Parodius: Non-Sense Fantasy - (Super Nintendo SNES)

A fiendish giant octopus by the name of Zeo and his intergalactic mutant penguin mates are up to no good, wreaking havoc on the inhabitants of the Parodius Zone. Thankfully, help is at hand as Vic Viper, Pentarou the penguin, Twinbee and a gun-toting octopus have come to save the day.

As a parody of Konami’s famous Gradius series, this horizontally scrolling “cute-em-up” shows no restraint in the wackiness department, featuring ludicrous villains such as a sumo-wrestling pig and a screen-filling giantess Vegas dancer blocking your path and forcing you to take a voyeuristic journey between her legs to continue on your quest. There is even an amusing Moai-faced battleship that vaguely resembles the huge spaceship from the third level of R-Type. In a nutshell, this game is as mad as a bucket of spiders.

Those who are used to shooting the core in the Gradius series will feel right at home here, and will notice many borrowed situations from the game. Along the way, you pick up capsules to fill up your power meter and utilise the usual speed-up, missile and laser options to improve your ability to take out the bad guys. To mix things up, the coloured bells from the Twinbee series make an appearance and offer even crazier power-ups such as a megaphone which spouts out bizarre phrases such as “TOASTER OVERHEATED!”, “SHAVING IS BORING!” and perhaps the most bizarre “GOT A STINKFOOT!” to confound your enemies.