Episode 80: Mushihimesama

Mushihimesama is one of many arcade titles developed by Cave, who were best known for their danmaku or ‘bullet hell’ style shoot ‘em ups during the late 90’s and 2000’s.
First released in 2004, Mushihimesama stood in stark contrast to the glut of sci-fi shooters with its beautiful visual style that depicted a wild and untamed fantasy world ruled by enormous insects. Since then it has seen many re-releases on the PlayStation 2, Xbox360, phones, PC and most recently the Nintendo Switch.

In Mushihimesama you take control of Reco, daughter to the royal family, on her quest to save her village from the enormous insect-like Koujuu. While you’ll destroy hundreds of these immense beasts on your journey, you’ll find their sheer firepower to be a seemingly overwhelming threat. Mushihimesama does the bullet hell genre proud, splaying thousands of bullets on your screen in ever increasing complexity, with it taking only a single stray bullet to consume one of your precious lives. You do your best to weave between the bulletstorm before inevitably failing, and trying yet again.

We’re joined by special guest George Witt of the Nostalgia Goggles podcast to discuss the ins and outs of the game, from its fundamental structure as an arcade cabinet game to the visuals and sound. Is Mushihimesama a game worth your time to play today, or does it deserve to burn in bullet hell?

On this episode, we discuss:

• Does Mushihimesama’s structure as a One Credit Clear arcade-game enhance or detract from the enjoyment of playing it versus traditional titles with checkpoints or quicksaves? Do the plethora of practice and alternative modes alleviate the need for checkpoints?
• How enjoyable is the moment to moment gameplay? Is dodging bullets as enjoyable as it seemed to be in the Matrix, and in what ways does the game turn it from a seeming impossibility to something tangible and achievable?
• How does Mushihimesama use its aesthetics and sound in such a way that it doesn’t conflict with the mechanical heart of the gameplay experience?

We answer these questions and many more on the 80th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Thanks again to George for appearing on our show! Nostalgia Goggles is not only a great show in its own right, they also started way before us, making them the original and the best. If you enjoy what you hear on Retro Spectives, Nostalgia Goggles will be right up your alley - it's dense and involved analysis on what makes these classic games tick and why. Go check them out!

Nostalgia Goggles Website

Nostalgia Goggles Twitter

George’s Twitter

Pat will be appearing on their show in a few months time to talk about the RTS behemoth Starcraft, so please subscribe so you don’t miss out!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Mushihimesama OST: Manabu Namiki, Masaharu Iwata

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Are there any other bullet hell shooters we should check out? How important is the structure of the game as a 1CC game to its identity? Were there any secrets lives or features that we misunderstood or missed? Come let us know what you think and join the conversation on our community discord server!