Touhou

[Shade]

And I might start 'learning' MoF's Extra stage too. Should I stick with Marisa C or would it be better to unlock another character for it?

No clue, I've largely ignored MoF's Extra stage so far.
Personally, I like Reimu B best in MoF, but aside from Homing!Reimu's usual suckiness and the Lv3 Laser Glitch for Marisa B, shot types in MoF actually are fairly balanced. Pick what suits your playstyle best.

[Agent of Dread]

Marisa A, Reimu B and C aren't too bad, although I seem to have lost my touch with MoF since I've been playing the others more.
Marisa C's damage is simply unmatched, and her focus provides so many convenient workarounds, though. I'll probably stick with her.

[Agent of Dread]

Wow, Marisa B's spread formation absolutely minces all of the stages in SA, and it's a massive help with Orin as well. Cuts through Zombie Fairy like it's absolutely nothing; you don't even need to go in circles.
Needle Mountain of a Former Hell is still a dickish spellcard though. And I still can't beat friggin Utsuho.

[Shade]

Wow, Marisa B's spread formation absolutely minces all of the stages in SA, and it's a massive help with Orin as well. Cuts through Zombie Fairy like it's absolutely nothing; you don't even need to go in circles.

Wow, is it really that good? Good for you, then! Personally, I just can't get used to "focus button switches to the next shot type out of five" and am doing just fine with Reimu A, but hey, variety is always good.

Needle Mountain of a Former Hell is still a dickish spellcard though.

I agree wholeheartedly. It's pretty much the only spellcard outside of Stage 6 that I always bomb on.

And I still can't beat friggin Utsuho.

Practice, practice, practice. Even literally, using Practice mode. Her non-spells are not an issue, but her spellcards require that you stay on your toes. You must stay mentally focused during the entire fight, more so than in nigh any other battle in that game.
Also, how many lives do you reach her with on average? As long as you take care not to time out spells by accident, you can die once throughout the game and still reach Utsuho with the maximum 9 extra lives.

[Agent of Dread]

About 2 or 3, which is why Practice Mode is literally not an option at this point. ;~;


And I find the fact that to a large degree, three shot types that you'll almost -never- use exist, but one press to switch between Focus and Spread works just fine when you need it, and the game gives you time to quickly cycle through to get back to Focus if necessary.
Reimu A's better damage is certainly attractive and her bombs are significantly more useful if you're in a pickle, but being able to shrug off Satori and laugh at almost every stage is really worth it.

[Shade]

Oh yeah, I forgot you don't have Stage 6 unlocked for Practice yet. :/
Continues are the next best thing then, even though you only get two extra lives to practice with.

Well, Reimu A too can laugh at every stage, she just needs to expend a bomb to do so sometimes. xD

[Agent of Dread]

http://www.mediafire.com/?6aafvafm22t7w35
Just a replay of me demonstrating some of what I'm talking about in stage 5 (I'm quite surprised I managed not to lose any lives ).

I got to Utsuho with what must have been six lives this afternoon, still got buttmangled. Her spellcards are way too freaking long.

[Shade]

Her spellcards are way too freaking long.

Amen to that. If I have one complaint about SA, it's that some of the bosses have way too much health. Yukari!Satori, Utsuho and Koishi are easily the worst offenders in this regard.

[Agent of Dread]

I find Yukari!Satori's difficulty isn't in the amount of health. It's just that Double Black Death Butterfly manages to be even harder than it is in its original iteration. It has the problem a lot of UFO has (thanks to those bastardous glowing shots most of the bosses adore) where you have no idea which direction any of the projectiles are going until it's too late.

[Agent of Dread]

I'm kind of scared about the fact that I almost caught Border of Life and Death the other day.

[Agent of Dread]

And Then There Were None is a cool spellcard.

[octagon]

Congratulations. After Yukari, it was just a matter of time. Now do UFO on Lunatic

[Agent of Dread]

Oh jesus, Nazrin utterly slaughters me even on Hard. Mostly because of her last spellcard, I actually found the sped-up version of metal detector pretty cool and fun.
But yeah, not a chance in hell I'll get that one anytime soon.

Although I've 1cc'd on Normal it with Marisa B and Reimu A now as well.

[octagon]

Nazrin has some of the douchiest and simultaneously funnest spellcards in Double Spoiler.

[Agent of Dread]

Hnnnng, this game looks so awesome. Marisaaa~