played touhou as a kid?

[caligoraptor]

hi there forum! this is my first post so its also kind of an introduction thought it could be fun to post on the fourms cuz i'm getting back into things i miss from the early internet!

im sydney! i got really into touhou when i was a kid somewhere between the release of hisoutensoku and TD i cant remember lol i was 9 or 10. was def not on places i should have been on the internet at that age but in retrospect it is so badass i was that age and emulating a PC98 to play the original touhou games.. i wasnt very good at the games mind you but i remember beating mokou and losing my shit. here i am 26 years old revisiting stuff from my childhood and i am ASS!!!!! lmaoo it genuinely feels like im just too old to play them now but i know its just because its been over 10 years since i've ever really seriously thought about touhou. i wanna impress my friends so im on my grind. but i gotta just fight against childhood me being ashamed of adult me playing on easy. 10 year old sydney would have hoped i have beaten everything on lunatic.

lmfaoo im curious if anyone else has a similar history. nice to meet y'all!

 

[Luki_zet]

Hey, nice to meet you

it's nice to see that even (sorry for the term) return to Touhou, especially if the are/were long time fans.
There is nothing to be ashamed about when playing on easy. You never truly forget your skills, you just have to struggle for a bit before they return.

I started playing Touhou a month after I turned 15 back when UM demo came out and I had a blast with it, so I invested more time in the games. Still can't beat the games on hard tho, still lack the free time to practice.


Where did you get the games back when you discovered Touhou and which game is your favorite btw?

 

[caligoraptor]

Hey, nice to meet you

it's nice to see that even (sorry for the term) return to Touhou, especially if the are/were long time fans.
There is nothing to be ashamed about when playing on easy. You never truly forget your skills, you just have to struggle for a bit before they return.

I started playing Touhou a month after I turned 15 back when UM demo came out and I had a blast with it, so I invested more time in the games. Still can't beat the games on hard tho, still lack the free time to practice.


Where did you get the games back when you discovered Touhou and which game is your favorite btw?

i have yet to play UM, i had to look it up, came out waaaay after touhou left my radar but its cool to see that it's still going strong

this site actually was just getting established when i got into touhou i think actually so i might have even downloaded them on here! i think SA might be my fav because the soundtrack is solid, the aesthetics are cool and the characters are iconic. i do have a soft spot for TD tho since i remember being excited for it to come out ^^

 

[Luki_zet]

i have yet to play UM, i had to look it up, came out waaaay after touhou left my radar but its cool to see that it's still going strong

this site actually was just getting established when i got into touhou i think actually so i might have even downloaded them on here! i think SA might be my fav because the soundtrack is solid, the aesthetics are cool and the characters are iconic. i do have a soft spot for TD tho since i remember being excited for it to come out ^^

TD is nice I love that game, not as much as LLS tho.
You gotta try playing the Fossilized Wonders, the game has very nice stylization and the soundtrack is actually one of the best imo, just the difficulty is crazy even playing on easy feels like banging your head on a wall...
Ever played the photography spin-off game?

Oh yeah and feel free to join our discord, even though there are some people of questionable intelligence the actual shmup players are welcoming and willing to give you tips.

 

[caligoraptor]

TD is nice I love that game, not as much as LLS tho.
You gotta try playing the Fossilized Wonders, the game has very nice stylization and the soundtrack is actually one of the best imo, just the difficulty is crazy even playing on easy feels like banging your head on a wall...
Ever played the photography spin-off game?

Oh yeah and feel free to join our discord, even though there are some people of questionable intelligence the actual shmup players are welcoming and willing to give you tips.

oooh ill def check it out, downloaded WBaWC earlier today and trying that out rn. i like the UFO nostalgia lol
and no i never tried them out! i always wanted to but the spin-offs were harder to find back in the day i think cuz i remember really wanting to play DS and never did.

and oh cool i'll probably check it out sometime soon then!

 

[Luki_zet]

oooh ill def check it out, downloaded WBaWC earlier today and trying that out rn. i like the UFO nostalgia lol
and no i never tried them out! i always wanted to but the spin-offs were harder to find back in the day i think cuz i remember really wanting to play DS and never did.

and oh cool i'll probably check it out sometime soon then!

Go for it, DS is amazing game and now within hands reach

 

[SateriCat17]

Nice to meet you too! I unfortunately never got into Touhou until late 2024 when I was 18 (I am 20 now, so about 6 years younger than you then). My younger self most certainly would've loved Touhou (though the games would've made myself raging all over the place lol). Despite getting into Touhou late, I do remember coming across several Touhou music arrangements beforehand several months to over a year before I got into Touhou itself (a couple of those ended up bringing me into Touhou in the first place), but I do remember that for some reason, certain Touhou themes (particularly Yuyuko's last spell theme from PCB), feel "familiar" to me, so I very well could've come across something to do with Touhou several years ago.

