Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban

Deae Tonosama - Appare Ichiban (roughly, "Meet Tonosama! Alright! Number One!") is a weird title released by Sunsoft for the Super Nintendo system in early 1995. The game is almost unknown, not only because it was never released outside Japan, but also because it was made when the SNES was almost at the end of its commercial life, so that only very few copies were produced: it has since reached high prices on eBay (up to $150 and more) because of this scarcity.

DTAI plays almost like Pocky and Rocky: it is an overhead Shoot'Em Up with two human characters who can jump, run, slide and kick ass with ranged and melee weapons. The main gimmick of the title is that our "heroes" can turn into their insanely over-powered fathers for a while before returning into their pathetic young selves, but apart from this it largely plays like the before mentioned title, including smart bombs and the simultaneous 2-player action.

The story: the main characters are a happy-go-lucky young feudal Japanese lord named Baka-dono ("Lord Stupid") and an equally young French nobleman named Baka-ouji ("Prince Stupid"... okay, you can sense where this is going). Japan is at peace now, but something is not right: the fathers of the two stupids, ashamed for their idiocy that is ruining their noble families, come back as ghosts and possess them, giving them all of their strength in moments of distress. And boy, will they need that: Baka-dono and Baka-ouji are going to uncover a nefarious plot that spans all over Japan, then around the world and finally into outer space... Yeah, we said this was a Widget Game.

Baka-dono is armed with a paper fan, and Baka-ouji with an endless supply of roses: by picking up certain icons, they will refill the TGR gauge, and when it hits 100%, they can turn into their hulking fathers and kick all kind of asses with their bare hands; however, in this mode every hit they take and every punch they land will decrease the gauge until it goes back to zero, and then they go back to normal.

The stupid tropes found in Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban:

• Alien Invasion: Ultimately thwarted by the two idiots.
• Anachronism Stew: Obviously Played for Laughs.
• Androcles' Lion: You rescue a beached dolphin from a trio of fishermen hitting it with spears, then he and his friends help you to reach an island.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: The two baka jump and run on the surface of Mars with no problem at all.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Unexplained giant grasshoppers in the China stage.
• Bonus Level: The two minigames that can improve the heroes' abilities. They only appear if all levels in a chapter are beaten.
• Boss Banter: Almost always, including an example where two bosses argue between them on who's going to kill the player first!
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Our heroes turned into their fathers can destroy everything with just their blazing punches. Sometimes it takes a single hit to defeat a mid-level boss!
• Chest Monster: Some of the treasure chests found in the French stage contain human-sized monsters that run after you!
• Chinese Vampire: Mooks in the China stage.
• Cute Witch: Mooks in the France stage.
• Dual Boss: A few examples.
• Everything Trying to Kill You: Let's see - farmers, monks, zombies, cherubs, astronauts...
• Eye Beams: Used by the final boss. The Indian stage boss is an elephant which sometimes uses trunk beams!
• Feudal Japan: Where it all begins.
• Final Boss, New Dimension: You fight the alien leader in the void of space, above the Earth.
• Four-Element Ensemble: At the beginning of every game, our heroes can choose one of four helpers that act as a smart bomb. Their powers are Air, Fire, Water and Lightning, but functionally, they're all the same.
• Gainax Ending: When the alien leader blows up, it is revealed to be a monkey, which our heroes bring back to Earth, and then they become famous for the discovery of this specimen, as seen in the sepia photograph that concludes the game. What the...!?
• Gratuitous French: However, "Oui" is the only understandable part.
• The Greys: How the native Martians are portrayed.
• Hollywood Atlas: Surely the other countries that appear in the game (China, India and a French court) are not faithfully represented, but it is all for Rule of Funny.
• Large and In Charge: The king you meet at the end of the French stage.
• Let's Play: This one is pretty interesting because the Japanese guy doing it (in English) actually cared to translate all the in-game text and explain all the cultural references and some of the weirder sight gags.
• Levitating Lotus Position: The yogi in India do this all times. They also shoot laser beams.
• Macho Camp: This game has a more than fair share of big burly men - the main characters' fathers, many enemies, some helpers and a guy in the bonus stage who also has bunny ears on his head!
• Made of Explodium: Everything.
• Mars Rabbit: On Mars, among the enemies, there are a few bunnies armed with some tools, it is a reference to the Japanese legend of the rabbits living on the moon pounding mochi.
• Meido: Two of Baka-ouji's helpers. Despite the nationality, they're not examples of French Maid. The other two are butlers, probably his servants.
• The Monkey Was The Mastermind: See the Gainax Ending entry above.
• Monumental Damage: Part of the China stage is set on the Great Wall, which at one point begins to crumble, turning the stage into a variant of Advancing Wall of Doom (Crumbling Great Wall Of Doom, perhaps?).
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: A mid-boss in India looks an awful lot like Sai Baba.
• Oda NObunaga: The famous warlord is for the Nth time listed as a villain. This time, he has been revived by aliens and turned into a cyborg, hoping he could conquer Earth for the alien invaders, given his historical records.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Baka-dono and Baka-ouji (at least we hope they're nicknames...).
• Paper Fan of Doom: Baka-dono's weapon.
• Playing Tennis With the Boss: The only way to defeat the fat sultan on a Flying Carpet at the end of the Arabian stage is to hit the oil drum he sometimes rolls on the floor. The oil leak will ignite and damage the guy (although he is floating in mid-air and should not be affected by that).
• Punny Name: Tokugawa YEAHyasu (why yes, the YEAH is actually written in Western alphabet in the game) and Oda NObunaga. Just to make sure which one's really the bad guy.
• Rocket Punch: Used by Tokugawa YEAHyasu, of all people.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Baka-dono and Baka-ouji. They're dumb, but in the end, they get things done.
• Sequence Breaking: It's possible to go right into the final level of a chapter without clearing the other ones. However, the player must then fight the bosses of the skipped levels before the main one and also loses access to a bonus minigame that can improve the Super Mode ability.
• Something About a Rose: Baka-ouji attacks by throwing roses with deadly accuracy. Roses are also associated with him and his family as much as sakura (cherry blossoms) is associated with Baka-dono.
• Trademark Favorite Food: There are two energy power-ups, tempura (for Baka-dono) and cake (for Baka-ouji). If one character picks up the food associated with him, half of his life energy will be restored, otherwise he will regain only a meager half-point of energy.
• World Map: First it is a map of Japan, then of the world, then of Mars, which has just a single (but long) stage.
• X Meets Y: Pocky and Rocky meets Cho Aniki. No, really.