The games are all quite different and probably deserve seperate reviews, but they're simple enough that there's not much to say
Shuusou Gyoku: A simple vertical danmaku shooter. It is by no means a bad game. It's also not really a good game. There are no twists to the gameplay, and the patterns themselves are all pretty standard. It's only worth playing if you really need a danmaku fix or you want to fight the Touhou cameos
Kioh Gyoku: Kioh Gyoku is a versus shooter similar to Twinkle Star Sprites or Touhou's Phantasmagoria games. In many ways, it's quite good, with the use of graze to gain power for attacks in particular making it based more on skill, helped by a generally lower level of randomness than the others. It still has a number of problems, though. Most obviously, it's not terribly well balanced, even discounting the boss characters. The regenerating shield mechanic also leads to a number of irritating oddities, like going from full to one hit from death in under a second, or having your opponent repeatedly come back from the brink. Additionally, the single-player is quite awful, with terrible AI, a cheating Final Boss, and no difficulty levels. You'll need to pester someone into playing with you if you want to get any real use out of it
Banshiryuu: A return to more typical danmaku. It was initially released in a not quite completed version at Comiket 67. The "completed" version released at C74 was closer to a remake, featuring new graphics, altered mechanics, and replacing a lot of the patterns. However, the main issue I have with Banshiryuu remains the same in both versions: It's a perfect example of style over substance. The game is quite flashy from start to finish, but only rarely is it fun to play. The patterns are typically unfair, somewhat boring, or both. It is better experienced by watching someone play it than by actually playing it
In short, I'm not really sad that this series has died
Three games, none of them of them exceptional
The games are all quite different and probably deserve seperate reviews, but they're simple enough that there's not much to say
Shuusou Gyoku: A simple vertical danmaku shooter. It is by no means a bad game. It's also not really a good game. There are no twists to the gameplay, and the patterns themselves are all pretty standard. It's only worth playing if you really need a danmaku fix or you want to fight the Touhou cameos
Kioh Gyoku: Kioh Gyoku is a versus shooter similar to Twinkle Star Sprites or Touhou's Phantasmagoria games. In many ways, it's quite good, with the use of graze to gain power for attacks in particular making it based more on skill, helped by a generally lower level of randomness than the others. It still has a number of problems, though. Most obviously, it's not terribly well balanced, even discounting the boss characters. The regenerating shield mechanic also leads to a number of irritating oddities, like going from full to one hit from death in under a second, or having your opponent repeatedly come back from the brink. Additionally, the single-player is quite awful, with terrible AI, a cheating Final Boss, and no difficulty levels. You'll need to pester someone into playing with you if you want to get any real use out of it
Banshiryuu: A return to more typical danmaku. It was initially released in a not quite completed version at Comiket 67. The "completed" version released at C74 was closer to a remake, featuring new graphics, altered mechanics, and replacing a lot of the patterns. However, the main issue I have with Banshiryuu remains the same in both versions: It's a perfect example of style over substance. The game is quite flashy from start to finish, but only rarely is it fun to play. The patterns are typically unfair, somewhat boring, or both. It is better experienced by watching someone play it than by actually playing it
In short, I'm not really sad that this series has died