 

[caligoraptor]

Nice to meet you too! I unfortunately never got into Touhou until late 2024 when I was 18 (I am 20 now, so about 6 years younger than you then). My younger self most certainly would've loved Touhou (though the games would've made myself raging all over the place lol). Despite getting into Touhou late, I do remember coming across several Touhou music arrangements beforehand several months to over a year before I got into Touhou itself (a couple of those ended up bringing me into Touhou in the first place), but I do remember that for some reason, certain Touhou themes (particularly Yuyuko's last spell theme from PCB), feel "familiar" to me, so I very well could've come across something to do with Touhou several years ago.

i'm just glad people are still getting into it -- i really was expecting just a bunch of oldheads. everyone into touhou when i was young was an adult of typically questionable intentions LOL ... all probably around my current age. so its a pleasant surprise that it's still a thriving community! i didn't even know the games were still being made until recently

 

[SateriCat17]

i'm just glad people are still getting into it -- i really was expecting just a bunch of oldheads. everyone into touhou when i was young was an adult of typically questionable intentions LOL ... all probably around my current age. so its a pleasant surprise that it's still a thriving community! i didn't even know the games were still being made until recently

I already got into Touhou from a combination of older and newer things. Though I suppose in many ways, it was primarily the older stuff which cemented myself into Touhou. Anyway, it certainly is pretty surprising that the Touhou games are still being made all these years later. Still, at the same time, there are many people (even those on their own like ZUN) who even now still continue to write their books or music for even longer than ZUN has worked on his games. Regardless, it's impressive how a single man like ZUN has so much talent and has kept it up for this long. That is why I have so much respect for the man, as someone myself who is aspiring to write books and stories in the future long-term.

 

[caligoraptor]

I already got into Touhou from a combination of older and newer things. Though I suppose in many ways, it was primarily the older stuff which cemented myself into Touhou. Anyway, it certainly is pretty surprising that the Touhou games are still being made all these years later. Still, at the same time, there are many people (even those on their own like ZUN) who even now still continue to write their books or music for even longer than ZUN has worked on his games. Regardless, it's impressive how a single man like ZUN has so much talent and has kept it up for this long. That is why I have so much respect for the man, as someone myself who is aspiring to write books and stories in the future long-term.

i'm also an aspiring writer so i totally relate to you on that sense of amazement towards folks who have been at it for so long yet seem like they're never running out of steam -- to the point where it can be demoralizing sometimes to be at the very beginning. i've finally started gaining some confidence and been practicing with small poetry stuff lately. i hope the best for you and your writing too!

 

[YuyuFumo]

i'm just glad people are still getting into it -- i really was expecting just a bunch of oldheads. everyone into touhou when i was young was an adult of typically questionable intentions LOL

Not sure how the demographics have changed over time, but I'm certain that 90% of the fanbase nowadays (at least in Japan) is children or young adults. Probably why Koishi snuck in and nabbed most popular character this last poll.

Anyways, welcome to Suwako's funhouse. I'd dabbled in Touhou during high school (17-18ish), but didn't really get back into it until fall of 2024. I think 11-year old me was mainly playing Kirby and Splatoon 1 since it'd just come out (fuck, I feel old saying that), probably would have had his brain melted by whatever these fancy bullet hells were. I mostly just stick to the official games, but I do also have a liking for the ZUN music collections and some fan games as well. Be seeing you 'round, stranger.

 

[SateriCat17]

Not sure how the demographics have changed over time, but I'm certain that 90% of the fanbase nowadays (at least in Japan) is children or young adults. Probably why Koishi snuck in and nabbed most popular character this last poll.

Anyways, welcome to Suwako's funhouse. I'd dabbled in Touhou during high school (17-18ish), but didn't really get back into it until fall of 2024. I think 11-year old me was mainly playing Kirby and Splatoon 1 since it'd just come out (fuck, I feel old saying that), probably would have had his brain melted by whatever these fancy bullet hells were. I mostly just stick to the official games, but I do also have a liking for the ZUN music collections and some fan games as well. Be seeing you 'round, stranger.

I guess I had gotten into Touhou and you had gotten back into Touhou at right around the same time. That's pretty interesting then.

 

[EnhancerMarieX9]

Welcome! Nice to meet ya! I got into playing the games when I was in high school (16) with HSIFS demo on steam, as I didn't know the existence of this place. Sadly, I didn't play a lot because I couldn't get my laptop to run greatly at the time.. which is alright. Still had fun. Prior to this I was a fan of the music and watched videos. Funny enough, when I was quite little I loved bad apple yet didn't know it was from touhou lol. Anyway, I started to play the other games after I had found the shrine around a year ago and had a blast! Would've been nice to play them when I was quite younger, but that's okay. Hope you enjoy your stay!

