Story=3/10
Its a shooter, not an RPG. The storyline is very weak, if existent at all. You choose your character, either the Shrine Maiden Reimu Hakurei or the Witch Marisa Kirisame, and you start battling. You have no idea why until the 4th boss. It took a couple of playthroughs for me to actually find out what it was, and when i did it wasn't really that great. Its about a girl, depends which you choose, whose hometown is covered in a strange mist. The main character then goes on a journey to find the source of the mist and stop it. However the greatness of this game doesn't lie on its storyline but rather on the other characteristics that make a game great, what it lacks in storyline it makes up for in every other category.
Gameplay=10/10
Its a simple strategy actually. First you choose your character: the Reimu, the Shrine Maiden, or Marisa, the Witch. They each have their advantages and disadvantages. For example Reimu moves slower, an advantage in the later stages, and has homing bullets; Marisa on the other hand moves faster and has a small firing range, plus no homing bullets, but her bullets are way more powerful letting you knock out enemies and bosses way faster. Their bombs also differ, Reimu's wipe out all the enemies on the stage while Marisa's shoot a concentrated laser, all bombs remove all the bullets on the field so if your in a tight spot then bombs are the way to go. After choosing your character you go to the first stage. You start out with 3 lives and 2 bombs, you can change that amount later in the options menu, and an infinite amount of bullets. You scroll through stages and defeat enemies who drop power ups and points, you beat a half-boss halfway through the stage and receive a bonus, and then fight the boss at the end of the stage. What makes this game fun is its simplicity. You fight hordes of enemies who shoot an exaggerated amount of bullets in beautiful patterns. Though the pictures look pretty, experienced players know that they can be deadly, with no HP its one hit kills. There are no complicated stories and no missions to complete, you just shoot and kill.
Another fun aspect of this game is its difficulty, probably the reason you know about this game and the reason for this series' infamy. True. Its difficult. Its not impossible though, the beginning levels in easy mode are easy enough for rookies to just jump in and play; and getting to the end, even if you use all your continues, shouldn't be too hard. However as you gain more experience, and your reflexes quicken you'll find that the later stages are more and more doable. Perhaps the best aspect of the game, its gameplay is reason enough to play this.
Graphics=8/10
Graphics are a major part of this game due to the fact that the intricate designs the bullets form are one of the best part of the game.
The anime-style characters in the opening screen and the hi score sections aren't exactly the best, and the sprites are all right, but the bullet patterns are great, absolutely wonderful. Even early in the game bosses shoot their bullets in complex patterns and designs, the hard to dodge designs create images that are pleasing to the eye. As the levels get harder the designs seem to get more intricate, complex, and fun. It feels good that although you died it was because of a giant rosette and not a stray random bullet. Although, it amazes me that one guy, ZUN, was in charge of the artwork.Music=10/10
Another great part of the game, and in my opinion the best, is the soundtrack. The songs are all great, create a feel of mysticism, are appropriate to the character and the seriousness of the situation, and are very catchy. The songs, lucky for me, are all playable after you unlock them, and even shareable due to the fact that all of the songs are in the bgm folder of the game in WAV format. The fact that the songs can be used outside of the game have been a major part in getting this game recognized, seeing as how the songs have appeared everywhere. In fact UN Owen Was Her, the soundtrack to the secret boss, is the theme behind the infamous "McRoll". Once again the entire soundtrack was composed by one man, you guessed it, ZUN.
Overall=9/10
The game has its flaws, and although its not perfect, its close. The gameplay and the music are absolutely superb while the character art could use a little work. The game has an extremely high replay value seeing as how you wont beat it in your first try, and when you do there's always a harder difficulty and a secret boss. And although there's no storyline, or rather a very shoddy one, it doesn't hurt the game one bit because no one plays this game for its story and plot twists. I highly recommend Touhou, its a great game and i know that once you start playing it you'll be hooked on it, and eventually you'll be spending every bit of free time trying to beat the damn thing.
-Odrakyr
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