Chou Aniki and the Cult of Baka-ge: Japan's Gloriously Absurd Games

There's a phrase in Japanese gaming culture — baka-ge (バカゲー), literally "idiot game" — for titles that are deliberately, gloriously absurd. If you ask Japanese retro gamers to name the definitive example, an overwhelming number will say the same thing: Chou Aniki.

• Released: December 25, 1992, for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM²
• Developer/Publisher: NCS and WINDS, published under the Masaya label (メサイヤ, sometimes romanized Mesiah)
• Genre: Side-scrolling shooter, built on the engine of the 1991 Mega Drive shooter Gynoug (ジノーグ, romanized Jinouga)
• Known for: a bodybuilder-god premise and musclebound "option" characters, widely regarded as the definitive Japanese baka-ge
• Product code: NSCD2013

What Is Chou Aniki?

Released December 25, 1992 for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM², Chou Aniki (超兄貴) was developed by NCS and WINDS and published under the Masaya label (メサイヤ, sometimes romanized Mesiah). Underneath the absurd presentation, it's a side-scrolling shooter built directly on the engine of Gynoug (ジノーグ), a well-regarded 1991 Mega Drive shooter — the level design and shooting mechanics are legitimately solid. What Masaya added was the theme: your character is a bodybuilder god, Idaten (with goddess Benten as an alternate), escorted by two hulking "option" characters, Adon and Samson, who absorb enemy fire for you and let out a distinctive cry when they finally give out.

The game's four-page instruction manual and relentlessly over-the-top character design — it seriously considered shipping under an even more explicit title before Masaya dialed it back — are as much a part of its legend as the shooting itself.

Why Has It Stayed a Cult Classic for Over 30 Years?

Contemporary reviews at the time actually rated it well — Japanese gaming magazines put it in the upper third of the PC Engine's roughly 500-title library — and its soundtrack, composed by Koji Hayama, was successful enough as a standalone CD release to be considered unusual for a video game score. That combination — a genuinely well-built shooter wrapped in deliberately ridiculous packaging — is exactly why it became the reference point for baka-ge as a category, and why it kept getting brought back across 8 platforms over 17 years (PC Engine, Super Famicom, PlayStation, Saturn, WonderSwan, PS2, Wii, PSP; 1992–2009).

Where Can You Buy an Original Copy?

One thing to know before you buy: this is a Super CD-ROM² title, one step up from the base CD-ROM² format. You'll need a PC Engine Duo (built-in drive) or a base PC Engine + CD-ROM² unit upgraded with a Super System Card — a plain CD-ROM² attachment on its own won't run it. Suruga-ya files the disc under PCエンジンスーパーCDソフト, which is a quick way to confirm you're looking at the right format.

The other thing to check is the disc itself. This is a 1992 CD in a jewel case, and the two things that go wrong are cracked cases and scuffed discs. Japanese listings grade this explicitly: one of the copies live on Suruga-ya as of writing is tagged 状態：裏表紙状態難 — "condition: back-cover damage" — which is typical for the format and priced accordingly. A complete copy means jewel case, manual, and back insert.

Chou Aniki · PC Engine (Super CD-ROM²) · 1992 · NCS / Masaya · product code NSCD2013

Where to buy: Suruga-ya.jp (by product code) · Buyee · eBay
Search for this on Kataban →

Kataban lists this release under the English title Cho Aniki, without the u, and that is also how most eBay listings spell it. Both spellings point at the same disc.

What Other Cult Classics Are Cut From the Same Cloth?

Mister Mosquito (PlayStation 2, 2002)

蚊 · PlayStation 2 · SCEJ · product code SCPS19101

You play a mosquito that's taken up residence in the Yamada family's suburban Japan home. Your job: drink enough blood to survive the winter before they catch and swat you, played completely straight despite the premise. Rare among baka-ge in that it was localized and released in the US and Europe under this same English name, rather than left Japan-only.

Which pressing: SCPS19101 is the code Kataban carries, and on Suruga-ya it resolves to the PlayStation 2 the Best budget reprint rather than the 2001 first pressing. Kataban also lists the original under SCPC11009, but Suruga-ya does not index that code — searching 蚊 PS2 by title is how you find the first pressing there. If you just want to play it, the reprint is the same game and cheaper.

Where to buy: Suruga-ya.jp (by product code) · Buyee · eBay
Search for this on Kataban →

Death Crimson (Sega Saturn, 1996)

デスクリムゾン · Sega Saturn · Ecole Software · no product code on record

An on-rails shooter so infamous for broken hit detection, a nonsensical plot, and jaw-dropping FMV that it became shorthand in Japan for "so bad it's unforgettable" — spawning sequels that leaned into the reputation instead of fixing it.

A note on finding it: Kataban has this release in its catalog, but the source data carries no product code for it — the field is empty, so there is no code to search a shop by. Search it by its Japanese name instead: デスクリムゾン. Be aware that this pulls in the sequels too (Death Crimson 2 and OX on Dreamcast, OX+ on PS2), so check the platform on the listing — the one you want says セガサターン.

Where to buy: Suruga-ya.jp (by title search) · Buyee · eBay
Look up デスクリムゾン on Kataban →

Zombie Revenge (Dreamcast, 1999)

ゾンビリベンジ · Dreamcast · Sega · product code HDR-0026

A House of the Dead beat-'em-up spinoff where three AMS agents — Stick Breitling, Linda Rotta, and Rikiya Busujima — fight off a zombie outbreak with fists, guns, and B-movie one-liners. Busujima is the one worth knowing if you just read our Onimusha piece: his design is a direct homage to actor Yusaku Matsuda, right down to a costume swap that puts him in Matsuda's Tantei Monogatari outfit. Two tributes to the same legendary actor, three years apart, in two completely unrelated games — one from Sega, one from Capcom.

A note on searching: the code Kataban carries is HDR-0026, with the hyphen, and that is the form to type into Kataban. Suruga-ya is the other way around — searching HDR-0026 there returns five unrelated Dreamcast titles, while HDR0026 without the hyphen returns exactly this game. The buy link below uses the unhyphenated form for that reason.

Where to buy: Suruga-ya.jp (by product code) · Buyee · eBay
Search for this on Kataban →