Ya know what fuck it why not make my last review of the year the first Touhou game? I'm taking my sweet time with Final Fantasy 16.
So in my excitement to get more into Bullet Hell games I finally found ways to play the early Touhou Project stuff along with picking up and being gifted a lot of other stuff from rad people/friendos as well!
So when I heard this one wasn't really anything like the other Touhou games I was absolutely fascinated. I love seeing where series start and how they can possibly grow and change from that but especially when people say this game is far more like breakout than anything which is really fascinating. It feels like a basic concept that should be pretty cool!
Unfortunately after playing it it just really isn't in the full execution! It's not like the worst thing ever but it feels like breakout if your ball in breakout killed you for not being precise as hell with every hit with the paddle AND if the ball had more physics based momentum to it. As it goes around it loses its bounce and ya gotta kick and slide your way around which feels good sometimes actually!
But then ya gotta fight bosses that shoot back at ya, so not only do ya gotta worry about their projectiles but ya also gotta worry about not fucking up and accidentally killing yourself in the process which feels real bad at points, so bad that I honestly just kinda gave up. One day I may come back to this and really try harder to push through but honestly I just can't see myself enjoying much more of it.
It feels off in a way where like it's almost to something really interesting but something about it doesn't click and that's a shame. Still glad I at least tried it though!
So in my excitement to get more into Bullet Hell games I finally found ways to play the early Touhou Project stuff along with picking up and being gifted a lot of other stuff from rad people/friendos as well!
So when I heard this one wasn't really anything like the other Touhou games I was absolutely fascinated. I love seeing where series start and how they can possibly grow and change from that but especially when people say this game is far more like breakout than anything which is really fascinating. It feels like a basic concept that should be pretty cool!
Unfortunately after playing it it just really isn't in the full execution! It's not like the worst thing ever but it feels like breakout if your ball in breakout killed you for not being precise as hell with every hit with the paddle AND if the ball had more physics based momentum to it. As it goes around it loses its bounce and ya gotta kick and slide your way around which feels good sometimes actually!
But then ya gotta fight bosses that shoot back at ya, so not only do ya gotta worry about their projectiles but ya also gotta worry about not fucking up and accidentally killing yourself in the process which feels real bad at points, so bad that I honestly just kinda gave up. One day I may come back to this and really try harder to push through but honestly I just can't see myself enjoying much more of it.
It feels off in a way where like it's almost to something really interesting but something about it doesn't click and that's a shame. Still glad I at least tried it though!
I can appreciate that this was ZUN's first game, developed entirely in his free time, but man this game sucks. Playing this feels like the prototype for a concept you'd make before realizing that the concept isn't fun. The Ying-yang orb probably killed me at least 5 times more than any bullets did. The game is also a bit of an eyesore, there's a copious amount of dithering on almost everything, which I suspect is from bit-crushing images with higher color depth? Either way it doesn't look good. The only saving grace of this game is having unlimited continues and no content being locked behind 1CCing it besides the ending cutscene (though why you'd want to play more of this I have no idea). If you're getting into Touhou and want to see where the series started, just play like 5 minutes of this or watch a playthrough before skipping to Story of Eastern Wonderland.
Wish I could just shoot the enemy instead of play pool.
reimu can slidedash in this one
Eu odeio a bola da Reimu
Despite being a clone of Breakout; Touhou does quite well at doing its own thing and showing a very strong concept. The movement options with the slide and the various ways you can juggle the Ying Yang ball all do a lot to vary up the ways you approach some stages. When the bullets start coming in the game does become a decent but tougher, but I can see myself playing this a lot and being able to handle a lot of this stuff with time and effort despite my one playthrough.
Really cute and interesting game that adds bullet hell to Arkanoid/Breakout
(written by someone who has 1cc'd this game on lunatic, both routes)
an amazingly competent game considering it's ZUN's very first entry! this game can be very frustrating at first but becomes a lot of fun the more you play and the better you get! for a very simple concept it feels great to truly get a grasp on the game, and the bosses are pretty cool too! they progress from being very telegraphed to testing out how well you can manage the orb and dodging at the same time. Also, the music and the background art make the game is in my opinion a very cool aesthetic that I can't really find in other games. Only real complaint are the awful flashing lights on bombs.
an amazingly competent game considering it's ZUN's very first entry! this game can be very frustrating at first but becomes a lot of fun the more you play and the better you get! for a very simple concept it feels great to truly get a grasp on the game, and the bosses are pretty cool too! they progress from being very telegraphed to testing out how well you can manage the orb and dodging at the same time. Also, the music and the background art make the game is in my opinion a very cool aesthetic that I can't really find in other games. Only real complaint are the awful flashing lights on bombs.
Bullet hell meets breakout
It has some rough spots (i mean, it is an oddity in the series) it also has some good stuff.
Zun was cooking with the art and music direction.
Levels are a weird mixture of “too easy & the hit box of this boss is too damn small!”
The main thing you’ll have to worry about is if the ball will actually work with you. I was stuck at the final boss for a good while since it refused to cooperate.
Overall if you are interested in seeing where touhou started, i’d say give it a go. if you can get a pc-98 emulator working that is.
It has some rough spots (i mean, it is an oddity in the series) it also has some good stuff.
Zun was cooking with the art and music direction.
