Twilight Parade: Moonlit Mononoke (PS5) | REVIEW | A Sexy Parodius Successor!?

Twilight Parade: Moonlit Mononoke, developed by Super16Bits and published by EastAsiaSoft delivers unto us a bullet hell experience lightly akin to Konami's Sexy Parodius. In it we find the mischievous Oni twins out to disrupt an annual Yokai parade they weren't invited to. Along with two tag along companions in the form of Kitsune (a foxy lady) and Gyokuto (a bunny eared girl), the lot aim to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting spirits of Japan. Standing between them and that goal are several buxom girl bosses.

The Gameplay ...

Gameplay, and mechanics are simple as are the features of this shortly lived bullet hell experience. At the main menu you'll find there lies only three basic options. You can play the game, change the language, and check out award goals that can be met via in-game feats, particularly interactions with the main characters, bosses, and the Yokai you'll meet along the way. During a playthrough your goal, above all else, is to survive the waves of Yokai as they swarm you and send bullet hell in your direction. Whether you choose one of the two main Oni twins, their one piece wearing variants, or Kitsuune/Gyokuto you will be given a specific orbiting satellite/s in the guise of a companion creature/s or object/s that fires additional bullets at the enemies. Some characters feature two orbiting companions whereas others only have one. 

No matter the choice of character, and their unique ride (broom, banana, surfboard ...) and fashions each have a hit marker in the guise of a green jewel attached to the body of each. This is where damage is taken, and avoided. In the way of damage intake you initially have three spell blasts that negate three hits of taken damage. After that it's a one hit kill up to three times before a continue or GAME OVER option is offered. This stock of lives and damage negating blasts that refill each new stage are meant to get you through to the end.

Stage-wise playthroughs are short lived, but challenging in that you have to also master the slowdown mechanic that coincides with weapon fire. Firing your shot will slow down your character. This is good for weaving in and out of the more dense bullet hell situations, but not so much in the before boss instances where lesser Yokai must be targeted quickly, and efficiently as to not let yourself become overwhelmed. By releasing the shot button your character will gain a speed boost good for this purpose. 

In the way of scoring there is a combo system tied to downed Yokai in succession as well as gem bonus points, and coins for playing a slot machine mini-game at the end of a stage if you survive the boss battle. This all ultimately tallies into your current hi-score, but sadly does not carry over to any local or global leaderboards making high score chasing only viable in a streaming community where records are kept outside of the game.

As you play through each stage you'll not only find that the setting and Yokai differ, but also that the main structure remains the same, regardless. You get a dynamic fly through in a horizontal side-scrolling perspective as waves of lesser Yokai come into view before a final cautionary warning further along, and the arrival of the end stage boss. Each boss has a similar yet slightly different bullet hell pattern to deal with and must be cleared to get to the next stage.

The Presentation ...

Visually Twilight Parade: Moonlit Mononoke is a brilliant 16bit manifestation of pixel art and sprites that are well articulated and animated. It is a colorful and festive display of mythological proportions set in a Japanese theme. Everything from the Yokai, to the playable characters and stage sets reflect an adherence to cultural accuracy. You'll definitely recognize some of the Yokai that make the cut. As far as soundtrack goes it is about as festive and lively as the in-game celebration. 

The Verdict ...

Though I was hyped for this one the letdown that transpired during my playthrough was definitely realized. This game fell short of living up to obvious inspiration, and lacked many key features like leaderboards that would have made the experience so much more fulfilling. As it is it's more of a sexualized gimmick than a shmup worthy of leaderboard chasing, and that is a shame. I hope that if the developer considers doing a sequel or follow-up game in it's likeness that they research what made Sexy Parodius so beloved among fans of the genre. I also think they should shrink character sprites, offer more varied shot/character types, and include larger stages that aren't so cramped and filled with equally as large enemies. This could definitely translate into something us Sexy Parodius fans have longed for with all the right adjustments. Maybe even go 32bit ...