Ibara or Mushihime?

Matsunaga · Post by **Matsunaga** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:29 pm

I've decided to add either ibara or mushi to my collection, what's better, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of both? Ibara is about $30-$40 cheaper at the moment, so I'm kinda leaning in that direction, but any input would be much appreciated.

clp · Post by **clp** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:42 pm

ibara as it also has a superb arrange mode where as mushi has a shite one , however ibara is frustratingly hard also , mushi has a more accesible original mode .

glitch · Post by **glitch** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:54 pm

after playing black label, ibara's arrange is pretty meh too.

i guess you should ask yourself whether you like Cave or Raizing better, and pick accordingly?

ForceDevice · Post by **ForceDevice** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:48 pm

glitch wrote:i guess you should ask yourself whether you like Cave or Raizing better, and pick accordingly?

That's pretty much it.

Ibara = Raizing-style rank management, hard-to-see bullets, medal-based scoring system, it's kind of a Garegga with flowers lol

Mushi = Cave-style bullet patterns, hold-fire-to-slow-down mechanics, more bullet-hell than most other games of the genre, if you liked DOJ or Galuda chances are you'll love it.

I'd choose Mushi by far, as it takes forever to get tired of it (I still didn't and I have it since 2006) and the many different difficulty settings add even more to the replay value. Besides, its character design is brilliant and I'm a sucker for the OST too :3

Ibara is a fantastic game as well, and that's coming from a Raizing hater. But it's just... not as good.

Well that's my 2 cents, even though we all know you'll just ignore our opinions and go for a third game anyway, lol

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:03 pm

Mushi

kengou · Post by **kengou** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:08 pm

As someone mentioned, depends whether you like Raizing or Cave. Mushi is absolute bullet hell, bright bullets, slow movement, lots of bullets, tiny hitboxes, insane bosses, lots of bullets...

oh did I mention how many bullets are in Mushi? Because it's more than any other cave game I can recall (not counting Futari I guess)

it290 · Post by **it290** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:10 pm

Ibara intensity >>>>>> Mushi intensity until level 4.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:40 pm

Mushi Mushi Mushi

Gwyrgyn Blood · Post by **Gwyrgyn Blood** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:49 pm

I dislike both games normal modes really, but Ibara's Arrange mode is worth buying Ibara for just by itself. I actually don't like Black Label at all either for that matter. :I

Ligersknight · Post by **Ligersknight** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:13 am

ForceDevice wrote:
glitch wrote:i guess you should ask yourself whether you like Cave or Raizing better, and pick accordingly?
That's pretty much it.

Ibara = Raizing-style rank management, hard-to-see bullets, medal-based scoring system, it's kind of a Garegga with flowers lol

Mushi = Cave-style bullet patterns, hold-fire-to-slow-down mechanics, more bullet-hell than most other games of the genre, if you liked DOJ or Galuda chances are you'll love it.

I'd choose Mushi by far, as it takes forever to get tired of it (I still didn't and I have it since 2006) and the many different difficulty settings add even more to the replay value. Besides, its character design is brilliant and I'm a sucker for the OST too :3

Ibara is a fantastic game as well, and that's coming from a Raizing hater. But it's just... not as good.

Well that's my 2 cents, even though we all know you'll just ignore our opinions and go for a third game anyway, lol

I always hated Raizing's god damn invisible bullets -_-

evil_ash_xero · Post by **evil_ash_xero** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 5:19 am

Ibara.

And it's true. It's kind of Raizing vs. Cave.

However, and I know i'm going to get a lot of flack for this, but I don't think Mushi is all that special. It just doesn't have the same bite that a lot of Cave games have. Perhaps it's the patterns, but the game doesn't really excite me. It's fun and all, but if you have any Cave games, I would try Ibara. Unless you don't like Raizing, of course.

s/m

elfhentaifan · Post by **elfhentaifan** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:32 am

both have awesome galleries that shouldn't be missed.
I'd vote for Mushi, since it's far easier to play, and consequently you have more fun playing it.

henry dark · Post by **henry dark** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:13 am

The most fun I got out of Ibara is watching superplays of it.

