Parodius series
Encyclopedia
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 , Antarctic Adventure
, Castlevania
, Xexex
, Axelay
, Thunder Cross
, Taisen Puzzle-Dama
, Space Manbow
, Ganbare Goemon
, Lethal Enforcers
, Tokimeki Memorial
and TwinBee
.
Numerous ports have been created. Parodius - Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū was converted to Mobile Phones and to Virtual Console
of the Nintendo Wii.
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 (with the exception of Paro Wars) has been released on the Sony PSP, but it is currently only available in Japan.
The first three episodes of the series were released in Japan for cell phones
.
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.
In July 1998, it was released a Parodius themed pachislot machine named .
Finally, two pachislot machines, Gokuraku Parodius and Gokuraku Parodius A, were released in 2010.
In addition, several pachinko
machines based on Parodius universe were released in Japan, such as CR Parodius Da in 2000 and CR Gokujō Parodius in 2006.
Original characters:
From other Konami games:
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 several 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.
. 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.
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.
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. True to the game series' theme, many of the weapon sets are actually either direct weapons or borrowed parodies of the weapons used in other Konami's shoot-em ups- even expanding to poke fun at the other game industries' famous shooters, such as Taito's Darius and Irem's R-Type
.
Some power-ups exclusive to Parodius include:
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
. The games are tongue-in-cheek parodies of Gradius
Gradius
The Gradius games, first introduced in 1985, make up a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper...
, hence the name (Parodius is a portmanteau on Parody and Gradius). It also parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
many other Konami franchises, including , Antarctic Adventure
Antarctic Adventure
Antarctic Adventure, known in Japan as Kekkyoku Nankyoku Daibōken is a video game developed by Konami in 1983 for MSX, and later for video game consoles, such as NES...
, Castlevania
Castlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
, Xexex
Xexex
Xexex is a 1991 side-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game by Konami. It draws on R-Type and Gradius, adding the tentacle mechanics of X-Multiply...
, Axelay
Axelay
Axelay is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Konami of Japan for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on September 11, 1992 in Japan, later in that month in North America, and the following year in Europe...
, Thunder Cross
Thunder Cross (arcade game)
Thunder Cross is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released in arcades by Konami in 1988. Thunder Cross used a "layered scrolling" background, a new 2D graphics technique at the time...
, Taisen Puzzle-Dama
Taisen Puzzle-Dama
is a puzzle series developed by Konami.-Games in the series:*Taisen Puzzle-Dama *Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai: Taisen Puzzle-dama - Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai themed...
, Space Manbow
Space Manbow
Space Manbow is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX2 in 1989. It was later re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console service on the 24th of November, 2009. It has never been released outside of Japan.-Summary:...
, Ganbare Goemon
Ganbare Goemon
, known as Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Mystical Ninja, and Goemon in North America and the PAL region, is a long-running video game series produced by Konami....
, Lethal Enforcers
Lethal Enforcers
Lethal Enforcers is a 1992 shooting game released for the arcades by Konami. It is best known for its revolver-shaped light gun known as the Konami Justifier, its digitized graphics, and the controversy over its content.Home versions were released for the Super NES, Sega Genesis and Sega CD during...
, Tokimeki Memorial
Tokimeki Memorial
is a popular dating simulation series by Konami. It consists of 6 main games in addition to a large number of spin-offs. The games are notable in the dating sim genre for being highly nonlinear. Their nickname amongst their fans is the contraction TokiMemo....
and TwinBee
Twinbee
is a video game series composed primarily of cartoon-themed vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up games produced by Konami that were released primarily in Japan. The series originated as a coin-operated video game simply titled TwinBee in , which was followed by several home versions and sequels...
.
Games
There are Six games in the Parodius series (arranged by title, year of its debut and original platform) In addition, three Pachislot games based on the characters were released in 1998 and 2010.:- パロディウス ～タコは地球を救う～ Parodius - Tako wa Chikyū o SukūParodius, or just Parodius, is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Konami for the MSX computer and was released in Japan. The game is notable for being the first title in the Parodius series, although it is often confused with its sequel Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ in that respect, which...
