Bug Princess (Mushihime-sama) iOS.

[CMcK]

Another Cave classic up on the App Store and another essential purchase. Plays brilliantly with the same touch controls as the other Cave iOS ports. I've only tried it on the iPad 2 so far but the game is a universal app so should work on anything from the 3GS up.
This isn't an HD version like the recent rerelease of Espgaluda 2. The original Mushihimesama arcade visuals have just been scaled up to fit the screen so are a bit blurry. The size of the viewing area is adjustable so you don't have to worry about your fingers getting in the way too much.

[rmoxon]

I'm glad they decided to make this a universal release. I haven't played the original game very much previously, I did have a few goes on the PS2 version but that was many years ago so I can't remember if it has all the same difficulty settings and modes, there does seem to be two unlockable game modes though, which are currently blanked out with question marks on the screen where you select them.

I agree that it plays brilliantly and is essential, and at ?2.99 you can't really say no to it.

[Golgo]

This us getting bought, sharpish. When I have a periodic clean out of downloaded ****e, it's only the Caves that remain. I guess this is the usual intro price?

[rmoxon]

No I think it's the normal price, because it's an old game and not really HD they aren't charging much for it.

[Soundwave]

DL'd this earlier & I've only had a very quick go...but it's freaking amazing.

I've only got a iPod touch but it looks awesome on it & plays brilliantly.

Been a long time since I played the PS2 version but this is exactly as I remember.

Going to spend a long time with this one...that said I might fire up the PS2 version this weekend for some big screen gaming

Neil

[Golgo]

Yeah this is great. But why the hell do Cave insist on having that awful tickertape Gamefeed thing plastered all over and ruining the title screen (just like DeathSmiles), even if you sensibly opt not to use the cluster**** of fail that is OpenFeint?

[Julio III]

Right - had quite a play on it so far. I think ?2.99 must be the intro price, its too cheap compared to their other iOS games, and given how much is on offer here, its a bargain.

First off, only Original mode is unlocked from the start, you unlock Maniac by completing Original, and I assume Ultra gets unlocked if you can complete Maniac. Despite these three already being difficulties, you can also select difficulty from Novice, Medium, Hard, and Hell. HELL is arcade bullet patterns. Annoyingly, it only unlocked the page in the tutorial that mentions that Hell is arcade difficulty after my first go on Maniac - so before that I presumed Hard was arcade mode, as thats what it was on the iOS versions of Espgaluda and Dodonpachi.

They have now added an autobomb to the game. However, it clears your whole bomb stock, so it is still worth manual bombing. I can't find a comfortable hand position (whilst lying down anyway) to do manual bomb.

Anyway, first credit on Original Hard and managed to 1CC it. Just. There didn't appear to be any slowdown whatsoever throughout the game - which I guess is kinda countered by the fact you have super fast mobility on the iOS versions. Then tried out Maniac Hard, and could get to level 4. The only slowdown I noticed was when you destroy the huge background enemies in stage 3. Then the game decided to tell me Hell was arcade difficulty, so had to try that. In Original Hell, I recognised the boss bullet patterns from the arcade. Only managed to get to the stage 5 midboss though. On Maniac Hell, only managed to the stage 3 boss. I love the Maniac bullet patterns. It is crazy seeing so many bullets filling the screen of a little iPhone.

Another nice touch is the way it tells you your leaderboard position when you select your mode. It seems like only ~3000 people have bought the game, and I place in the bottom third

You start with only 1 credit, but unlock further credits through repeated plays.

For those who haven't played the arcade/PS2 versions - there is a secret 1UP in level 3. On the boss-like enemy just before the stage 3 boss, if you destroy all 8 surrounding parts before destroying the centre part, the 1UP appears.

I hope this iOS release is a sign that they are going to port it to the Xbox 360 along with Version 1.5!

[buster_broon]

Nah the auto bomb is when you take a hit and your shield kicks in drops the bombs as a forfeit for being hit

It's the same on other cave shooters

Got 16 million but really a poor score and can almost 1 life it but always take a hit at the end

[Golgo]

But buggy this (*ahem). Getting lots of dump back to 'desktop', hanging on loading screens, hud/text flicker. Cave usually good with the patches tho.

[buster_broon]

not had one of those problems on the ipad or iphone

x-men however has been a nightmare

[Soundwave]

Mines been fine as well on my iPod Touch.

Not had any issues & it plays like a dream.

Neil