Review: Fire Everything Possible in MUSHIHIMESAMA for Switch
Bullet hell/SHMUP games have been around for a long time. Mushihimesama is one of those classic super intense games that fill the screen with enemies, bombs, bullets, and lasers. This version of the game has loads of new options but suffers from being a bit unpolished.
If you’ve never played a game like this, it’s pretty straightforward. You’re in a ship that shoots all sorts of lasers and weapons that upgrade. One of the major differences of this game and SHMUPs, in general, is that there are literally thousands of bullets being shot from you and your opponents at times. This sort of chaos is really great and can spark a lot of action-packed gameplay. But it can be harder to get into or master than things like Bloodborne or Rainbow Six Seige. This game and games in the genre have a very niche audience, but those in the audience can really enjoy the variety of options and levels that Mushihimesama can offer.
It can be really fun to bask in the chaotic nature of the game, but levels can feel very similar after less than an hour of playing. Only the bosses had really unique patterns of attack. I honestly would’ve rather this game be a boss rush game instead of dealing with full levels that feel a bit like filler before the boss fights.
It’s also surprising to see this game be ported to the Switch with very little optimization. Just playing on handheld there were some frame rate dips. This is the kind of game that suffers greatly from having even the slightest of choppy frame rates. A few sluggish frames can be the difference between losing 30 minutes of progress or reaching a high score. The graphics are also identical to the original, which is nostalgic, but not all that thrilling. With a lot of remakes, ports, and remastered versions of games that look noticeably better than the originals, it is unfortunate that this game has no real graphical changes.
If you’re a huge fan of the franchise and really want to replay it, this can be a great good game to snag. But newcomers have to deal with too high of a barrier of entry to really enjoy it, especially when it looks exactly like it did years ago and has some performance issues.
