Edge arcade: Japanese games are crazy
Ian Davis
Issue date: 9/2/09 Section: The Edge
When you think of Japan, what do you think of? Video games? Cartoons? Thousands of heavily muscled men in speedos soaring through the air, shooting down chess pieces and flying trains? If the last thing popped into your head, then you probably don't even need to read this article because you obviously already know about the spectacular video games series known as "Cho Aniki."
"Cho Aniki," which translates very roughly into "Super Big Brothers," is a long running side-scrolling shooter video game that has spawned multiple sequels and spin-off games. Previously only ever released in Japan, the first game has just recently been added to the Nintendo Wii's downloadable games service for purchase in the U.S., where the series already has quite a sizeable cult following.The first game in the series definitely embraced the trippy side of things. The storyline, what little there ever is in a shoot 'em up, revolves around an evil emperor that wants to take over heaven. He amasses a huge army of strange machines and creatures, but the gods send out two heroes to stop him.
The two heroes include a feminine blue-haired guy named Idaten, and a green-haired, half-naked man named Benten. Both play relatively the same and shoot little blue bullets at their enemies. They both have unique charge shots though, and Idaten shoots a solid blue beam straight forward, whereas Benten launches a multitude of green shots that cover the entire screen.
As is the same in many shoot-'em-up style games, either character starts the game with a stock of screen clearing bombs in addition to their basic shots and charges. There are sidekick character powerups you can nab in the game, like most shooters, but this is where things start to get weird. Named Samson and Adon, they are large, heavily muscled bald men that rotate around your character and shoot when you do.
Samson and Adon represent the other side of the game's strangeness, that of a decidedly homo-erotic bent. They are essentially giant phallic symbols, as both are bald men, sport holes in the tops of their heads, and shoot white beams as their attacks. It is these two who would become the mascots of the series, and they have actually starred in the majority of "Cho Aniki" games after the first one.
"Cho Aniki," which translates very roughly into "Super Big Brothers," is a long running side-scrolling shooter video game that has spawned multiple sequels and spin-off games. Previously only ever released in Japan, the first game has just recently been added to the Nintendo Wii's downloadable games service for purchase in the U.S., where the series already has quite a sizeable cult following.The first game in the series definitely embraced the trippy side of things. The storyline, what little there ever is in a shoot 'em up, revolves around an evil emperor that wants to take over heaven. He amasses a huge army of strange machines and creatures, but the gods send out two heroes to stop him.
The two heroes include a feminine blue-haired guy named Idaten, and a green-haired, half-naked man named Benten. Both play relatively the same and shoot little blue bullets at their enemies. They both have unique charge shots though, and Idaten shoots a solid blue beam straight forward, whereas Benten launches a multitude of green shots that cover the entire screen.
As is the same in many shoot-'em-up style games, either character starts the game with a stock of screen clearing bombs in addition to their basic shots and charges. There are sidekick character powerups you can nab in the game, like most shooters, but this is where things start to get weird. Named Samson and Adon, they are large, heavily muscled bald men that rotate around your character and shoot when you do.
Samson and Adon represent the other side of the game's strangeness, that of a decidedly homo-erotic bent. They are essentially giant phallic symbols, as both are bald men, sport holes in the tops of their heads, and shoot white beams as their attacks. It is these two who would become the mascots of the series, and they have actually starred in the majority of "Cho Aniki" games after the first one.
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