ZUN (太田順也)[1] may only be on the 14th game in his "Touhou Project" series of danmaku[2] games, he that does include drawing all the art, composting the music (apx a CD worth per-game?), etc. When you add in the fighting game variants, experimental puzzle games, etc, that he released in the spare time between the main-series games, you end up with one of the most project histories that I've ever seen.
The scale of the impact his games have had is shocking. Fans of ZUN's work are so widespread, you've probably seen some of the art, covers[3], or some of the fan works that it inspired. If you were near any amount of Anime fandom in the last decade, then you've seen a lot of stuff based on ZUN's work.
That said, a lot of people haven't actually played his original games, which are very impressive. They may seem impossible[4] at first, but they have a certain meditative quality once you get past the initial shock, and can be (in my opinion) surprisingly effective at tricking the player into a "flow"-style mental state.
Touhou is amazing. I don't really care for the games, but the community around it is huge and creative. ZUN's music is great, but the community also creates their own versions, in so many different genres.
I'm one of those people that don't care much for the fandom, but love the games. Perfect Cherry Blossom is probably my #2 shmup of all time, just after Ikaruga.
The scale of the impact his games have had is shocking. Fans of ZUN's work are so widespread, you've probably seen some of the art, covers[3], or some of the fan works that it inspired. If you were near any amount of Anime fandom in the last decade, then you've seen a lot of stuff based on ZUN's work.
That said, a lot of people haven't actually played his original games, which are very impressive. They may seem impossible[4] at first, but they have a certain meditative quality once you get past the initial shock, and can be (in my opinion) surprisingly effective at tricking the player into a "flow"-style mental state.
[1] http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Team_Shanghai_Alice
[2] http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Danmaku
[3] For example, the youtube suggestions for this well-known cover of Bad Apple ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzEUeWnV73U ) is full of people being creative with jsut that one song. Some of are surprisingly talented ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7uwOp0Yck )
[4] Just don't play it on "lunatic" difficulty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eJ...