A few days ago I got a hold of one of the Touhou Project games, Engrish-ly titled Perfect Cherry Blossom, which is… I think the 7th one. For being a shoot’em up, this game rocks…

… well, if you can get over the whole idea of random magical girls flying in the air, shooting other magical girls in the air, and dodging ridiculous amounts of bullets, that is, then yes, the game rocks my socks.

And rightfully so too. This game is a subgenre of shoot’em ups called bullet hell (or curtain fire, or manic shooter) because of the fact that a good 95% of the screen is filled up with enemy bullets that you have to intricately weave your character around and survive. Your character’s hitbox is significantly smaller than the actual sprite as well, creating even more confusion.

Though I’ve played other bullet hell games, this game stands out… mostly because of the catchy soundtrack, the ridiculously intricate bullet patterns, and the fact that it’s a one-man project. I mean, the patterns are so intricate, they must have been what the developer (ZUN) has spent most of his time developing. It’s like “alright, I finished coding the engine… that didn’t take long. Now to devote some 2 or so odd years to creating the patterns!”

Oh, not to mention, the game has a wad of characters and an interesting storyline that’s consistent with the entire series. They are strangely deep and developed compared to other scrolling shooters; pretty hardcore stuff.

Seeing that I got this game not too long ago, it’s no surprise to say that I suck. Even though I seem to be able to hold my ground on Hard and Lunatic mode (provided I have enough bombs and lives :D), I panic a lot when trying to micromanage all those bullets. There are so many god-like players out there that I see on the internet, it’s amazing.

But I think the best part about this game, for me, at least, is its portability. Perfect Cherry Blossom does not require installation and doesn’t even require your computer to go Japanese to play it. I can take this to any computer that reads CDs and fire this game away… and I did too. I took it to Bird’s house and played it on his computer without any hiccups… although Bird says the game’s whack.

This game is awesome, and quite challenging. Anyone who’s into scrolling shooters (or even just want something challenging) should pick up this game.