English: (Parodius: The Octopus Saves the Earth) (1988, MSXMSXMSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
) - 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, arcadeArcade gameAn arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
) - 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 FamicomSuper Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
) - セクシーパロディウス Sexy ParodiusSexy Parodiusis a scrolling shooter arcade game. It is the fifth installment of the Parodius series, produced by Konami. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of the Gradius series and other Konami games. It also contains explicitly sexual level and enemy designs and risqué innuendo...
(1996, arcade) - パロウォーズ Paro WarsParo Warsis a turn-based strategy video game produced by Konami in 1997. It features characters and conflicts based upon the popular Parodius series of video games which in turn is a parody of the long running Gradius series...
(1997, PlayStationPlayStationThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
) - リトルパイレーツ Little Pirates (1998, Pachislot)
- CR パロディウスだ! EX CR Parodius Da! EX (2000, PachinkoPachinkois a type of game originating in Japan, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but...
) - CR パロディウスだ! ZE CR Parodius Da! ZE (2000, PachinkoPachinkois a type of game originating in Japan, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but...
) - CR パロディウスだ! 2 CR Parodius Da! 2 (2000, PachinkoPachinkois a type of game originating in Japan, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but...
) - CR 極上パロディウス CR Gokujō Parodius! (2006, PachinkoPachinkois a type of game originating in Japan, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but...
) - 極楽パロディウス Gokuraku Parodius (2010, Pachislot)
- 極楽パロディウス A Gokuraku Parodius A (2010, Pachislot)
Numerous ports have been created. Parodius - Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū was converted to Mobile Phones and to Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
of the Nintendo Wii.
Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ was ported to the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(NES), Super Famicom (SNES), PC Engine, PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
and Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
. Gokujō Parodius! was ported to the Super Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
and Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
. 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 (with the exception of Paro Wars) has been released on the Sony PSP, but it is currently only available in Japan.
The first three episodes of the series were released in Japan for cell phones
Mobile game
A mobile game is a video game played on a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, tablet computer or portable media player. This does not include games played on handheld video game systems such as Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable....
.
Only a few of the games were released outside Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
: Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ and Gokujō Parodius! were released in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(as Parodius and Fantastic Journey respectively), but none of the games were released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
There is also a spin-off named Paro Wars
Paro Wars
is a turn-based strategy video game produced by Konami in 1997. It features characters and conflicts based upon the popular Parodius series of video games which in turn is a parody of the long running Gradius series...
. This game is a turn-based strategy game based on Cosmic Wars
Cosmic Wars
is a turn-based strategy video game produced by Konami in 1989 which is based upon the characters and conflicts of the popular Gradius series. It was released only in Japan...
, which plays similar to the Nintendo Wars
Nintendo Wars
The Advance Wars series, known as in Japan as , and often referred to as "Nintendo Wars" when referring to all the installments internationally, is a series of military turn-based and real-time strategy video games , usually developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. The series...
series. Aside from Pentarou, only some of the Parodius-native characters (Octopus and the like) appear in this game.
In July 1998, it was released a Parodius themed pachislot machine named .
Finally, two pachislot machines, Gokuraku Parodius and Gokuraku Parodius A, were released in 2010.
In addition, several pachinko
Pachinko
is a type of game originating in Japan, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but...
machines based on Parodius universe were released in Japan, such as CR Parodius Da in 2000 and CR Gokujō Parodius in 2006.
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 (A.K.A Mr.Parodius) appears in the MSX Parodius and Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ He appears again in Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius as a narrator (Oshaberi), his wife "Noriko" respectively narrating the second player at SS & PS1 Ports. Two of his offspring he used as options in the previous games took his place in next games: the first one, named as Takosuke, appears 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". It also makes cameos: The boss battle in Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyuushutsu Emaki, he disguised himself as a pirate in Ganbare Goemon: Kurofune Tou no Nazo, Several characters from Konami on Print Station in Mitsumete Knight R and the title appears in New International Track & FieldNew International Track & Field, is a sports video game by Konami for the Nintendo DS. Developed by Sumo Digital, it is the latest game in Konami's Track and Field series.-Overview:...
