Shikigami no Shiro

Shikigami no Shiro
Developer(s)	Alfa System
Publisher(s)	Arcade Taito Corporation PlayStation 2 XS Games Xbox Mediaquest Windows Sourcenext
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows 98
Release date(s)	Arcade JP 2001 Xbox JP March 14, 2002 PlayStation 2 JP June 27, 2002 NA March 19, 2003 EU 2003 Windows JP August 8, 2002 (EX) Xbox JP December 19, 2002 (Evolution) PlayStation 2 JP July 29, 2004 (Re-release)
Genre(s)	Scrolling shooter
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone
System requirements Pentium III 700MHz CPU, 128MiB system memory, 500MB hard drive space, video card with 16MiB memory

Shikigami no Shiro (式神の城), released as Mobile Light Force 2 in the US and Europe, is the first game in the Shikigami no Shiro series.

Story

In July 2005, a string of serial murders took place in Tokyo, where all the victims were female and killed by external injury. The killings took place within 20 hours.

On July 21, the 31st victim was found. The police force classified the case as special crime #568, and began to seek investigators from occult sources.

The story begins on July 23, with the 32nd victim.

Game play

Controls

• Normal attack: Tap attack button.
• Shikigami attack: Hold attack button for over 0.3 second. In this mode, player moves at slower speed. When switching to shikigami mode, all on-screen items are automatically retrieved.
• Special attack: Press Special attack button. Player is invulnerable when the attack is in effect.

Player gets 0, 100, 280, 640 bonus coins when weapon level is at 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively when destroying an enemy.

Tension Bonus System (TBS)

When player is close to enemy bullet, player gains multiplier based on distance of bullet from player's centre, with closer distance receiving higher multiplier. The multiplier ranges from 2x to 8x. Score multiplier is applied when destroying enemy or retrieving item.

When destroying enemy in shikigami mode, the multiplier also applies to the number of items dropped by enemy. When an enemy is destroyed in shikigami mode, all item dropped by the enemy is automatically retrieved.

Characters

• Kohtarou Kuga (玖珂 光太郎, Kuga Koutarou^?)
• Sayo Yuuki (結城 小夜, Yuuki Sayo^?)
• Gennojo Hyuga (日向 玄乃丈, Hyuuga Gennoujou^?)
• Fumiko Odette Vanstein (ふみこ・オゼット・ヴァンシュタイン, Fumiko Ozetto Vanshutain^?)
• Daejeong Kim (金 大正, Kimu Dejon^?)
•  ????

Bosses

• Miyoko Aku (悪 美代子, Aku Miyoko^?) (Stage 1)
• Fujishima Juu (醜 藤島, Juu Fujishima^?) (Stage 2)
• Hiroshi Aku (悪 浩志, Aku Hiroshi^?) (Stage 3)
• Bauman Aku (悪 バウマン, Aku Bauman^?) (Stage 4)
• Shoujo (少女, Shoujo^?) (Stage 5)
• Zanryuu Shinen (残留 思念, Zanryuu Shinen^?) (Stage 5-3)

Additions in Conversions

The Xbox release adds Practice mode, Gallery, and Replay mode, while the PlayStation 2 release has Practice mode, Gallery, and Side Story mode.

Shikigami no Shiro EX

It is a Windows port of the first Xbox game. It includes I.R. mode and vertical screen layout from the arcade game.

Shikigami no Shiro Evolution

Shikigami no Shiro Evolution (式神の城 EVOLUTION) is a revised version for Xbox. It was available in two separate versions, a red (藍, kurenai^?) version which included a database containing character gallery, trailers, and unused voices, and a blue (藍, ai^?) version which included developer videos. Both versions have improved enemy AI, new characters, a vertical screen mode, and the new Evolution Mode game mode.

Differences in Mobile Light Force 2

When the title was developed for the US market, several changes were made.

• A Charlie's Angels-style cover picture, completely unrelated to the original characters or the game's theme.
• Removal of screen rotation mode.
• Removal of all in-game plot.

Adaptations

A comic version was written by Tooru Zekuu (是空 とおる, Zekuu Tooru^?) (aka Shinji Takano) and illustrated by Yuuna Takanagi (たかな ぎ優名, Takanagi Yuuna^?), serialized on monthly Magazine Z. Three volumes were published under Kodansha's Magazine Z KC label.

External links

• Alfa System page
• Taito PS2 page
• Xbox page
• Kids Station page
• Evolution page
• Sourcenext page
• Game review/strategy guide
• Kodansha comic page
• Shikigami no Shiro at the Killer List of Videogames
• Shikigami no Shiro Wiki