It's obscenely difficult.

budloc · Post by **budloc** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:16 am

i'd get Ibara over Mushi, you've got 2 different games in one, a Cave game with the arrange mode, a Raizing game with the arcade mode.

Both modes are great.

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:08 pm

henry dark wrote;

The most fun I got out of Ibara is watching superplays of it.

It's obscenely difficult.

Ibara isn't that difficult until you hit the built-up rank on the last stage. The only quibble I have with it is the handicap system they employ ie. Half a bomb start for each life. I guess they handicapped it for the sake of the best Japanese players

.
I feel it would be more fun with a 1 bomb start.
Other than that, Ibara is a highly addictive game. Once I start playing it (PS2 ver), I can't stop.

I also like Mush Maniac Mode, so the choice between the two is difficult. Aim to own them both.

Post by **spadgy** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:14 pm

ForceDevice wrote: Well that's my 2 cents

Those 2 cents are worth twenty, as they hit the nail on the head...

it290 · Post by **it290** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:18 pm

Hmm... yeah, a whole bomb per life probably would be more fun, but the Hadou gun is pretty insanely powerful; I think such a change would just encourage even more suicide.

Personally, I'd consider myself an 'average' player, and the rank tends to get out of hand for me by stage 4, although I play for score all the time and will often restart if I screw up my medal chain before stage 3. This adds to the addictive element of the game, though -- you are always thinking 'argh.. I know I can do better on that section' and restarting. Mushi has that element as well, but the stages are much more drawn out, so I find myself not wanting to restart so much if I screw up halfway through the game.

The cool thing about Ibara is that the rank system really makes the enemies behave differently every time you play; this can be frustrating at times, but for me it adds to the fun. With Mushi it feels like you're playing through the exact same sequence every time.

Gwyrgyn Blood · Post by **Gwyrgyn Blood** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:30 pm

My main problem with Arcade Ibara is actually the weapon system. Massive pain in the ass to be constantly dodging powerups (way worse than Garegga or Batrider), very limited formation control, and special formations are terrible and really easy to trigger accidentally and, unless I'm really missing something, you CAN'T TURN THEM OFF MANUALLY.

Fortunately Arrange mode fixes those problems and is a lot of fun.

budloc · Post by **budloc** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:38 pm

I don't know for the PS2 version but on the pcb, you can disable special formations by pressing start.

glitch · Post by **glitch** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:23 pm

in ibara arrange, you can lock the orientation of the default formation with select. dunno if it does anything in arcade though.

Gwyrgyn Blood · Post by **Gwyrgyn Blood** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:24 pm

Start pauses the game, but maybe it's on Select now... guess I'll try when I get home. Still, in Garegga, getting the special formations increases your per-frame rank increase, I would guess it's the same in Ibara.

glitch wrote:in ibara arrange, you can lock the orientation of the default formation with select. dunno if it does anything in arcade though.

Damn, now I wish the select button was some place more convenient on my stick. :I

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:01 pm

I can't get the hang of Ibara's arrange mode scoring, nor do I like the unweighted Last Boss on Mush's Arrange Mode, but there are other modes available on both games, so its ok.

deddonpachi · Post by **deddonpachi** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:48 pm

i prefer mushihime

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:42 pm

^^^^^^^^^^^^

That sig...Wow...

elfhentaifan · Post by **elfhentaifan** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:54 pm

his blog is splendid

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 5:40 pm

they're both worth playing, even though they are completely different. if ibara is cheaper, maybe get that one first

ktownhero · Post by **ktownhero** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 5:42 pm

Mushi, Ibara just isn't fun -- plain and simple. I bought it last year on PS2 and put it back on the shelf after a couple hours of playing. Way too frustrating for me, and this is coming from a guy working on Ikaruga.

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 5:49 pm

elfhentaifan wrote:his blog is splendid

REIKO!

Plasmo · Post by **Plasmo** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:05 pm

Ibara's definitely the better game. Arrange mode sucks tho.

Matsunaga · Post by **Matsunaga** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 2:31 am

Thanks for all the input! These are THE greatest forums in all the world. It's so damn hard to decide, I might have to get both.