.
- Hikaru and Akane, two showgirls in rabbit costumes riding on rockets. Their weapons are borrowed from Thunder CrossThunder Cross (arcade game)Thunder Cross is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released in arcades by Konami in 1988. Thunder Cross used a "layered scrolling" background, a new 2D graphics technique at the time...
. 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. The girls have appeared as a cameo in many Konami game, such as Wai Wai World, Quiz Gakumon No Susume, Ganbare GoemonGanbare Goemon, known as Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Mystical Ninja, and Goemon in North America and the PAL region, is a long-running video game series produced by Konami....
3, SnatcherSnatcheris a cyberpunk-themed graphic adventure game produced by Konami, originally released in Japan for the NEC PC-8801 and MSX 2 computer platforms in 1988. It was followed by a CD-ROM-based remake released for the PC Engine video game console in 1992, which was subsequently ported and localized into...
, TwinBee RPGTwinbee RPGis a console role playing game for the PlayStation released exclusively in Japan on April 2, 1998. It is a spin-off of the TwinBee shoot-'em-up series featuring a storyline based on the TwinBee Paradise audio drama serial.-Game System:...
, Bishi Bashi Champ, Bishi Bashi Special or Shout! Shaberin Champ Mobile, The cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh is replaced by the Gamble Angel Bunny in the Yu-Gi-Oh GX and changes the name of Ruby and Cobalt in Otomedius ExcellentOtomedius Excellentis an Xbox 360 game and the sequel to the 2007 arcade game Otomedius by Konami, which is a spin-off of the Gradius series. Otomedius Excellent features female characters representing different Konami franchises riding on vehicles or equipped with flying armor...
.
- Soitsu, Doitsu, Koitsu, and Aitsu, little stick men flying on paper darts. They are also monsterMonsterA monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
s in the Yu-Gi-Oh!Yu-Gi-Oh!is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has produced a franchise that includes multiple anime shows, a trading card game and numerous video games...
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). It also makes a cameo in a book, as the game Tokimeki Memorial: Forever with you, as an unlockable character in Speed King NEO KOBE 2045, and in the game Super Bishi Bashi Champ.
- Michael and Gabriel, two angelic pigs, named after two ChristianChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
archangels. They're loosely based on angel pig enemies appearing in Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－. Their weapon sets are constructed mostly from those weapons used in Taito's Darius series. Michael makes a cameo in TwinBee Yahho! appearing as a power-upPower-upIn computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
.
- Mambo and Samba, two goofy looking Ocean sunfishOcean sunfishThe ocean sunfish, Mola mola, or common mola, is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It has an average adult weight of . The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally...
: they're character is inspired from obscure MSX2 shooter Space ManbowSpace ManbowSpace Manbow is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX2 in 1989. It was later re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console service on the 24th of November, 2009. It has never been released outside of Japan.-Summary:...
. They are named after the music styles of the same names, as to pun the design of the "Space Manbow" ship (Since it looks like a mambo fishSharptail molaThe sharptail mola, Masturus lanceolatus, is a species of mola found circumglobally in tropical and temperate waters. It is similar in appearance to the ocean sunfish , but can be distinguished by the projection on its clavus . Other common names include sharpfin sunfish, point-tailed sunfish, and...
). Their weapon sets parody those used in the R-TypeR-Typeis a side scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. The player controls a space fighter named R-9a "Arrowhead" to defend humanity against a mysterious but powerful alien life-form known as "Bydo", which was later discovered to be not entirely alien in origin...
series, but the weapons are also implemented with functions from XexexXexexXexex is a 1991 side-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game by Konami. It draws on R-Type and Gradius, adding the tentacle mechanics of X-Multiply...
(such as search laser). Mambo can also use four different lasers at time by using formation options (took also from Space Manbow) to create different combinations of laser arsenal.
