Mushihimesama vs. Ibara

[TheWalkingDude]

Which would be the right choice for a rookie shmupper? ('Cause I'm waaaay past the beginner stage. No training wheels for me - or at least barely noticable ones) Mushihimesama or Ibara? The thing is, I'd like to purchase on of these two for my PS2, but I don't know which one is the right for me. Since buying these games is kind of expensive, I don't want to make a choice I'll later regret. Any tip is greatly appreciated!

[jonny5]

mushi

[ex.machina]

I found Ibara the better game. Never much liked the style and color choices of Mushihimesama.

[Damocles]

Mushi is the safe choice. That being said, pick the winner of DoDonPachi vs. Battle Garegga. If it's DDP, then Mushi. If BG, then Ibara.

Check out Superplay.com for gameplay vids.

[Elixir]

Mushihimesama or Ibara? The thing is, I'd like to purchase on of these two for my PS2

Neither.

[Lynx Winters]

Mushi's not a bad game but Espgaluda might be more what you're looking for. Plus, it's a better PS2 port.

[kengou]

Mushi's not a bad game but Espgaluda might be more what you're looking for. Plus, it's a better PS2 port.

I agree with this. Mushi and Ibara are both great, but they are both sort of different extremes in Cave games. Galuda is right in the middle ground with comfortable gameplay of midrange difficulty, a really fun scoring system, balanced and fun level/boss design, and I think it's overall more fun than Mushi or Ibara. That said, if you really like Raizing games you might like Ibara more. And if you're dead-set on either Mushi or Ibara, Mushi comes with 4 variations (original, maniac, ultra, arrange) which might be a factor as well, since it offers a good range of difficulty from 'not too bad' to 'friggin impossible'.

I also recommend you look at Dodonpachi Daioujou. It's very difficult but also an outstanding game. Look at videos of all four Cave PS2 ports and think about which you would enjoy more.

[TheWalkingDude]

Mushi's not a bad game but Espgaluda might be more what you're looking for. Plus, it's a better PS2 port.

I agree with this. Mushi and Ibara are both great, but they are both sort of different extremes in Cave games. Galuda is right in the middle ground with comfortable gameplay of midrange difficulty, a really fun scoring system, balanced and fun level/boss design, and I think it's overall more fun than Mushi or Ibara. That said, if you really like Raizing games you might like Ibara more. And if you're dead-set on either Mushi or Ibara, Mushi comes with 4 variations (original, maniac, ultra, arrange) which might be a factor as well, since it offers a good range of difficulty from 'not too bad' to 'friggin impossible'.

I also recommend you look at Dodonpachi Daioujou. It's very difficult but also an outstanding game. Look at videos of all four Cave PS2 ports and think about which you would enjoy more.

Galuda sounds like a good choice too, from the way you make it out to be. Will make sure to look up a bit more on it. However, which older Cave game would Mushi be most akin to? I've been trying out the older games quite extensively, so if anyone could suggest compare it to something I can try, maybe my choice could be an easier one. As for Ibara, I've played Battle Garegga for a while (medalling is fun, but it irks me to no end when I mess up a chain and having the rank skyrocket while I restart.)

[P_HAT]

Good game vs Good game?

Wut is better?

[emphatic]

Mushihimesama would be my pick of those two titles. It has three "arcade modes" (Original, Manic & Ultra) and an additional "arrange mode" (basically Manic but with autobomb, weapon switch button, and extra powerups).

The "Original mode" does have the feel of older Toaplan shooters, like Flying Shark, Twin Hawk or Twin Cobra. So if you've grown accustomed to playing those games, you'll feel right at home.

But ESPGALUDA is imho the best PS2 CAVE port, and also a far better game than the two above. Only downside is: it's very addictive.

Emph

[Jockel]

Galuda sounds like a good choice too, from the way you make it out to be. Will make sure to look up a bit more on it. However, which older Cave game would Mushi be most akin to? I've been trying out the older games quite extensively, so if anyone could suggest compare it to something I can try, maybe my choice could be an easier one. As for Ibara, I've played Battle Garegga for a while (medalling is fun, but it irks me to no end when I mess up a chain and having the rank skyrocket while I restart.)

