Favorite/least favorite of each stage?

[nintendonut888]

I asked this on the last forum, so why not ask again? Which of each stage is your favorite and least favorite? Taking into account both the stage portion and the boss portion. Feel free to give reasons if you want.

Stage 1 favorite: MS. I never got tired of playing this stage even when I grinded lunatic about 10 times a day. It's long, it's easy, but the music keeps me pumped, plus considering this is the longest stage 1 in the series (2:30~ IIRC), ZUN decided to make Sara the easiest boss in the series, so restarts on stage 1 are very rare.

Stage 1 least favorite: SA. To contrast, this stage is simply too hard for stage 1. Until you get the movements JUST right, it's almost impossible to avoid all the crap that's thrown at you. Add in the fact that Yamame's opener will BS you on lunatic 1/3 of the time and the fact that she's pretty darn hard even without that, this is a stage I see WAY too much.

Stage 2 favorite: PCB. This is a rather relaxing stage, with not much that is a real threat yet always keeps you on your toes. Chen is an annoying boss, but now that I've managed to perfect her she's kinda fun.

Stage 2 least favorite: MoF. This stage really pisses me off. The part before midboss Hina always trips me up, and midboss Hina's spell card is also one of my least favorites in the series. As for Hina herself, she carries another one of my least favorite cards in Old Lady Ohgane's Fire. And guess what? This happens to be one of my least favorite stages too, how about that?

Stage 3 favorite: PCB. Nice, fun stage that fits the music, and Alice is one of the most fun bosses out there to fight (note how the reasons get shorter as I get bored).

Stage 3 least favorite: SoEW: Boring like most of SoEW, but even more so. The Magic Stones are also extremely blah, which makes this take the cake over IN's stage 3

Stage 4 favorite: IN (4a). I may be insane, but I find this stage to be a lot of fun. The first half fits very well with the music and is easy enough so I can perfect it most of the time. Dream Battle MAKES Reimu's fight, and the piano solo makes my blood pump when it plays in the second half of the stage. Also, that part of the stage is overrated in BS.

Stage 4 least favorite: SA. I know a lot of people love this level, but I do not. Orin's attacks are both very scrappy, as is most of this level IMO. The music is overrated, and Satori...well, everyone has that one boss that they have more trouble on than anyone else. That's Satori for me.

Stage 5 favorite: MS. I must be the only person in the world to think the second half of the stage is pure genius. Sure it's hard as hell, but it's so chaotic and fun~ And aside from a few YOU BITCH attacks, Yumeko's fun as well.

Stage 5 least favorite: SA. Again, I do not approve. Orin is annoying both as a midboss and as a boss. The stage itself is fairly unreasonable at points too, but stuff like Possessed Fairy and Catwalk make me hate this stage.

Stage 6 favorite: EoSD. I have played this stage in the realm of 270 times, and I still do not tire of it. I think that sums it up, but I'll say anyway that Remilia is a crazy fun boss because you never know what to expect from her.

Stage 6 least favorite: IN (6a). I've made a whole essay on why Kaguya isn't BS, and I could make a similar essay on why I hate Eirin's fight. When her attacks aren't being BS or stupidly difficult, they're pathetically easy. The one thing I like about this whole stage is Hourai Elixir.

Extra favorite: IN: While the stage is very boring with the border team, Mokou is a very fun boss to fight. Really, that's about all I can say. Now that I've beaten the stage no deaths at last, I'm going to start playing with other teams to make it even more fun.

Extra least favorite: SoEW. SA's is also pretty terrible, but my thoughts on SoEW extra are pretty much taken from any ending to an AVGN episode, combined a bit with the angry German kid.

[LHCling]

Before I start, I hate my internet being at most, 10x slower than usual.

Stage 1:
At the top, I choose IN. Fitting music, great boss, starts off rather nicely for me.

At the bottom, SA. Ridiculous. Most of my runs consist of bombing at least twice, if not dying because I lack power. Even if I follow it methodically. Yes, the stage is just that horrible for me, it outweighs Yamame's somewhat average battle (difficult, yet fair).

