Recent reviews by CKTKen

A game where you dodge bullets.
Now this is a proper classic bullet hell. Since its scoring system is just "yeah, you get less points if you aren't hitting things" in maniac and ultra, and "just kill things" in original, people who aren't super into complicated arcade scoring mechanics will still be able to get those tasty scoring 1-ups. Mushihimesama is probably the best "just dodge the bullets" shmup there is. I highly recommend it.

A fair warning to people who are new to CAVE bullet hells: original mode is not much easier than maniac mode at all. If you're the kind of person who likes more Touhou-like games, the bullet speed in this game will crush you. It's still pretty fast on manic/ultra, but on original the bullet speed is nightmarish. CAVE games give you VERY limited resources, and only non-score based 1-up in the game is on stage 3, and is actually kind of a secret (KILL THE HEAD LAST). The trick to clearing the game isn't necessarily learning how to dodge bullets. Getting good at bombing is what will let you get that delicious 1-credit clear.

Oh, also, ultra mode is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ insane.

A non-traditional shmup that's honestly an okay choice for beginners (not that you'll 1cc it the first time). By just playing it normally, you get a bullet hell with a lot of get-out-of-jail-free cards. That and gigantic schoolgirls. But the game has a dark side. If you make the fatal mistake of collecting too many bees or choosing strong style in black label, the game quickly shifts from a "a decently hard game where you dodge the bullets and use hypers/bombs to help you" to a resource management game where every bomb and hyper must be planned to have even a chance at surviving.

I guess I wouldn't recommend it to people who just want to dodge bullets and nothing else, but this gives a good experience of some traditional dodging and some complex mechanics.