Parodius (series)

The "Parodius" series is a series of horizontally-scrolling shooters developed by Konami. The games are tongue-in-cheek parodies of "Gradius", hence the name ("Parodius" is a portmanteau on "Parody" and "Gradius"). It also parodies many other Konami franchises, including "Castlevania", "Ganbare Goemon", "Lethal Enforcers", "Tokimeki Memorial" and "Twinbee".

Games

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DateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:1988 till:1998TimeAxis = orientation:verticalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1988ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1988

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PlotData= bar:Games color:red width:15 textcolor:blue align:left fontsize:S mark:(line,white) shift:($dx,-4) from:1988 till:1998 at:1988 text:Parodius at:1990 text:Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ at:1994 text:Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～ at:1995 text:Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius at:1996 text:Sexy Parodius at:1997 text:Paro Wars

There are five games in the Parodius series (arranged by title, year of its debut and original platform):
* パロディウス ～タコは地球を救う～ "Parodius - Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū" English: ("Parodius: The Octopus Saves the Earth") (1988, MSX)
* パロディウスだ! －神話からお笑いへ－ "Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－" English: ("It's Parodius! －From Myth to Laughter－") (1990, arcade)
* 極上パロディウス "Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～" English: ("Ultimate Parodius ～Pursue the Glory of the Past～") (1994, arcade)
* 実況おしゃべりパロディウス "Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius" English: ("Chatting Parodius") (1995, Super Famicom)
* セクシーパロディウス "Sexy Parodius" (1996, arcade)

Numerous ports have been created. "Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－" was ported to the Game Boy, Famicom (NES), Super Famicom (SNES), PC Engine, PlayStation and Sega Saturn. "Gokujō Parodius!" was ported to the Super Famicom, PlayStation and Saturn. The PlayStation and Saturn versions were a combined release of "Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－" and "Gokujō Parodius!" called "Gokujō Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack". The last two titles were also released on both the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

A compilation of all Parodius games has been announced for release on the Sony PSP.

Only a few of the games were released outside Japan: "Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－" and "Gokujō Parodius!" were released in Europe (as "Parodius" and "Fantastic Journey" respectively), but none of the games were released in the United States.

There is also a spin-off named "Paro Wars". This game is a turn-based strategy game based on "Cosmic Wars", which plays similar to the "Nintendo Wars" series. Aside from Pentarou, only some of the Parodius-native characters (Octopus and the like) appear in this game.

Features

Characters

Some of the characters that appear in the various games in the series include the following: Original characters:
* "Octopus", "Takosuke", "Takohiko" and "Belial", they are octopuses. Octopus appears in the MSX "Parodius" and "Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－". He is renamed Takosuke and appears as such on Gokujyou Parodius along with Belial (a yellow female octopus). Another octopus, Takohiko takes Takosuke's place in "Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius". The names Takosuke and Takohiko are both portmanteaus of "tako", the Japanese word for octopus, and common endings of Japanese male names, "-suke" and "-hiko".
* "Hikaru" and "Akane", two showgirls in rabbit costumes riding on rockets. They were bosses in "Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius", most likely as revenge for not being featured as playable characters. They return as usable characters in Sexy Parodius.
* "Soitsu", "Doitsu", "Koitsu", and "Aitsu", little stick men flying on paper darts. They are also monsters in the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" trading card game whose full power cannot be utilized unless they're played in pairs. Their names are commonly used in Japanese slang terms to refer to people one does not know ("Doitsu" = who, "Koitsu" = this guy, "Soitsu" = that guy - far from the speaker, but near to the listener - , and "Aitsu" = that guy - far from both chatters).
* "Michael" and "Gabriel", two angelic pigs, named after two Christian angels. They originally appeared as enemies in "Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－"
* "Mambo" and "Samba", two goofy looking Ocean sunfish. They are named after the music styles of the same names. Their weapon sets parody those used in the R-Type series.
* "Mike" and "Ran", a pair of cats with what looks like bandages between their legs, a comical way of suggesting they've been neutered.
* "Sue" and "Memim", two fairy girls. They replace Hikaru and Akane in "Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius".
* "Ivan" and "Toby", two tough-looking penguins. Their names together form a pun of Iwatobi, the Japanese name for the Rockhopper Penguin which they are intended to be. The long yellow eyebrows of this duo are the most striking feature of this particular penguin species. They replace Pentarou and Hanako in "Sexy Parodius".
* "Black Viper", a new space ship only playable in "Sexy Parodius". It has similar weapons to Shooting Star. It's most likely based from Gradius III Vic Viper, as the theme song of Black Viper is named "Departure for Sexy", which is a reference to Gradius III theme song "Departure for Space". The pilot is also female, as seen in the intro of Sexy Parodius.

