Today, for the first time, I gave a bullet hell game a proper try: Tyrian 2000.

It's an ancient game, that I got on GOG for free at some point (still free now). I know I've heard somewhere that it's an easy, or rather forgiving, game for it's genre, so the name stuck in my memory as a "if I ever want to actually try bullet hells, this has to be the game to try". So today I did.

I'm playing on normal difficulty (although I could have sworn I've chosen easy), and I'm rather rubbish (I regularly barely destroy over 50% of the stuff in a mission), but you know what, I'm having fun, and that's all I care about.

The game gives you a whole lot of weapons and upgrades to choose from for your ship, that are freely interchangeable at any time, so I'm sure there's something for whatever you prefer in your bullet hell game. It has a local 2-player mode (both players share the same screen). It has 3 levels of difficulties unlocked at start + a "timed battle" mode. Runs via Dosbox with no issues. Oh, and it even recognized my gamepad with no config necessary. Don't know how it managed that but it did (I'm guessing Dosbox did some magic, haven't used it before). Right now I'm playing with my mouse though. Let me know what the "approved" control scheme for a bullet hell game is.

I've generally avoided bullet hell games like the plague, cause I can get information overload when there's just too much going on, and I just can't process things in time. But Tyrian is forgiving enough that I can enjoy it just fine, without worrying that I'm not perfect.

Long story short, if like me you avoided bullet hell games cause they're too hard for you, give Tyrian 2000 a chance. Maybe you'll get some enjoyment out of this genre of games.