- Mike and Ran, a pair of cats with what looks like bandages between their legs, a comical way of suggesting they've been neutered.Mike's weapon set is heavily based on first Darius, while Ran takes her weapons from the R-Type LeoR-Type Leois a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Irem. It is the fourth game in the R-Type series.-Story:While somewhat canon, the plot deviates from the original story line: Mankind find themselves at a financially and technologically peaceful state between the constant...
.
- 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 PenguinRockhopper penguinThe rockhopper penguins are three closely related taxa of crested penguins that have been traditionally treated as a single species and are sometimes split into two or three species. Not all experts agree on the classification of these penguins...
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. It also in the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, is replaced by Flying Penguin.
- 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.
- General Poti, a Dog Commander only playable in Paro Wars.
From other Konami games:
- Vic Viper and Lord British, of the Gradius series.
- Twinbee and Winbee, the bee-shaped robots from the Twinbee series. They borrow their weapons from few bell powers used in their 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, Pentarou is the son of the "Penguin" who originally appeared Antarctic AdventureAntarctic AdventureAntarctic Adventure, known in Japan as Kekkyoku Nankyoku Daibōken is a video game developed by Konami in 1983 for MSX, and later for video game consoles, such as NES...
, Penguin AdventurePenguin Adventureis an action-adventure platform video game released by Konami in 1986. It is a sequel to Antarctic Adventure and has the distinction of being the first game that game designer Hideo Kojima worked on; he was an assistant designer. It has been acclaimed as one of the best MSX action games for its...
, Yume Penguin MonogatariYume Penguin MonogatariYume Penguin Monogatari is a hybrid platform/shooter video game developed by Konami in 1991 for the Nintendo Family Computer.-Summary:This game is particularly notable because of its highly peculiar plot and gameplay...
, Tsurikko Penta, Super Fisherman Penta, Balloon Penta and Penta no Tsuri Bōken DX. His weapon set is modified from those used in Gradius IIIGradius IIIGradius III, known in Japan as , is a side-scrolling shooting game originally released for the arcades in Japan and Asia in . It is the second sequel to the original Gradius for the arcades following Gradius II, and was followed by Gradius IV. Gradius III was rereleased for the Super Nintendo...
, such as Spread Gun. He's usually seen sporting a machine gun, as to reference to Penguin's infamous gun weapon in Penguin AdventurePenguin Adventureis an action-adventure platform video game released by Konami in 1986. It is a sequel to Antarctic Adventure and has the distinction of being the first game that game designer Hideo Kojima worked on; he was an assistant designer. It has been acclaimed as one of the best MSX action games for its...
.
- Goemon and Ebisumaru, from the Ganbare GoemonGanbare Goemon, known as Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Mystical Ninja, and Goemon in North America and the PAL region, is a long-running video game series produced by Konami....
/Legend of the Mystical NinjaLegend of the Mystical Ninja, is a light-hearted action-adventure game for 1-2 players by Konami, and was released for the Super NES in 1992. It was also ported to the Game Boy Advance along with Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shogun Magginesu only in Japan. It is the first game in the Japanese video game series Ganbare Goemon...
series. The former one was playable in MSX Parodius.
- Upa and Rupa, two super babies, the former debuting in the Famicom Disk SystemFamicom Disk SystemThe was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage. It was announced, but never released, for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System...
game Bio Miracle Bokutte UpaBio Miracle Bokutte Upais a Konami video game that was first released for a Japan-exclusive market in 1988 for the Family Computer Disk System. It was later released as a cartridge in 1993 for the Family Computer....
. Upa translates his weapons from Seibu Kaihatsu's RaidenRaiden (arcade game)is a scrolling shooter arcade game that was developed by Seibu Kaihatsu. It was the first game in the popular Raiden series of scrolling shooter arcade games.Raiden first made its debut in September 1990...
using the milk bottles from his game or pacifiers. Rupa's weapons again are based on Toaplan's Truxton IITruxton IIis a 1992 arcade game developed and published by Toaplan for video arcades, and later ported to the FM-Towns. It is the sequel to Truxton....
.