Stage 2:
Top, SA. Music, and the stage is probably the most interesting to score in (i.e. just grazing for multiplier increase; I always end with different results). Also, Parsee.

Bottom, SoEW. Everything is bland, especially the midboss, and except for the music.

Stage 3: Where things start to pick up.
LLS at top. Awesome music, awesome boss. That midboss isn't that bad if you know how to "wall jump".

MS for the bottom. This... is an interesting case. First off, I use Reimu primarily. This means that the enemies coming in from the side don't die as quick. This means that I usually end up wasting a bomb or two on the stage. To top it off, Alice (or rather, the dolls) can wall. 2nd last Phase, if Alice fires a "Red Spiral" of bullets, and both dolls spam in all directions, you're screwed. Even worse is if you're pushed to the bottom left corner when this happens, but that rarely ever happens now since I take precautions.

Stage 4: Surprise surprise!
LLS on high. It's fun. Both bosses are. Great music too.
_{It's really a shame that Marisa is so much easier though.}

Bottom is MoF. Clipdeaths even more worse than SA? Sure. Hard to see bullets? Check. Also, homing bug. It's also the scorerunner's worst nightmare.

Stage 5:
Here, MS would be my preference. Barring the horrible post-midboss waves (which is worse than EoSD's mind you), you get an awesome boss, an awesome boss theme, and the best midboss ever. That midboss is my most favorite one  <3

Most hated would probably be... SA. Clipdeaths sum it up pretty well.

Stage 6 Final Stage:
Hmm... I'll say that my most favorite here would be... damn it I can't decide. It's either MS or MoF.

SoEW would be my most hated. Note that since SoEW only has 5 stages, it would be appropriate to label this category as "Final Stage". Boss attacks are either too bland, or too ridiculous.

Extra:
Top? LLS. Probably the only one where I can actually screw around and still have fun.

Bottom? SoEW. For one reason only; it's too bland. Not because it's BS, not because it's ridiculously difficult. Just bland. You follow the same routine, you end up with the same result.

[bjw]

Stage 1:
Favorite - Tossup between PCB and IN, but I'll go with IN. I really like Illusionary Night.

Least Favorite - I want to say EoSD, MoF, or UFO for being really bland, but holy hell, SA is such shit. When it comes to getting a 1cc in these games, I usually have the hardest time simply having a perfect run of Stage 1 and Stage 2, and that's even if they're easy. You know what happens when the first stage is actually crap? Shit doesn't hit the fan, but a truckload of shit hits a jet turbine.

Stage 2:
Favorite - These stages are also pretty bland, but their boss themes tend to be surprisingly good. With that in mind, this is actually a tough choice. I'm going to go with PCB since I like Chen's danmaku.

Least Favorite - MoF. Not much to look forward to here. The stage doesn't have much going for it (then again, none of the stages do), but Hina's battle is pretty boring. Plus, she has that crappy last card, but then again, Stage 2 bosses with at least one shitty attack isn't too much of a rarity

Stage 3:
Favorite - PCB. No contest. Alice is awesome. I don't know why, but IN's Stage 3 never interested me, and the same goes for Keine. EoSD's is fine, but it's nothing amazing. Both SA and MoF feel pretty much the same here.

Least Favorite - UFO. This doesn't need to be explained :3 (Even if ZUN fixes the stage, I doubt I'll be a fan of it.)

Stage 4:
Favorite - SA, SA, SA. Great music, great danmaku, Satori. Makes up greatly for the previous 3 stages in SA.

Least Favorite - I find all the Stage 4s to be quite fun, but if I had to pick a least favorite, it would probably be PCB's. I'm not too much a fan of the length of that stage, and the same goes for the Prismrivers. Patchy can be annoying, but her challenge is welcomed. MoF is also an aesthetically pleasing wonderment.

Stage 5:
Favorite - MoF. Very pleasant stage with a lot going for it. While it may not be as challenging as SA or PCB, it definitely has a lot of fun factor. Runner-up would probably be SA, with PCB following very closely.