 

[ThePolishPerson]

I had a similar experience growing up with the series! I had a friend of mine introduce me to it probably around 2012, and when she said it as a shoot 'em up I figured it was an FPS since that was all I knew as a dumb kid. Fast forward a handful of years and I decide to look back into the series, turns out I knew a whole bunch of the music since it was unsurprisingly used all over early YouTube. I remember downloading EoSD and spending the better part of a month working my way up to finally 1CCing normal, which really cemented my love for the series from then till now, even though I still haven't been able to 1CC EoSD on lunatic

 

[SateriCat17]

I had a similar experience growing up with the series! I had a friend of mine introduce me to it probably around 2012, and when she said it as a shoot 'em up I figured it was an FPS since that was all I knew as a dumb kid. Fast forward a handful of years and I decide to look back into the series, turns out I knew a whole bunch of the music since it was unsurprisingly used all over early YouTube. I remember downloading EoSD and spending the better part of a month working my way up to finally 1CCing normal, which really cemented my love for the series from then till now, even though I still haven't been able to 1CC EoSD on lunatic

Just wanting to say that I like your Shinki pfp (she's among my favorite PC-98 Touhou characters, mainly because I like her design). Also, it you really are from Poland, it seems like there are a lot of Touhou fans from Poland. lol
(Since that seems to be the case, we need some Touhou arrangements in Polish then! :))

 

[YuyuFumo]

Just wanting to say that I like your Shinki pfp (she's among my favorite PC-98 Touhou characters, mainly because I like her design). Also, it you really are from Poland, it seems like there are a lot of Touhou fans from Poland. lol
(Since that seems to be the case, we need some Touhou arrangements in Polish then! :))

Eastern/Central European Touhou fans are super cool. Met a couple of guys from Austria and Poland when I went to the Touhou Bar in Tokyo a few months back and they were awesome to talk with. Was already planning to get out to Poland eventually, and observations like yours only fortify that point.

I remember downloading EoSD and spending the better part of a month working my way up to finally 1CCing normal, which really cemented my love for the series from then till now, even though I still haven't been able to 1CC EoSD on lunatic

Dude, I haven't even been able to beat stage four on hard mode, don't beat yourself down too much. Getting a normal 1cc is still a massive achievement, as I'm sure 98% of Touhou fans haven't even done it. You'll get to that lunatic 1cc eventually~

 

[ThePolishPerson]

Just wanting to say that I like your Shinki pfp (she's among my favorite PC-98 Touhou characters, mainly because I like her design). Also, it you really are from Poland, it seems like there are a lot of Touhou fans from Poland. lol
(Since that seems to be the case, we need some Touhou arrangements in Polish then! :))

Polska gurom! However, I'm just a first generation American, so don't mind me stealing some Polish valor lol. The username just stuck as a kid so I've ran with it. (I'd still love to listen to Polish 2hu arrangements all the same though )

Dude, I haven't even been able to beat stage four on hard mode, don't beat yourself down too much. Getting a normal 1cc is still a massive achievement, as I'm sure 98% of Touhou fans haven't even done it. You'll get to that lunatic 1cc eventually~

This might just be the confidence boost I needed to get back into grinding out some runs...

 

[SateriCat17]

Polska gurom! However, I'm just a first generation American, so don't mind me stealing some Polish valor lol. The username just stuck as a kid so I've ran with it. (I'd still love to listen to Polish 2hu arrangements all the same though )


This might just be the confidence boost I needed to get back into grinding out some runs...

I personally prefer the languages such as German and Japanese (I just love the two languages irrespective of their historical connotations) but as someone who loves languages regardless of what they are (linguistics are among my main interests), then I'd obviously love for Touhou arrangements in Polish to be made. Especially considering that Touhou arrangements in German, French and even Russian already exist.
But anyway, sad that you're not really from Poland, but nice to meet you regardless!

 

[SateriCat17]

Dude, I haven't even been able to beat stage four on hard mode, don't beat yourself down too much. Getting a normal 1cc is still a massive achievement, as I'm sure 98% of Touhou fans haven't even done it. You'll get to that lunatic 1cc eventually~

I still haven't 1cc'd any of the Touhou games on easy yet (though I did come pretty close one time in Imperishable Night with Youmu and Yuyuko).

 

[hisamiyomotsuluvr]

nice to meet you! hope you have tons of fun revisiting touhou! i personally got into touhou last year, really late 2024 ish i'd say. though i rather dont share my age, it definitely doesnt change the fact that some people are younger then me on this forum, crazily enough i was 14. i started with eosd like everyone! this page definitely saved me from multiple viruses.. nowadays i am trying to beat touhou 06-10 on normal.. even i suck badly though. The one time i beat Touhou was TH09! Which is my second favorite behind TH19, (Split Screened Touhou games are so good..) Well.. if we dont count the .5 entries.. one of them being 14.5 or 15.5? i cant remember.. Meh, who cares? Once again, welcome back!