You know, maybe I'm crazy or just have poor taste, but after playing the fan-made mock-up I linked... repeatedly, I kind of want a copy of this game. It looks like it could be a lot of fun, despite the "auto-scroll Hell" style of gameplay. There's some strategy involved in the side-scrolling parts -- knowing when to charge a shot and knowing when to just let loose normal shots. Combos raise your Experience meter, too, which I assume means better goodies at the end of levels in the real game. If you let the game go all by itself, you get minimal rewards, but don't risk losing life. The later levels, I assume, will probably have harder enemies which actually move and such, so the decision between charging a shot and wildly firing becomes harder.
I can't honestly say this "makes up" for the last year, but you know what? I can honestly say, this looks like it could be fun. And this without even adding in the modification aspects or multiplayer!