Least Favorite - EoSD. The stage portion feels very uninspired, and while Sakuya is a badass, all of the Stage 5 bosses are badass to a certain degree. Runner-up would be IN.

Stage 6:
Favorite - Very, very, very tough. Just picking one, I'll go with MoF. Out of all the Stage 6s, I've easily seen MoF the most thanks to VoWG. I really enjoy Suwa Foughten Field and the sheer speed of Kanako's battle. Remilia and Utsuho both hold special places in my heart; the former for being a fun and consistently challenging opponent, and the latter for being extremely atmospheric.

Least Favorite - This is also a tough choice, mainly because I really don't care about Yuyuko, Eirin, and Kaguya. However, I'll just go with IN Stage 6A. Eirin really doesn't feel as epic as the rest.

Extra Stage:
Favorite - MoF. Extra is all about memorization and trick cards, and I don't think that anyone does it better than Suwako. MoF's stage is like a fireworks display.

Least Favorite - SA. I never really did like Koishi's stage, and the same goes for her cards. Penis danmaku has a special place in my heart, though.

[FinnKaenbyou]

Stage 1
Best: Hard since most of them don't really stand out to me in any way, but I might end up giving this to UFO just because it has the best Stage 1 boss theme ever.
Worst: PCB. There's just nothing in terms of interesting patterns that comes to mind.

Stage 2
Best: Sort of a tie between IN and SA here. IN just has the feeling of 'okay, we're taking the kiddie gloves off now', plus the jump in music as soon as Mystia mid-boss appears which I love, and SA is calmer and more atmospheric, an effect that trebles as soon as Green-Eyed Jealousy starts playing.

Worst: MoF. Boring stage, dull stage music, rage-inducing boss.

Stage 3
Best: IN. Again gives the feeling that things are only gonna get harder, and the flourish timed to the arrival of mid-boss Keine still makes my heart rate rise a little.
Worst: SA. THOSE GODDAMN LASERS.

Stage 4
Best: SA. The only real contender for this is IN, but 3rd eye is the one song that keeps playing in my head when I daydream. Plus of course I'll never forget the feeling I had the first time I screamed 'HOLY SHIT, IS THAT MERCURY POISON?'.
Worst: MoF. Ayayayayayayayayayaya

Stage 5
Best: PCB. The most atmospheric song in the whole soundtrack, followed by one of the best blood-pumping songs in the series. Multiplied by Youmu.
Worst: EoSD. Lesson for you, ZUN - patterns which revolve around bullets flying in random directions ARE NOT FUN. They're just annoying.

Stage 6
Best: Tie between MoF and SA, simply because they both get the idea of 'Oh shit you're so dead' down to a tee. When you play MoF Stage 6 you know that a FUCKING GOD is about to give you a beatdown, and in SA it just takes one WARNING siren and you know this is going to be one hell of a fight.
Worst: EoSD again. I know I'm bashing on the first in the Windows series, but I just feel that given all the buildup Remilia's theme could have been pulled off with a little more...flair. Her danmaku isn't really anything special, either, just red bullets that fly all over the place.

Extra
Best: IN. Fun stage, fun music, and then the best Extra boss of all time. FUCK YES, MOKOU.
Worst: SA. There's so much in here that isn't fun and just plain irritating - Ancestors Beside Your Bed, Youkai Polygraph, MOTHERFUCKING GENETICS OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS...

Phantasm
Best: PCB. Guess why. Just guess.
Worst: SA, because GODDAMMIT Mitori just keeps wiping the floor with me. -_-

[?q]

Stage 1 +:  SA.  Precisely for all the reasons everyone else hates it - it's NOT trivial.
Stage 1 - :  MoF.  Worst. Lunatic. Danmaku.  EVER.  It's even worse than trivial.

Stage 2 +:  IN.  Clearing paths through the curtain fire by destroying familiars is fun with shot types that don't have unlimited range.  I like Mystia's first boss card.
Stage 2 - :  MoF.  Worse-than-bland music, forgettable and easy boss when she's not cheap.  I realized I don't like a lot of Stage 2s...

