Any Tips to get Me Through this Bullet Hell?

I wanted to get into the Touhou series so I downloaded this hearing it was the easiest. I can't get past level 4 on normal so I was looking for some advice. (I refuse to put it on easy)

I think they are meant to be played with a real joystick. Just as in the Japanese arcades probably.

It's basically a lot of training. You gradually get better. I started off with IN as well and got to Stage 4 at the beginning. By now, I can beat it without continues on Hard. You get used to the controls start remembering the spell cards. You just grind on skill until you manage. I recommend playing IN on normal a few times. Once you really now what you keep dying on start playing those stages in practice to make sure that doesn't ruin your run.

Once you finished it once you'll unlock spell practice and then you'll be able to specifically train certain spell cards. Keep at it. If you need any specific help just ask!

Play on a harder difficulty, then go back down. Everything will seem so much slower and you'll do better. Also when it comes to boss fights don't watch the boss. watch the bottom of the screen where you are because there's a little indicator for where the boss is. That way you can just focus on dodging while trying to stay in line with the boss while holding down fire. Or sometimes just focus on dodging while the timer counts down and win the fight that way.

I guess also try to save your spell cards for boss fights when the patterns get more difficult than just what the normal enemies put out.

Random question for you guys - how big is the Tohou series, internationally and in Japan? I'd known of that "bullet-hell" genre, but didn't know it was mostly just this one dude who made it. And the amount of spin-off stuff on just this one series? Crazy.

@zero_: It's not big really. But the fanbase is very, very dedicated, creative and vocal. So it looks a lot bigger than it probably is.

@tobbrobb: Not unlike Vocaloid in that regard, really.

@zero_: I don't think its sole creator is rolling in dough if that's what you're asking.

Edit: Wow, first post got eaten up for some reason.

@zero_: The bullet hell genre is bigger than just Touhou (and predates it). But Touhou itself has a pretty big fan community, mostly overlap with animu fans, so you see a lot of fanart, doujin comics, etc.

@falconpunch: there's no shame in playing on Easy to learn the ropes. If you're not familiar with games like this, "Normal" may feel like the deep end. It's a very long and gradual learning process.

Don't overvalue your Spell Cards, always be ready to let one loose. Dying with unused bombs is always a bad time.