Chou Aniki: Kyuukyoku Muteki Ginga Saikyou Otoko (1995)

I was not expecting this game to be decent at all, but I was pleased. As a SHMUP this tends to be the kind of simple type of shooter I like the most: straight forward with lots of bullets! There aren't much in the way of gimmicks. The stronger enemies (and you'll identify which they are) in a level will drop Steroid pills on death, pumping you up (and your dakka output!) You can pick between two characters to pick from, an effeminate looking dude and a (I think) even more effeminate looking dude. I could be wrong but I think it ties into the theme of the game somehow as they battle against 'strong masculine forces of the evil space emperor.' ...First dude has a power attack that is just a strange tight laser that deals heavy damage in short burst. Second dude has a power attack that is a flurry of feathers that arc towards your sides. Both have their uses. First attack can make short work of bosses PDQ, second attack can reach hard to reach places and engage swarms of enemies at once by widening your arc of attack. The game has 5 levels that each have 3 mini bosses. and each miniboss even has its own little stylized level that match a theme for the main level. This was kinda cool, and you can defeat some of them really quick (like in seconds) and then immediately continue through to the next part of a level. This continuous kind of play style is something I enjoyed a lot. IT really gives it a kind of carnival-ride feel to it as you sight-see through it all at fast pace. This game is a little corny but its got some really awesome detailed enemies of different styles and same for the bosses. And it plays way more solid than the parodius games I've slogged through. It's also not terribly difficult on easy or normal. (I didn't play hard) IMO, its one of the better Parody-shooters I've played through. It's main faults are two:

-your player is kinda big and it can be a trick to evade some missiles. You can adjust the speed at which you move by three rates (slow medium slow) by pressing select to get into the gear you like. I never got a proper feel for the hitbox.

-like the other games in this series, it has some VERY strange music scoring (not bad at all either!) especially in some of the boss battles. It tends to shift from a Japanese Acid House to strange vocal-choral type chant/synth music. This shift from the two styles is unintentionally bizarre and hard to imagine how even in a game this thematically odd could be considered an appropriate fit.