Stage 3 +:  PCB.  This stage was what I thought Touhou was going to be like ALL the time.
Stage 3 - :  MS.  The other Alice, on the other hand, grates on my nerves about as much as the length of the stage and Romantic Children.  (I like Alice Maestra, but dislike Romantic Children even though it's basically the same song.  I don't know why either.)

Stage 4 +:  IN Uncanny.  Basically for what donut said.  Knowing how to do Reimu's homing amulets helps a lot.  MoF comes in second place even though it's pretty legitimately difficult.
Stage 4 - :  MS.  Maple Wise just drives in the agony of having to play this stage.  The stage is bad, the boss fight is pretty bad too.  I'd sooner play SoEW Stage 4 with its cheesy Marisa fight than MS Stage 4.

Stage 5 +:  PCB.  There's nothing really special about this stage aside from the constant barrage of danmaku.  Still, it's atmospheric, and Youmu's attacks aren't as badly designed as Sanae's (MoF was a close second here).
Stage 5 - :  SA.  Cat is horrible.  Orin is horrible.  The stage is either trivial or horrible.  BGM is nice, but overrated.

Stage 6 +:  PCB.  Yuyuko is the best (if easiest) final boss fight in the series.  Having to bomb if you don't have a border ready before Youmu shows up is lame though.
Stage 6 - :  MoF.  The stage just begs to be multibombed, and Kanako is mostly uninteresting at best.

Extra +:  IN.  Mokou is better designed than Suwako, and the stage is more interesting than PCB's (not to mention the music isn't grating).
Extra - :  SoEW.  That would be me guessing, though.  If I had to choose one that I've played, it would be EoSD Extra because the bossmaku is mostly lame.  SA Extra comes pretty close just because there's only ONE way to play the stage and you either have to find it through trial and error or watch a replay.

Phantasm +:  HWoG.  Best music evar.  The boss fight lasts forever, but most of the attacks aren't broken garbage (some ARE...).  You have to save your bombs for the last three attacks though.
Phantasm - :  It's a toss-up between HWoG Extra and RoHL Extra, both of which ARE broken garbage.

[Sodium]

Worst Stages 1-6:SoEW.(Yes I know SoEW doesn't have a stage 6, but it's just that bad)

But ignoring SoEW...
Best Stage 1:
EoSD, because it's short. I really don't like long stage 1s that make you reset.
Worst Stage 1:
SA, because it's HOLY CRAP WHAT.

Best Stage 2:
SA, short, easy, nice music, boss is easy and fun sorta, and yeah
Worst Stage 2:
PCB. Fuck Chen

Best Stage 3:
EoSD. I really like the music, and Meiling isn't loleasy, but isn't too hard.
Worst Stage 3:
UFO demo currently. BS, etc. Saving Grace is the music, which is too good.

Best Stage 4:
UFO. >_> Every stage 4 has something I hate about it.
Worst Stage 4:
MoF. Look at UFO stage 3, minus "the music is too good". It's good, but not too good.

Best Stage 5:
UFO. >_> Every stage 5 has something I hate about it.
Worst Stage 5:
EoSD. Boring.

Best stage 6:
EoSD. Short stage, and it's generally pretty fun, imo.
Worst Stage 6:
PCB. Oh hai BS bullet spam.

Best EX Stage:
none
Worst EX Stage:
none

[Flay_wind]

1.
Most favorite. MoF, nice music, plain but fun danmaku and bosses are fun to play with too.
Least favorite. IN. For some reason it has boring feel to it for me.

2.
Most favorite. UFO. While Kogasa is complete bull shit, the stage itself is not.
Least favorite. I can't decide, i hate most of them... Okay SA. Wins prize for most boring and easy danmaku ever.

3.
Most favorite. PCB. Alice is <3.
Least favorite. IN, SA and UFO share the winner coockie. I hate lazors so much. >.<

4.
Most favorite. SA. I love the music, i love the stage setup and lazers are manageable.
Least favorite. MoF. I hate those big fairies randomly shooting at all directions, i hate Momizi and her circles of doom. I hate post Momizi. I hate the whole stage. ARGH!!!

