So I have to move the project from the "shmup" origins it currently Is to something much more near and dear to my heart: Hack and slash, puzzle, RPG. I will still have the epic motorcycle chase, but it will be at a different part of the game. But I wanted to show you where I am at now and how everything is looking! 

how it started:

I implemented some sprite-stacking techniques on top of using Inverse kinematics to make the legs. Next i got some basic shooting and slashing done. 

But it still didn't look right. The slashing looked very weird. Need more "UMPH" so I added some! and here is the final product:

And here is video of it in action!