City Connection's latest Pink Sweets trailer previews Sean Bialo's arranged tracks

City Connection released a new music preview video for Muchi Muchi Pork! & Pink Sweets Boosted to showcase arranged tracks by Sean Bialo. The compilation of the two Cave arcade shooters is launching on October 1 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Bialo is known for his chip-tune work on Donut Dodo and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. For this release, he arranged the music for Stage 4 and Stage 7 of Pink Sweets.

Arranging the bullet hell

The soundtrack for Pink Sweets involves multiple composers. Bialo worked alongside Yousuke Yasui and Hagane to create an FM synth-style soundtrack. In an interview with Game*Spark, Bialo said his main goal was to match the style Yasui established for the game's overall sound.

Bialo took different approaches for his two tracks. For the Stage 4 arrangement, he extracted the beginning of the original melody and rebuilt it into something new. For Stage 7, he changed the time signature and energy entirely to create a fresh interpretation of the original track.

Gameplay footage in the preview displays the dense bullet patterns Cave is known for. Stage 4 takes place over an ocean environment with a boss encounter involving shield mechanics and purple projectile patterns. Stage 7 has players dodging a tight grid of blue projectiles.

Arcade origins

Muchi Muchi Pork! and Pink Sweets originally hit arcades in 2007 and 2006. They were developed by Cave, a studio famous for creating the modern bullet hell genre. Both games were directed by Shinobu Yagawa, who previously worked at Raizing on games like Battle Garegga and Armed Police Batrider.

Yagawa's games have distinct mechanics compared to standard Cave shooters. Pink Sweets includes a shield system and destructible enemy bullets. The game has a steampunk aesthetic and a plot about five sisters trying to stop a forced marriage. Muchi Muchi Pork! revolves around a specialized "lard attack" used to cancel enemy fire and spawn score items, with a setting centered around transforming enemies into pigs.

The two games previously received a joint Xbox 360 release in 2011. This Boosted collection marks their first appearance on modern platforms.

Physical extras

City Connection is offering a physical edition for the Switch and PS5 versions. First-print copies include a bonus booklet called "MUCHI★PIN" that combines a game guide with a soundtrack CD. The CD contains the full arranged soundtrack from all three composers.

The official City Connection website notes that the booklet covers the story, characters, and game systems for both titles. The physical bonus is limited to the initial production run.

The compilation includes multiple game modes and online leaderboards. Players can toggle between the original arcade music and the new arrangements directly in the menus.