5.
Most favorite. IN. Cinderella Cage one of my most favorite tracks in all Touhou OST. Fun bulletspam at the stage. And Reisen fight actually interesting too.
Least favorite. SA. Orin can just go to hel... Oh wait. She's actually there. The stage is hell and Orin is a hell boss to fight.

6.
Most favorite. It's hard to pick one, since i don't like any of them that much. MoF, probably wins, but not by much.
Least favorite. IN 6A. Erin is evil... >.>

Extra.
Most favorite. IN. Nice stage, music and all.
Least favorite. SA. Those QED wannabe fairies make me depressed and it's a pain in the ass to make to Koishi.

[Zengar Zombolt]

Ok, let's see:

Best 1: SA. Mostly because I love facing Yamame.
Worst 1: For some reason, PCB's stage 1 feels really slow until you get to Letty.

Best 2: SA as well. Mostly because the atmosphere of the stage is so unique compared to the other stage 2s.
Worst 2: PCB as well. It also feels too slow, even against Chen.

Best 3: PCB.  It's fun to play, the music is awesome, and god damn I don't know how many times I've practiced this stage and I'm still not bored.
Worst 3: IN. Most Bullshitty amount of bullets ever. Also, Keine.

Best 4: IN. For some reason, the post mid-boss section always pumps me up, even more if it's stage 4 Powerful.
Worst 4: MoF. FUCK. AYA.

Best 5: MoF. Pretty much the same reason why I love SA stage 1. Also, Sanae is a fun boss.
Worst 5: SA. Orin, you BASTARD.

Best 6: Most of them, actually. The one I have to say I like the most is SA. I mean, come on, OH GOD SHE'S THROWING SUNS AT ME FFFFFF.
Worst 6: IN 6B. Pretty much half the people here knows how much I hate Kaguya's spellcards.

Best Extra: IN. I really love most of these spell cards. Also, FLAME ON. A side note is that I've noticed that PCB's midboss Chen and Ran are the only midbosses with non-spells.
Worst Extra: EoSD (Notice how for me, most of EoSD is average at best?) Pretty much because of Midboss Patch.

[?q]

A side note is that I've noticed that PCB's midboss Chen and Ran are the only midbosses with non-spells.

Kanako Nadeshiko wants to speak to you.

Also, am I the only person who likes Keine?  Just checking.

[Zengar Zombolt]

A side note is that I've noticed that PCB's midboss Chen and Ran are the only midbosses with non-spells.

Kanako Nadeshiko wants to speak to you.

Exactly the only Extra midboss I've not seen.

[Azinth]

Stage 1:
Best- SA.  Seriously people, it's not that hard. >_>  I actually find this stage pretty engaging and fun unlike most other stage 1s, and I'm pretty much 90% sure now that Yamame's opener isn't bullshit.  Plus, SA's stage 2 is really easy, so once I do manage to get past this stage, I don't usually have to worry about restarting from then on.
Worst- Most stage 1s are pretty bad, but EoSD takes this prize for causing some truly rage-inducing clipdeaths back in the day.

Stage 2:
Best- PCB.  I used to absolutely despise Chen back in the day, but that was just because I sucked.  Now that I suck slightly less, I think she's an absolute blast to fight.
Worst- SA.  Boring stage, bland boss (both design and gameplay-wise), and overrated music.  Enough said.

Stage 3:
Best- PCB.  Everybody likes this stage, and for very good reason.  It's one of those few stages where ZUN just manages to get everything right.  Stage portion, patterns, music, it's simply Touhou at its finest.
Worst- SA or IN.  Yuugi seems to enjoy patterns that look like they should be simple, but are extremely easy to clip on.  Well, for me at least.  IN stage 3 is basically a giant memorization grindfest, and we all know how enjoyable those are.

Stage 4:
Best- PCB (Yeah yeah I know...).  I like this stage a lot, even though my usual taste in stages tells me I shouldn't.  I blame the pretty music.  But really, it's got great atmosphere, finding out how to grab all the items the right way is fun, and while it's mostly memorization-based, the stage can be quite intense when it wants to be.
Worst- MoF.  It astounds me how a stage so brutally hard can also be so damn boring.  I don't even know why I feel that way, but it just doesn't interest me at all.

