Gokuraku! Chuka Taisen

Based on the legend of the Monkey King, this takes the shoot 'em up genre and puts it into a fantastical ancient Chinese setting. Riding on your cloud, you have to fend off oriental spirits and monsters that seem to have taken a dislike for you. Take care though, as one hit and you are dead - sending you back to the last restart point in the level. Helping you on your travels are, of course, the obligatory power-up pods and also an occasional shop where you can purchase such useful powers as a ring of fire and 3-way reverse shots. Also handy is the fact that you can spin around at any time to shoot whatever is creeping up from behind. At varying stages throughout each level you face a boss which must be dispatched to move on.