From other Konami games:
* Vic Viper and Lord British, of the "Gradius" series.
* "Twinbee" and "Winbee", the bee-shaped robots from the "Twinbee" series.:Notably, It is Winbee, as well as her pilot Pastel, rather than Twinbee, who is the major Twinbee character in Parodius.
* "Pentarou" and "Hanako", a pair of penguins, form which the former appeared in "Antarctic Adventure", Penguin Adventure and "Yume Penguin Monogatari".
* "Goemon" and "Ebisumaru", from the "Ganbare Goemon"/"Legend of the Mystical Ninja" series.
* "Upa" and "Rupa", two super babies, the former debuting in the Famicom Disk System game "Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa".
* Dracula-kun and "Kid Dracula", who are actually the same character. Both names reflect the games he starred in ("Akumajou Special:Boku Dracula-kun" and "Kid Dracula") which are parodies on the "Castlevania" series. His weapon set mimics the one used in Axelay with a Castlevania twist.
* "Option" and "Multiple", the mimic drones of Vic Viper and Lord British, respectively. They have faces to denote self-conscienceness and have little Vic Vipers or Lord Britishes as their own "options"/"multiples". They appear as playable characters only in "Sexy Parodius".
* "Popolon", a knight from the MSX game "Knightmare" and its sequel "Maze of Galious". He only appears in the MSX "Parodius".
* "Shooting Star", a red ship that appears as an enemy in "Twinbee Yahho!". Piloted by Ace.

Enemies

Gradius's mechanical and alien enemies have been almost completely removed from "Parodius". There are several enemies that make it into every title. Some bosses in the "Parodius" games are parodies of "Gradius" bosses; the attacks and patterns remain the same, however the graphical look is usually changed to something more organic or cartoony.

Penguins: The most common enemy faced in any "Parodius" game. Usually there is one level that is within a penguin building, with viewports showing penguins at work. The penguins are anthropomorphic; wielding weapons, operating machinery, and even listening to music. There are a couple penguin bosses as well.

Octopodes: Another common enemy faced in the Parodius series. In almost every "Parodius" game, an octopus serves as the final boss.

Large women as boss creatures: Every "Parodius" game features one or more bosses that persist of scantily clad women (or penguins, or octopuses). "Sexy Parodius", as its name would imply, is composed of several such women as its bosses.

Excessive amounts of moai: Making light of the famous Easter Island statues that appear in almost every "Gradius" game, the "Parodius" games often have a comical moai boss, which may be presented wearing lipstick or given other anthropomorphic features. "Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－" and "Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～" have an entire stage featuring moai; including a large moai ship, a moai boss that shoots moai out of her mouth, little moai cannons, and moai obstacles. "Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius" also features a moai stage parodying "Tokimeki Memorial".

Music

One of the more distinctive features about the series is the extensive use of classical music and other well known music, in what could be termed as wacky remixes. There are also a number of rehashes of in game music from "Gradius" and other Konami games -- very little of the series' music was newly composed.