Stage 5:
Best- SA.  Most intense stage in all of Touhou?  Possibly...  Just like VoWG, this is one of those strange situations where I can thoroughly enjoy an attack/stage despite being absolutely fucking horrible at it.  There's just not a boring moment.
Worst- IN or MoF.  Like SA 3, these stages are easy and tedious at their best and rage-inducing clipdeath fodder at their worst.  Nice music though.

Stage 6:
Best- EoSD or PCB.  EoSD for being pretty much the epitome of raw dodging awesomeness, and PCB for its atmosphere, music, and Resurrection Butterfly.
Worst- Objectively, MoF.  To put it bluntly, six of Kanako's nine attack phases are complete trash and play like they were designed in a matter of two minutes each.  Unfortunately for me, the remaining three (Her opener, Yamato Torus, and of course VoWG) are all really fun, which still makes it worth an occasional playthrough.  An alternative could be IN 6a, which is also a mostly annoying stage salvaged by some decent cards.

Stage EX:
Best- Shuusou Gyoku's extra stage is pretty much the greatest extra stage ever made in the history of shmups with lolis in them.  But if I had to choose from Touhou, it'd be IN, simply because Mokou has the best nonspells by far (<3 Rings of Death).
Worst- I have a confession to make- I don't like any of the Touhou extra stages much at all with the exception of EoSD and IN.  So go ahead and pick any of them for this category.

[Sapz]

Bearing in mind I haven't seen the Lunatic versions of a lot of the stages...

Best stage 1: SA. Sure, it's more difficult than it should be, but this is the only stage 1 I actually find really fun. Most of the others have pretty boring danmaku, but I find Yamame to be an interesting fight rather than just going through the motions like with the other stage 1s.
Worst stage 1: MoF, for the reasons stated above, but slightly more so than the others.

Best stage 2: SA again. Parsee's fight is really fun, especially considering the pretty weird nature of a lot of SA's shot types. All of the spell cards are really interesting, plus Parsee's theme is pretty great.
Worst stage 2: SoEW. I hate this boss fight, especially the bouncing bullets at the end which have given me clipdeaths more times than I care to remember.

Best stage 3: PCB. I really enjoy the stage itself, and all of Alice's appearances are fun fights.
Worst Stage 3: SA. It's not a bad level as such but Jesus Christ every single one of Yuugi's non-cards kill me on a regular basis, as does the part between the midboss and boss. Goddamn lasers.

Best stage 4: SA/EoSD. SA because I think the stage is really fun, and Border of Wave and Particle is awesome, plus the stage theme is great, and EoSD because Patchy has so many difficult yet incredibly fun spell cards.
Worst stage 4: ...IN 4B. Maybe this is just because I haven't really tried it on Lunatic yet, but I think MoF stage 4 isn't all that bad. Surely, the stage itself is really, really annoying, but I've always thought Aya was a fun fight. Marisa on the other hand... bloody hell. Event Horizon is brilliant fun but other than that, it's just star bullets upon star bullets upon star bullets. I always have trouble with what the actual hitbox is on them, and the spinning is really distracting.

Best stage 5: PCB. The stage is a lot of fun, and Youmu is awesome, as is her fight. I love the time-slowing mechanic most of her spell cards have, and her non-cards are pretty fun too.
Worst stage 5: EoSD. As cool as Sakuya is, I detest the knife bullets, especially in the context of her cards. Their hitbox confuses the hell out of me and having a knife you just dodged turn around next to you and kill you is pretty much BS.

