Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara

2006 · CAVE Interactive · Arcade, Xbox 360

Pink Sweets is a manic shooter. Its story presents an alternate universe version of Ibara; in this universe, none of that game's villains died, and the player controls one of the four boss characters from the previous game. It presents a similar rose-draped steampunk aesthetic which provides an excuse for the player's ships to fly through a very floral 19th century. Designer Shinobu Yagawa drew on his experience working on Raizing games such as Battle Garegga to present a game that plays a bit differently from the traditional Cave mold. The player's ship has a traditional shmup-style shot, but is also able to charge a special attack by not firing. A fully-charged, unfired special attack acts as a form of shield that can cancel certain enemy bullets; when fired, the fully-charged special attack acts as a kind of miniature bomb.