Not to mention Yukari's damage is fairly strong despite the fact that she's a homing shot type, being only a wee bit weaker than Alice and Remilia
You mean Marisa? It's pretty hard to be weaker than Alice, and Remilia's probably the strongest shot in the game. In most cases anyway. Malice beats her if you can keep it up without ramming into bullets and Youmu/Yuyuko are technically stronger even if they'll never show it outside of maybe the Asteroid Belt pseudo-safespot)
Personally, I like SakuyaB and MarisaA more than ReimuB, if only because they're faster in PCB.
I also prefer Youmu solo to Border Team (!!), since she's got the strongest shot in the game bar Malice cannoning things.
I will say that Reimu's got the good shot monopoly in SA. Marisa's either weak (MarisaB and MarisaC) or impractical (MarisaA and MarisaB). She's not bad in UFO, although SanaeB's bomb and spread help way more than ReimuA's severe advantage in firepower at all ranges. For me, Sanae's spread and bomb are still better for me in the TD demo, but I'm rambling.
Netherworld Team's got some issues. Most of them stemming from Yuyuko not being able to shift the phantom gauge as fast as Youmu solo, IMO.
Mm, yeah. Going SoEW upwards, skipping the odd-number games, my favorite shots are probably ReimuB (would play A if there was a focus button), Yumemi, MarisaA, Mima, MarisaB, SakuyaB, Border Team (Nether and Yukari Solo close behind, solo Youmu/Marisa are okay too but they have shit range), Marisa/Shikieki (about equal), ReimuB, ReimuA, MarisaA, Marisa. If we toss in IaMP, then Suika for that (I don't care about the other fighters).
Basically, I like playing fast characters, but will opt for someone else if they have some sort of overwhelming advantage. MarisaA and Mima are awesome in LLS/MS. I use MarisaB over A in EoSD because she has wider range and doesn't lose the Marisa speed like ReimuB would. SakuyaB in PCB because Marisa only has 2 bombs (and awful range) and ReimuB is slow as shit. Easier grazing, less cherry punishment, and 4 bombs per life is pretty awesome too. I opt for border team over faster characters because Yukari is awesome (Yukari Solo is just as awesome, and Youmu is really hard to push out of Human by killing too many familiars [I prefer Nether over Youmu Solo because of the spread shot+being able to switch out of Human is useful for bullet canceling with the familiars]). ReimuB over Marisa in MoF because only MarisaC is really good and I'm garbage with her [plus comfortable movement speed with Reimu for once!). ReimuA in SA because Marisa sucks once again (and Reimu doesn't once again!). MarisaA in UFO because of piercing+high damage lasers (Reimu back to being slow as shit, SanaeB is nice though). Marisa in TD because everyone's pretty balanced/easy to use aside from awkward Youmu, and Marisa's speedy.
I guess I have a few weird preferences there (UFO, IN, EoSD), but they work fairly well for me, and that's what's important right? =p
