Year: 1992
Publisher: Masaya
Developer: NCS Corp.
Country: Japan
Genre: Horizontal scrolling shooter
Platform: Various
Cho Aniki (literally, “Super Big Brother”) is a Japanese side-scrolling shooter video game series. It is an example of the baka-ge (literally, “idiot game”), a subgenre of kuso-ge (literally, “shit game”). Few of the games are available outside of Japan.

Screenshot Image credit http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/choaniki/choaniki.htm
The series is most well known for its surreal imagery, kitschy/campy humor, and homoerotic imagery and gameplay. The game features many muscular, nearly naked men. One of the main characters, Samons, shoots globs of “protein” out of a hole on the top of his head. Given the extensiveness of the game’s homoeroticism and its mechanics, we are listing it as a queer game (broadly). The trailer for the PlayStation game appears below.
LGBTQ References in this game: Queer game/narrative
Citations:
- Arne, P. (2002, August 7). Cho Aniki- Bakaretsu Rantou Hen. Encyclopedia Obscura. http://www.encyclopedia-obscura.com/gamescho.html
- thecreaturehub. (2015, February 3). Bizarre Japanese Game | First Five (Cho Aniki). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsiu4Nr-Lj8
- PlayscopeTimeline. (2011, October 7). Cho Aniki-Trailer-PSone. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4MOg8mSILQ
- Cho Aniki. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Cho_Aniki
- Cho Aniki. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cho_Aniki
- Ai Cho Aniki – Have A Gay Ol’ Time! (January 10, 2014). Retrieved from https://thanksforyourplaying.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/ai-cho-aniki-have-a-gay-ol-time
- Greene, G. (2013, May 7). ‘Cho Aniki’ And The Surreal Nature Of Bodybuilding. GayGamer.Net http://gaygamer.net/2013/05/gay-play-cho-aniki-and-the-surreal-nature-of-bodybuilding
- Kalata, K. (2009). Cho Aniki. Hardcore Gaming 101. http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/choaniki/choaniki.htm