Bell Power-ups

Originally from the "Twinbee" games, these typically give temporary power-ups that have varied throughout the series. True to their origin, the bells' colors can be cycled by shooting them. The new bell colors have remained somewhat constant in meaning throughout latter games in the series.

; Yellow Bell : Gives points. Subsequent yellow bells increase in point value from 500 points up to 10,000 points. Missing a bell will cause the bonus to revert back to 500 points, which will then increase with each yellow bell again.

; White Bell : Gives your character a megaphone for a short period of time. Out of the megaphone is placed a sentence in Japanese (or English in the European version), the text of which can be collided into bullets and enemies to damage them. When this bell is collected, the effects of previous bells and defense power-ups are cancelled. In "Sexy Parodius", this instead summons Alex, a Pac-Man-like helper character that eats enemies. However, Alex will not harm "female" enemies. Alex has an HP counter that can be refilled with yellow bells and increased with more white bells.

; Green Bell : Enlarges your character 400%. While your character is in this enlarged state, they cannot fire any weapons, but is also invulnerable to all damage; this allows your character to collide into walls and enemies (thus killing them) without taking damage. However, no bells can be collected or defense power-ups activated until the effect expires. This also cancels stored weapons from other bells as well as any shields present on activation.

; Purple Bell : Converts all weak enemies into power-up pods and/or bells. This was first available in "Gokujō Parodius!".

; Red Bell : Provides three rounds of the Kiku Beam. A miniature version of your character flies ahead of your character and spreads a long vertical beam that can act as a barrier that damages enemies and destroys enemy bullets. It scrolls with the screen.

; Blue Bell : Provides one Super Bomb. A large explosion floods the screen and destroys all enemies within. Up to three blue bells can be collected in sequence and saved for later use.

Roulette / Blizzard

When enabled, some power-up pods start a roulette on the power-up bar. The player then presses the power-up button to stop the roulette and get whatever power-up the roulette stops on. The player must be careful not to get the "Oh!" power-up ("!?" in "Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－") between the last two power-ups, for this will remove all power-ups from the player and reset movement speed to minimum. This cancels any prior progress made on the bar. In European versions of the game, this feature was renamed Blizzard.

Power-ups

The Parodius series borrows the power-up bar system from the "Gradius" series. However, the order and types of power-ups are somewhat inconsistent between characters; some characters have more than one missile or may not have a laser-type weapon, for example. Power-ups exclusive to Parodius include:
*Homing Missile: Two missiles are fired at once and track the enemy.
*Double: Most Double power-ups split firepower in more than two directions.
*B-Shot (Boomerang Shot): Fires a boomerang that bounces off the first wall or enemy it hits.
*Spread Gun: Bullets explode on impact, similarly to the Spread Bomb from Gradius games, or more closely, the Gravity Bullet from Gradius Gaiden. Enemies can be damaged in the blast.
*Option: Twinbee's Options are retained from its original game; the Options are only visible when moving and retract to the player's position when the player stops moving.
*Grade Up: Some characters have this power-up in lieu of Option. It increases the firepower of all available weapons. For example, it can increase and divert firepower in more directions, increase laser width, increase missile deployment rate, etc.
*Shields and Force Fields: Unlike Gradius, which labels shield and force field power-ups as "?", Parodius games label such power-ups properly.
*Oh!: This simply strips the player of all power-ups and sets movement speed to normal. The voiceover says "Oh my god!" upon collection of this power-down. This is also called "!?" in "Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－". It is included to add risk to the roulette.

Parodius in other media

In Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, Koitsu, Aitsu, Soitsu, Doitsu appear as monster cards. English version of the cards are also available. [http://gradius.classicgaming.gamespy.com/yugioh.html]

External links

* [http://www.1up-games.com/snes/parodius/parodie.html 1UP] , illustrated comparison between Parodius and Gradius on Nintendo consoles.
* [http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/parodius/parodius.htm Hardcore Gaming 101 - Parodius]
* [http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/shooting_tsp/index.html Konami homepage for PSP Compilation]