Mushihimesama

Genre: Bullet Hell Shmup

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

Mushihimesama, in some releases called Bug Princess, is a Bullet Hell Shmup released in Japanese arcades in 2004, ported to multiple other platforms before making its western debut on mobile devices in 2011 on mobile devices, with a port to PC in 2015, and then to Nintendo Switch in 2021. I should note that this game was delisted from the Nintendo Switch eShop in 2024, but it can still be purchased in physical form on various marketplaces… though you’ll be paying at least double the $20 price the digital version of the game was selling for.

Mushihimesama has players shooting bugs with a presentation that combines 2D and 3D elements with some creative enemy and boss designs, and as is often the case with bullet hell games, a lot of this will be covered up by massive amounts of gunfire from both you and enemies. These visuals are backed by a synthesized soundtrack that’s decent, though it doesn’t match the energy and intensity of the action on-screen.

Speaking of the screen, this leads to one of my biggest complaints about this release. I understand that when a Shmup with a vertical orientation is ported to a home platform, concessions have to be made regarding the dimensions of the screen. Simply put, there’s going to be a lot of wasted screen real estate on the left and/or right when the gameplay takes place on a long vertical strip. However, in this release that’s made worse because this reduced screen size is condensed further with borders on the top and bottom too. perhaps this was done to maintain the clean look of the game that would have been sacrificed at a larger resolution, but the result is it being harder to see precisely where your ship is in relation to the torrent of enemy bullets that you need to avoid.

This release of the game gives players the option of four different versions of the game to play, a new novice mode for players looking to play something easier, the original arcade mode, an “arrange” mode created for consoles that puts point scores above enemies cluttering up the screen, and the 1.5 version of the game that gives players the choice between starting the game depowered or starting at full power but with more enemy attacks.

No matter which mode you play, I think you’ll find the gameplay here to be pretty solid Shmup gameplay, and suitably difficult as tends to be the case for this genre. The screen starts filling up with purple enemy fire pretty quickly, and you’ll soon find that this game would be impossible if it didn’t also do the standard Bullet Hell mechanic of making your ship’s hitbox only a tiny portion of the ship itself.

I don’t know that there’s too much more to say about Mushihimesama. This is a solid Bullet Hell Shmup with a memorable bug theme, and while it doesn’t revolutionize the genre, it’s still a very good Shmup that’s well worth seeking out for fans of the genre, though at this point those fans will have to pay extra to get their hands on it.

tl;dr – Mushihimesama is a Bullet Hell Shmup with a bug theme. As of this writing, the Nintendo Switch release is only available in physical format, and the reduced size of the screen area the gameplay takes place on is frustrating, but beyond these issues this is a very good Shmup that’s well worth playing for genre fans.

Grade: B

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