Has some weird pacing--Long Hand Guy is a vibe-killer every time--and there are some parts that are way too easy to cheese with homing weapons... but other than that, this is a kick-ass and truly generous video game, with 4 playable characters (each with 4 unique weapons) and branching paths with six different endings. Plus, if you're playing the JP version, you get infinite continues, checkpoints, three hits before a death, and restored health at the end of a level(!!!); which, on top of the nice bevy of extends you get for scoring, makes for a downright pleasant 1CC experience (depending greatly, of course, on the path you choose).

The Mega Drive was just a goddamn embarrassment of riches for run-and-guns, huh? Alien Soldier is my one true king, but I honestly don't know which I'd choose between this and Gunstar Heroes... shocked to even be saying that, but there it is. GG Konami.

Finally: best character-select screen in a video game? Maybe. (Has anyone made a Coolest-Character-Select-Screens list on here? I should do that.)