Levels are a weird mixture of “too easy & the hit box of this boss is too damn small!”
The main thing you’ll have to worry about is if the ball will actually work with you. I was stuck at the final boss for a good while since it refused to cooperate.
Overall if you are interested in seeing where touhou started, i’d say give it a go. if you can get a pc-98 emulator working that is.
These Game Titles Are Truly Something
Odd how this turned into what the series is every game after this. It's neat and challenging. The ball randomness could get annoying but it was still good fun.
isso custa a ser um touhou, tirando a presença da reimu, mas é um clone de breakout com personalidade interessante. meio que gostaria ver esse conceito sendo expandido mas eu prefiro mais o formato danmaku que a série desenvolveu depois.
An epilepsy warning would be nice.
doesn't top the blackberry version of brickbreaker
Outside of the seizures this game isn't too bad
Reimu Hakurei is brazillian also for extra psychic damage the last boss of the Makai route is literally the base for Asriel Undertale it's so funny
"Bullethell breakout" should be a better concept than what this execution implies.
se ha quedado un dia de puta madre para que no me aplaste ninguna bola <- (clueless)
This game is bad and it looks like vomit but I couldn't help but enjoy it.
was not expecting this to play the way it did but honestly the regular gameplay turned out to be pretty engaging and the boss fights were really tough which was cool
fun introduction to the series
fun introduction to the series
Very cute and unique game for its time, I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it from the art, music and of course gameplay itself.
Final boss was quite a struggle though!
Final boss was quite a struggle though!
so cute!! loved the artwork and the music. :)
If all the videogames I've played this definitely is one.
Idk I dig the mechanics but it's fucking rocket league meets bullethell. Not crazy about it.
Idk I dig the mechanics but it's fucking rocket league meets bullethell. Not crazy about it.
Thank god they finally made a game based on the DVD screensaver.
That's one hell of a start for the Touhou franchise and by hell I mean a hell to play. This game isn't fun, sorry all Touhou 1 fans out there (nobody) but it's just not fun... The main goal of the game is to bounce a funny ball with your melee or distance attack and the goal is to break all of the weird Japanese cards or whatever they are supposed to represent, but doesn't that sound familiar? It's just Breakout with Boss battles, and these are the highlight of the game since they are tough as nails. They technically are not that hard it's just that the randomness of the ball speed really sucks and will make you fail a couple of times.
Should you play this game? Not really but I doubt most of the Touhou players even consider playing the older ones since they don't really want to play basketball, I just did it because I thought it would be funny to know where this franchise started.
That's one hell of a start for the Touhou franchise and by hell I mean a hell to play. This game isn't fun, sorry all Touhou 1 fans out there (nobody) but it's just not fun... The main goal of the game is to bounce a funny ball with your melee or distance attack and the goal is to break all of the weird Japanese cards or whatever they are supposed to represent, but doesn't that sound familiar? It's just Breakout with Boss battles, and these are the highlight of the game since they are tough as nails. They technically are not that hard it's just that the randomness of the ball speed really sucks and will make you fail a couple of times.
Should you play this game? Not really but I doubt most of the Touhou players even consider playing the older ones since they don't really want to play basketball, I just did it because I thought it would be funny to know where this franchise started.
its a game
definitely puts the doujin in doujin game
I feel unqualified to review this. Quite a neat curiosity if you can get it running, but it's difficult to control the ball, and the whole experience feels very clunky because of that.
Mediano.
Alguns sprites são incríveis, porém os fundos envelheceram meio mal, a musica é okay, o jogo é bem intuitivo, porém extremamente lagado, o jogo tem um sistema de rotas interessante e o Sariel é um ótimo final boss, ainda assim, eu acho escroto a forma de conseguir o final bom(algo que tem nos outros jogos da franquia, porém eles tem uma gameplay com um ritmo muito bom).
No geral, um jogo interessante e levemente divertido, mas eu não jogaria novamente.
Atualização: Configurei o emulador e consegui jogar com velocidade normal... bom, percebi que o jogo tem uma dificuldade extremamente desbalanceada, Touhou pode até ser desafiador, mas nunca injusto, sem dizer que ele tem o fator replay muito ruim. Enfim, não consegui zerar novamente e abaixei a nota.
Alguns sprites são incríveis, porém os fundos envelheceram meio mal, a musica é okay, o jogo é bem intuitivo, porém extremamente lagado, o jogo tem um sistema de rotas interessante e o Sariel é um ótimo final boss, ainda assim, eu acho escroto a forma de conseguir o final bom(algo que tem nos outros jogos da franquia, porém eles tem uma gameplay com um ritmo muito bom).
No geral, um jogo interessante e levemente divertido, mas eu não jogaria novamente.
Atualização: Configurei o emulador e consegui jogar com velocidade normal... bom, percebi que o jogo tem uma dificuldade extremamente desbalanceada, Touhou pode até ser desafiador, mas nunca injusto, sem dizer que ele tem o fator replay muito ruim. Enfim, não consegui zerar novamente e abaixei a nota.
I am not going to become a Touhou guy
an alright game with a decent gameplay premise. the spritework is pretty good and the music is alright as well. sometimes it creates this really interesting atmosphere but unfortunately it isn't something that's even in both routes. i can't really say i'd recommend you go to this unless you're already a big fan of the series that proceeded it though.