Best stage 6: SA/EoSD. SA's stage is great fun, especially using Reimu A's wall hax, and the two spirits you face just before the end with the quasi-BoWaP bullets are pretty great. And obviously, Utusho is a hell of a lot of fun to fight; the warning signs, big nuclear bullets and boss theme make for a hell of an atmospheric fight. EoSD prettymuch because Remi kicks arse, so does her theme, and Scarlet Gensokyo is easily one of my favourite spell cards in the series; it's almost hypnotic with the spinning background and the slow moving bullets (plus the other cards aren't bad either).
Worst stage 6: IN 6a and 6b. I wouldn't say they're bad stages; Hourai Elixer and Hourai Jewel are both great cards, but stacked against Scarlet Gensokyo, Resurrection Butterfly, VoWG and Subterranean Sun, they're not all that exciting, plus most of the other cards on the stages aren't anything special. They just don't stand out to me as much as the other stages do.

Best extra: EoSD, no contest. I could play this level all day. Trying to beat this stage was probably the single biggest Touhou skill increase I've ever had, which makes sense seeing as I was attempting it solidly for almost an entire month. But as for the stage itself, it's pretty much all difficult, but fair. Compared to say IN, which practically gives you Flaw of Forgiving Shrine and Fu Xi's Dimension, and then sticks you with the evil that is Fujiyama Volcano later, EoSD's spell cards are all (minus Lavatein, which is still fun) consistently challenging but not BS, and the same goes for the stage. Aside from that, I love every one of Flandre's spell cards, plus she kicks arse and so does her theme.
Worst extra: SoEW. It's not particularly difficult, but it's cheap and more importantly, it's bland as hell. There's no interesting patterns here, which are what make extra stages so much fun, and on top of that it gives you Bouncing Bullets Mk.II, complete with lasers. And although I've never actually been hit by it, the suicide laser is BS anyway.

[Alice Fact]

best stage 1 is tHRtP by far

[Lopsidation]

Stage 1, Best: IN. Sure, the stage is easy, but Wriggle's music is fantastic. Also, I like running circles around Wriggle on her Last Spell.
Worst: MoF. Blah blah bland blah blah, nothing here is especially fun.

Stage 2, Best: EoSD, because, because, Cirno! All of Cirno's attacks are fun to dodge, and nothing here is unfair.
Worst: PCB. I just don't like most of Chen's attacks.

Stage 3, Best: MoF. I don't like MoF as much as the other games, but Nitori is a really fun boss.
Worst: IN. I like the Stage Threes in Touhou, this is just the least great of all of them.

Stage 4, Best: EoSD (with MarisaB or ReimuA). Patchouli's attacks here have always been some of my favorites.
Worst: EoSD (With MarisaA or ReimuB).
Patchouli's attacks here have always been some of my least favorites.

Stage 5, Best: IN. Reisen's crazy patterns are fun to figure out. I love her 'insanity' gimmick.
Worst: PCB. Youmu's attacks are the same thing over and over and I can't dodge any of it.

Stage 6, Best: SA. Looking over the series, I can't say any of the bosses in Stage 6 have particularly fun attacks, it's mostly just "You will die NOW!" Utsuho's battle is my favorite, though, because of the thematics. The music is simply awesome and fits with the battle. The background for the spell cards is beautiful. Yep, SA has to be my favorite Stage 6. Too bad I can't even reach Utsuho on Normal.
Worst: StB. Note to Youmu: Die in a fire. Alright, I guess StB doesn't really count, so I'll go with MoF. Nothing here is fun at all except VoWG.

[Milkyway64]

I primarily play Normal and sometimes Hard. Also, I've only played the Windows games.

Stage 1 favorite: SA. Nice-ish music, interesting stage, and for some reason I think those random boulders are a nice touch.

Stage 1 least favorite: EoSD. Just... bland to me. Rumia isn't very fun either, and the stage theme is meh.

Stage 2 favorite: SA. Parsee rocks as does the stage and boss themes.

Stage 2 least favorite: MoF. Just never liked it.

Stage 3 favorite: PCB. If you don't know why, get off my internet.

Stage 3 least favorite: SA. I hate lasers. Hate em.

Stage 4 favorite: IN powerful (?). Whichever one you fight Marisa in. IN was the first touhou game I played, and this boss was the one that made me really stop and think that I was playing greatness. To this day, she's still a fun boss despite being a bit too difficult.

Stage 4 least favorite: PCB. Too long, and at times feels like an Extra stage. The prismrivers half-make up for it, at least...