Espgaluda is the best choice for a rookie, and it's price isnt as high as both Ibara and Mushihimesama.
Both Mushi and Galuda don't really have an old mame equivalent.
There is ESP Ra De (the predecessor to Espgaluda) but it doesn't feature the Kakusei Mode and Scoring which made Galuda great. It plays very different.
And there is no good MAME-substitute for Mushi either, as the really thick, screen filling bullet patterns and slowdowns make it fun.
Ibara on the other hand has not nearly as many bullets as the other two,
but is way, waaaaay harder than both these games.
Last, but certainly not least is the effing great Dodonpachi Dai Ou Jou.
It's simply the best among the Cave-PS2-ports but also hard as black cock. The chaining is not everyone's cup of tea, but the gamedesign is just amazing.

To conclude: Ibara would be too hard for you
(plus the port isn't top-notch), Espgaluda should be right up your alley and Mushihimesama could be fun, but is very expansive
(and another not so great port).
But they all pale when compared to Dai Ou Jou, it's the bees knees.

[Diebythesword]

but certainly not least is the effing great Dodonpachi Dai Ou Jou.
It's simply the best among the Cave-PS2-ports but also hard as black cock.

How do you guys play these games? J-PS2, mod, pcb, emulation? I've always wanted to play Mushi, ESPGaluda, pretty much every Cave PS2 port, and Death Smiles I'm actually going to buy a J-PS2 from my friend soon, but he's missing the AC Adapter, any ideas on where to get a new one?

[Zoel]

I am sticking with Mushi.

I play Espgaluda and didn't like much at all. I can't tell if its a perfect arcade port either since i have never play the arcade version.

[Udderdude]

I am sticking with Mushi.

I play Espgaluda and didn't like much at all. I can't tell if its a perfect arcade port either since i have never play the arcade version.

ESPGaluda is pretty close to arcade perfect, as is DDP DOJ. Atlus went through a lot of effort to make these games as close to the arcade versions as possible.

[Udderdude]

How do you guys play these games? J-PS2, mod, pcb, emulation? I've always wanted to play Mushi, ESPGaluda, pretty much every Cave PS2 port, and Death Smiles

All of those are options, but PS2 emulation requires a pretty beefy PC still. And I've found that only DOJ and ESPGaluda emulate well.

Death Smiles is coming to 360 sometime, not sure when. But you need a Japanese 360 to play it.

I'm actually going to buy a J-PS2 from my friend soon, but he's missing the AC Adapter, any ideas on where to get a new one?

No clue :S

[emphatic]

How do you guys play these games? J-PS2, mod, pcb, emulation?

I bought myself a fat, chipped PS2 with a HDD that let's me play ESPGALUDA "arcade perfect" (not 100%, but the stereo sound from the PS2 weighs up for this )in my EGRET II cabinet. Since then I've bought the PCB and play that instead. When I find a job I'm gonna save up and get the Mushihimesama PCB as well, as the PS2 port doesn't meet my requirements. And of course the Futari will be mine sometime later as well.

ESPGaluda is pretty close to arcade perfect, as is DDP DOJ. ARIKA went through a lot of effort to make these games as close to the arcade versions as possible.

Fixed.

Emph

[clp]

ibara because its amazing and fucking deep which will be to much for u at first but it also has a very accesible and stunning arrange mode for you to master before stepping up to arcade . Elixir what shmups do you actually like because ive never seen you say one thing positive about any or even show a hi score in any ?.

[freddiebamboo]

They are both excellent, but Ibara is much harder than Mushi. I'm not sure if Ibara can even be played properly without scoring as rank needs to be suicided (or even just suicides for bombs) and rises mainly through survival time x lives in stock IIRC. I've never played the game without going for score, but I'd imagine getting past the stage 2 boss would be exceptionally hard without a rank suicide and an extend or 2.

+1 for Mushi if you are a beginner.

[agustusx]

To conclude: Ibara would be too hard for you
(plus the port isn't top-notch), Espgaluda should be right up your alley and Mushihimesama could be fun, but is very expansive
But they all pale when compared to Dai Ou Jou, it's the bees knees.

Espgaluda or Dai Ou jou are awesome choices. Plus they are definitely less expensive then Mushi right now. Mushi's PS2 slowdown makes me wanna cry. I swear the music stopped playing one time due to slow-down and never came back.

