Well, what if I don't want to play for score, just survival? Cave's early games are just annoying that way (''DAMN I PRESSED THE BOMB BUTTON WHY DIDN'T IT WORK-ragequit''), whilst Touhou is more friendly to survival players (but clipping with 3 bombs still leads in ragequit, and then there's UFO).
But some days you just can't use a bomb, and that's when Autobomb is the savior of the day.
Radiant Silvergun's Arcade mode requires you to level up weapons to even defeat bosses in time, and levels come from score, and scoring requires you to memorize practically everything...but then there's Saturn mode that allows you to save weapon levels.
The only game where I really enjoy scoring in is...Bangai-O Spirits. Yes.
I think that in most cases, bombing in Cave games is bad for score, making you trade scoring potential for survival potential. So, if you can play for score or look forward to doing so, you have at least as much conditions to do the same or better for survival.
like I said, many other shmups (not limited to those made by Cave) won't give counterbomb times. While Touhou is generous in giving more extends and bombs than most stgs and do give counterbomb times (especially in IN), I'd recommend you to consider getting used with no counterbomb times as an exercise in foresight and control over the game (you may bomb if you lose control over the situation, or if/when you don't want to risk losing a life against a particular stage section or boss attack pattern). Then, when you play Touhou again, you'll see yourself using less bombs, yet more effectively than before, because (among other possible factors) you've become more experienced with difficult situations, may've worked your way around them to conserve bombs and learned to recognize more situations in which to use bombs or not. Personally, I think that it's just a matter of practice to get used with no counterbomb times (though it may take more time for someone to lose his/her refusal to spend bombs, if he/she has a mental restriction against it), and once you get used with this, you may enjoy the games more, and may ask yourself, "how far will I be able to get this time?", "what should I do against that particular stage section or that one boss pattern? Which is better, to spend a bomb there, or do they have easier ways around?"
(last, but not least, you may want to try
this. There are lots of people who notice improvement in MAME's response by using it. This should end my contribution attempt with regards to lack of counterbomb times :p )
I haven't played RSG, so I can't comment on the survival.. however I don't think that the game would force scoreplay entirely, if it has the same philosophy of Ikaruga, regarding survival and scoreplay (where you don't have to chain, eat lots of bullets to survive the game and kill bosses as fast as you can) -- not regarding scoring mechanics :p (I can't comment on Bangai-O Spirits' scoring system, interesting ones are always welcome. I should do some research about it.)
I think he can be forgiven for not understanding the actual topic, seeing how often CAVE is being shouted about in this thread as the best thing ever.
for my part, I'm happy that I'm able to enjoy non-Cave shmups (even odd pieces such as Thunder Dragon 2, Varth, X-Multiply, AeroStar..). Perhaps Ghaleon mentioned Cave because it's become popular enough to be a possible comparison reference (since lots of people at least know how a Cave shmup looks like) for arcade bullet-hells, and/or difficulty.
As for my Touhou ranting, I'm mainly not fond of its grazing, probably because you (or myself only) can't feel enough rewards for risking yourself each time you graze (I could say the same about Strikers 1945's.. gold... bars... *contained rage from how distracting it is to try to collect them when they're shining completely*), even though these rewards should pay off in the long run, and that the grazing rewards consistency (rather than being a chain, like in Shuusou Gyoku. How ironic that grazing is a bit funnier in SSG, because you can see how much points you earned after a grazing chain ends, and SSG doesn't emphasize graze count alone, but the graze chain gauge is as much important -- plus, you don't graze while having invincibility time, and even in games where this is possible, you have Psyvariar, where point-blank grazing isn't apparently a viable option). There's more to say about the way grazing is implemented in Touhou (I'd say about restrictiveness and how grazing feels like a chore, for how risky it is, and about point-blank grazing -- which requires execution and memorization, and is used during stages and bosses. One or few pixels off, and you don't graze as much or collide with the boss if you're not using invincibility time like against both midboss Sakuyas in EoSD, "forcing" a restart; mismemorizing when/where to perform it, and you miss that opportunity). But I should state that I don't dislike the series, but the mechanics for most of the Touhou shmups. (meanwhile, I don't see point-blank grazing being used in LLS/MS)
about the topic itself, I don't know the answer. Perhaps the fan developers would like the Touhou series to be remembered for its difficulty or characters (Touhou Soccer), or they would like to see (or let others see) how a cross-overed game looks like with bullet-hell (Super Marisa World/MegaMari/Master Burner Climax/TouhouVania. I heard that there's a Touhou Qix somewhere, too..), or they could see an analogy regarding the Touhou characters and thought that it would be fun to share that view? Or they've thought of an interesting gameplay and how well some Touhou characters fit on it? (Scarlet Meister/Vampirish Night/PatchCon/Mystical Chain)
Putting difficulty aside, I think that some Touhou fangames do work towards giving a good visual display (read: danmaku). This is probably significant to ZUN as well, seeming that he likes doing this in his games. And if there's a series which allow people to try (not saying that this is the only one) making difficult games and/or include bullet-hell on it and have cute characters on them, it's Touhou. (ironically, even ZUN is worried that people are focusing too much on doing Touhou fanworks, which may mean less work on other games, less diversity)
