Today, Tokyo-based Cave announced that it’s got the okay to make a Touhou Project shooter—something that, no doubt, will get shooting game fans excited.
In bullet hell shooters, players must navigate a maze-like hellfire of projectiles as they try to blast enemies. One of the most famous and beloved developers, of course, is Cave.
If you are not familiar with the studio, have a look at the clip below:
Another well-loved creator of the genre is one-man doujin developer Team Shanghai Alice, best known for the Touhou Project series, which has spawned numerous games and endless fan art (as seen above in the top image). It is also marking its 25th anniversary.
Jun’ya Ota, under the pseudonym ZUN, created the Touhou Project games under the Team Shanghai Alice banner, so it will be interesting to see Cave’s spin on the series. Have a look at the clip below by YouTube’s Gaijin Hunter for more on Touhou Project:
The official announcement doesn’t have any specific details about Cave’s Touhou Project game, other than that the company plans to release it next year. (Likewise, the press release does not contain any official art, so we’ll have to wait for either a teaser site or a trailer at a later date.)
Cave, an acronym for “Computer Art Visual Entertainment”, was founded in 1994 out of the ashes of scrolling-shooter arcade developer Toaplan.
Outfitted with developers with extensive arcade shooter experience, Cave became famous for manic shooters like DoPachi, DoDonPachi, Mushihimesama (my favorite!), and Deathsmiles. 1995 to 2012 was the company’s arcade shooter heyday with a slew of bullet hell classics released. However, by the 2010s, the shooter dev seemed to put more focus on mobile games.
Cave has continued to re-release its games on new platforms, but it’s so good to see the studio back, making an all-new shooting title. Hope it’s good.