launched on contact (unless the player does not have any bombs), the player is allowed to switch between controlling Reco or Palm, with the non-active character ghosting alongside the active one while shooting, changing also generates a temporary shield.

Famitsu magazine awarded Mushihimesama Futari ver. 1.5 a score of 29/40 based on four reviews (8/7/7/7).

Game details

Genres

Shooter, Arcade

Developer

CAVE Interactive

Publisher

CAVE Interactive

Series

Mushihimesama

Platforms

Xbox 360

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

Yes

Co op

No

Release dates

Playable today

Credits

Region

US