User:Scarbo/Touhou
Ever since JEV3 showed me it, I love it. It's probably the best arcade shooter series I have ever played.
What is it
Many people who play SRB2 know about it at this point. After all, there's an official stage, soon to be two official stages whose names are based off attacks from that game.
For those of you who don't know about it, it is a danmaku shmup. Therefore, it varies greatly from games like Space Invaders, Centipede, or R-Type in the fact that there aren't a few fast bullets going after you, there are literally hundreds of slow bullets coming for you. All of these induce a one-hit kill. In fact, there are so many bullets that your hitbox is forced to be smaller than your sprite. This means that you can get hit ANYWHERE on your body without dying, just not your stomach. Your hitbox is displayed if you hold Shift (except in the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil). You even get a bit of leeway with that, too, considering it can hit the very outline of the white circle and no more without any negative results, and some bullets have smaller hitboxes than their sprites.
Why is it fun?
It's very hard, but it's not cheap, and it's highly forgiving. If you die, the stage will not restart at the last checkpoint, it will keep going from the exact point you left off at. Plus, you get a few seconds of invinciblity to get back into the groove. Also, you are presented with several spell cards per life, which basically are panic buttons. These spell cards are devastating to your opponent, and will generally erase the bullets off the screen. Four to eight seconds later, though, the screen is gonna refill itself with bullets. >=D But you can only use so many before you have to rely purely on dodging and approaching the boss's spell card properly. Practice Mode is actually the funnest part of the game, I would say. It's basically "Level Select," and you will be given eight lives to beat any particular level as well. To play a level in Practice Mode, you must beat the level with that character in that difficulty (continues are acceptable to use). Once you have mastered each individual level, then you should try to beat the game without using a continue to get the good ending (or in Normal mode or higher, to unlock the Extra boss.)
Do you need a reference for difficulty? To me, the second level of Perfect Cherry Blossom in Hard mode matches Egg Rock Zone Act 2 in difficulty if you don't abuse spell cards.
Where can it be purchased?
The game series was made solely in Japan, so it must be shipped internationally. The games will work on an American version of Windows if you run and/or install the games with Microsoft AppLocale, which allows the game to essentially be run in the Japanese version of Windows.
A great place to get these games is at HimeyaShop. You should get the game roughly 8-9 business days after purchase.