Stage 5 favorite: IN. Reisen is awesome, and Cinderella Cage~ Kagome Kagome is nice.

Stage 5 least favorite: I'd like to say SA because Orin is bullshit, but her fight has a unique charm to it. So I'll say EoSD just because Sakuya kills me too much.

Stage 6 favorite: SA. Everything about it is good.

Stage 6 least favorite: EoSD. It's just not as... complex as it could be. Plus, monochrome sucks.

Extra favorite: IN. This is actually the only one I really LIKE. Good music, good challenge...

Extra least favorite: PCB phantasm. Isn't this the only Phantasm there is? In any case, I struggled long and hard to beat this. I hate the second to last card. Hate it. I still wouldn't have this done if I didn't whore IN to get lots of practice for profound danmaku field by way of Profound Field -Phantasm, Foam, Shadow-.

[Third Eye Lem]

Good question...

Stage 1 Winner: It's hard to say, but I really liked MoF's and UFO's. An open field flying across the sky with good music and challenge to warm up the player just makes me feel fuzzy inside...I like MoF's stage, but UFO's sticks out more because of Nazrin, and mice youkai beat the pants off of a harvest goddess.
Stage 1 Loser: EoSD. It just looks bland, and the music feels eh. Not to mention it's easy even on Lunatic (not that I played it, mind you, I just know from videos).

Stage 2 Winner: PCB. I have fond memories of trying to get past Chen, and the music and setting contrasts PCB's stage 1 quite nicely.
Stage 2 Loser: EoSD: Bland, and Cirno can go f**k herself (DAMNED ICICLE WEDGES).

Stage 3 Winner: Ehhhh, I'm kinda neutral on this. None of them sticks out in my mind, good or bad. I'll just go with UFO's stage 3 because it does an excellent flyby of the area you're going into next, and of course there's Ichirin and Enzan's FLYING FISTS OF DOOM!
Stage 3 Loser: It's a tie between IN and SA. Keine gives me a hard time on anything but Easy, and Yuugi doesn't really have much going for her...ZUN shouldn't have nerfed her first endboss card so much. It's a cakewalk now.

Stage 4 Winner: ASDFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF how do I choose. These are the points where Touhou games grow some balls (breasts?) and jump up not only in difficulty but overall awesomeness. Patchy's got her different spells per character, Prismrivers have that Triple Tech thing going on, IN has Mari and Reimu, MoF has WATERFALLS and Aya, and SA has Satori. If you'd twist my arm, I'd have to say MoF, because the stage music sticks out for me. Aya's the bonus here.
Stage 4 Loser: IN Uncanny. Having to fight Reimu with characters who don't have homing or wide shots is </3.

Stage 5 Winner: PCB, hands down. Youmu kicks ass, and she doesn't use random danmaku like Sakuya, unreasonably hard danmaku like Orin, or unreasonably EASY danmaku like Sanae. Plus that slowing gimmick she has looks really cool.
Stage 5 Loser: Either SA or EoSD. I dislike them both. Why don't we just call it a tie here?

Final Stage Winner: OHHHH MY GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWD how do I choose?! Just kidding. Yuyuko's my favorite Touhou character, and therefore PCB wins. IN FinalB gets an honorable mention on the count of Kaguya being sooooo Easy. To an extent.
Final Stage Loser: It's either MoF or EoSD in terms of BS final spell cards, though both are similar in that they just toss wave after wave of hard to dodge walls of bullets at you...But at least Remilia's cards don't SPEED UP or GIVE YOU PAINFULLY SMALL BOMB EFFECTS to work with. MoF, you suck.

Extra Stage Winner: It's a toss-up between Phantasm and SA's Extra. They both have good music, cool bosses and amazing danmaku. I can't choose. They both win.
Extra Stage Loser: MoF. THIS IS NOT HOW YOU MAKE AN EXTRA STAGE, ZUN. Even one of those ghost minions from the first stages of the PC98 games would be able to dodge their way through this boringly easy stage and its boss. EoSD's extra takes second place because it's sadistically hard...And of course, Flandre. She's scary.