Ibara feels more like a raizing game and while I like how it looks, its a bitch learn. In the former three games you at least get to see the bullets coming

[brokenhalo]

mushi or galuda depending on how much you want to spend. ibara is just too hard and the bullets are a bitch to see. dodonpachi is hard as well, but you always know exactly what killed you. galuda has a great soundtrack, awesome scoring, pretty graphics, and a "just right" difficulty. mushi is probably my favorite out of all them. total bullet-hell, 4 fairly different play modes, and cool Nausicaa inspired graphics. people complain about ibara and mushi being less than arcade perfect. the port of mushi is still more than playable, the port of ibara not so much.

[Plasmo]

Ibara is the better game PLUS it's brutal and unforgiving in difficulty. It has one of the best shmup soundtracks ever and beautiful graphics. While playing Ibara you get the feeling of constantly destroying everything. This game is dynamite!

Mushihimesama is a very good game and has a wide variety of difficulties to select from. While Original and Maniac are a walk in the park, Ultra is bullet hell absolution. The scoring system is weird and feels like playing a piano.


Both are great, I prefer Ibara.

[Frederik]

Ibara is a game for people who have a certain degree of experience in shmups, first and foremost a good feeling for how to manage your bombs and lives and how to milk bosses properly, and you´ll often need a very high level of precision in tough spots. If you choose this game as a beginner you will certainly bite on granite. It is a very interesting game, no doubt about it, but it has a very unique feel about it and you should get good enough at shmups in general before you dive headfirst into the world of intentionally dying in a shmup.

Mushi is a very quirky and fun game if you play it for survival. To be honest, it´s the one PS2 Cave port I had the most fun with. Original mode is pretty easy but is fast paced and enjoyable. I think as a beginner in this genre you need to concentrate on pure survival for some time and leave out scoring completely until you´re consistent enough, and Mushi is great for that.

(I just re-read your post and somehow forgot the part that you´re "past the beginner stage" but still consider yourself your rookie, so I guess my advice is still valid )

[evil_ash_xero]

Add me to the folks who say "ESP Galuda". It's a really really good port, and I like it better as a game than the other two.

Mushi is not bad, but it's overly cutesy(you may not have a problem with this), and looks like shit. It doesn't look like shit originally, but the port may make you think you have glaucoma. The game itself is good, but nothing really all that special. I prefer most Cave games to it(that I have played).

Ibara suffers from port troubles, but not as bad as Mushi. I actually dig Ibara. It plays a LOT like Battle Garegga. So, if you like that, you'll probably like this to some degree.

But overall, ESP is a much safer and wiser choice.

s/m

[Guardians Knight]

for a rookie, id avoid Ibara like the plague, its hard as nails to the point of not being very enjoyable - dont be fooled, this is nothing like Garegga except in graphic style. Mushi is by far the best option for you mate.

[antron]

I don't like the explosions in Ibara. Looks like little pieces of paper flying around everywhere, constantly. I can't see what's going on. I felt this way about the PCb as well. No sir, don't like it.

[silvergunner]

Found both great,but I prefer the Insect-style.I`m waiting for this since Apydia

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Get a modchip, download and play any game you want. Shit's out of print anyway, so no one can accuse you of "stealing".

Or get DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou...

Dodonpachi Dai Ou Jou... hard as black cock.

Thanks for the signature!

[Diebythesword]

I see, thanks for the replies Udderdude and emphatic!

Now I just gotta find a way to buy a Japanese PS2 AC Adapter

[Jockel]

If it's the Slim PS2 Models you can easily buy a normal ac adapter from your region. (except the newest ones, but they don't need an adapter at all)

[TheWalkingDude]

Thanks for your advice, dudes. I think I'll go with ESPgaluda first, though, seeing as how people have made it seem "rookie-friendly." If ever I wanna try something else out, I'll go with Mushi. However, I've heard nothing but good things about Daioujou, but according to other things I've heard, levels 2 and 3 are so hard, they make circus strongmen cry. How good of a shmupper do you have to be to enjoy DDPDOJ? (preferably for survival.)

By the way, Jockel, that "hard as black cock" comment... Priceless.