The original Mushihime-sama (review) really opened up the world of bullet hell shooters for me, and I’ve played through it multiple times almost every day since I discovered it. It says a lot then that this sequel is just as good. I particularly enjoy the revised Black Label mode, which brings some nice little rebalancing that makes it a slightly more enjoyable playthrough.

While I absolutely love the first game, it does have a few little segments that I find a bit annoying—the challenge is interesting, but I find myself going, “oh god, here we go”. That’s not really the case with anything in Futari. It’s consistently a smooth, fun time from start to finish, with a bit better pacing. It also builds nicely on the aesthetic of the original game to be overall a bit more varied in art and music.

I don’t necessarily think it’s cut and dry that all of that means this game is better, since the original is an extremely strong game and feels maybe a bit more memorable at points, but it makes a good case.

You wouldn’t guess it from some more hectic-looking screenshots, but a large part of the appeal I find in these Mushihime-sama games is their surface-level simplicity. They are heavily focused on evading waves and waves of clearly-drawn enemies and bullets, and not much more when you’re starting out. Futari takes a light approach to updating the prior game’s mechanical foundation, slightly changing your firing options from the first game in a nice way.

All that being said, some interesting scoring systems across different modes do add some depth for skilled players who aren’t satisfied with just trying to survive. (Not really my thing in any of these games.)

I’d love for this to be on Steam, but it’s still absolutely worth playing in emulated form, especially if you can emulate the Japanese Xbox 360 version or get it legitimately (expensive!) (edit: I got it!). A fantastic example of this genre that definitely is enough to pull me away from the first game.