Yeah, Xevious is a terrible game. I think Nintendo shot themselves (or at this the series) in the foot by having it be one of the first NES Classics games (along with Bomberman, another terrible game).

I have Xevious 3D/G+, and it has about three different versions of the old school Xevious.

"Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood."
-Orwell