The relevant tag list reads like Finnegans Wake.

You can choose to play as a hipster, bouncer, or troll.

I can't decide which I want to fight more.
A giant Beard, A boss that would be inspired by Caminante Nocturno and shoot sceaming anime girls at you, or the Wicker Man.

don't forget the kitten escort mission. protect baby cats as TinManiac tries to eradicate them in his Robotnik-esque murder pod!

GENTLEMEN! BEHOLD! CORN.

I like the scrotum boxer cat.

There's a bit of Japanese folklore that you may want to investigate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki

Amen brother.

They went back in time first. This is a real game from the late 90s.

It's funny that the best parody of Gradius was made by the people who made Gradius.

I am aware, that was the joke, which now lays gutted open with it's innards carefully arranged in formaldehyde filled jars with neat labels...everything is somehow still there, but the magic, it is gone.