- Dracula-kun and Kid DraculaKid DraculaKid Dracula is a comical gothic-themed platform game series, and a spinoff to Castlevania. The first Family Computer game was released in Japan only. Konami released a title for the Game Boy by in in both regions. It is simultaneously a remake and a sequel of the Famicom version...
, 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 CastlevaniaCastlevaniaCastlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
series.Dracula-Kun's weapon set mimics the one used in AxelayAxelayAxelay is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Konami of Japan for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on September 11, 1992 in Japan, later in that month in North America, and the following year in Europe...
, while Kid Dracula would use Thunder CrossThunder Cross (arcade game)Thunder Cross is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released in arcades by Konami in 1988. Thunder Cross used a "layered scrolling" background, a new 2D graphics technique at the time...
-based weapon set. Both weapon sets are parodied with a CastlevaniaCastlevaniaCastlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
twist, like having bats or candles. Occasionally umbrellas would be used as weapons or even as a shield- as to refer on the Kid Dracula's Bat Umbrella-spell from Kid DraculaKid DraculaKid Dracula is a comical gothic-themed platform game series, and a spinoff to Castlevania. The first Family Computer game was released in Japan only. Konami released a title for the Game Boy by in in both regions. It is simultaneously a remake and a sequel of the Famicom version...
.
- Option and Multiple, the mimic drones of Vic Viper and Lord British, respectively. They have faces to denote self-consciousness and can change their forms by activating various modoki abilities, which let's them borrow few weapon sets from other characters. Funnily they have little Vic Vipers or Lord Britishes as their own "options"/"multiples". They appear as playable characters only in Sexy ParodiusSexy Parodiusis a scrolling shooter arcade game. It is the fifth installment of the Parodius series, produced by Konami. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of the Gradius series and other Konami games. It also contains explicitly sexual level and enemy designs and risqué innuendo...
.
- Popolon, a knight from the MSX game Knightmare and its sequel Maze of GaliousMaze of Galiousis the sequel to Konami's MSX game Knightmare. While the first game was an overhead, vertical scrolling shooter, The Maze of Galious is a side-view, flick-screen platform game. Starring in The Maze of Galious are Popolon and Aphrodite, entering the evil priest Galious' castle to free their...
. He only appears in the MSX Parodius.
- Shooting Star, a red ship that appears as an enemy in Twinbee Yahho!Twinbeeis a video game series composed primarily of cartoon-themed vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up games produced by Konami that were released primarily in Japan. The series originated as a coin-operated video game simply titled TwinBee in , which was followed by several home versions and sequels...
. Piloted by Ace.
- Momo-chan, a dog player who appears in the game Susume! Taisen Puzzle Dama, He only appears in the PlayStation Paro Wars.
- Sana, a girl witch in Pachislot Magical Halloween, She also only appears in the Pachislot Gokuraku Parodius.
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 several 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
Sexy Parodius
is a scrolling shooter arcade game. It is the fifth installment of the Parodius series, produced by Konami. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of the Gradius series and other Konami games. It also contains explicitly sexual level and enemy designs and risqué innuendo...
, as its name would imply, is composed of several such women as its bosses.
Excessive amounts of moai
Moai
Moai , or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the...
: Making light of the famous Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
statues that appear in almost every Gradius game, the Parodius games often have a comical moai boss, which may be presented wearing lipstick
Lipstick
Lipstick is a cosmetic product containing pigments, oils, waxes, and emollients that applies color, texture, and protection to the lips. Many varieties of lipstick are known. As with most other types of makeup, lipstick is typically, but not exclusively, worn by women...
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 remixesRemixeS
RemixeS is a compilation of French singer Mylène Farmer's singles by various famous DJ's, including JXL, Felix Da Housecat and Paul Oakenfold.-Brackground, writing and release:...
. There are also a number of rehashes of in game music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
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
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
-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 GradiusGradius
The Gradius games, first introduced in 1985, make up a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper...
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. True to the game series' theme, many of the weapon sets are actually either direct weapons or borrowed parodies of the weapons used in other Konami's shoot-em ups- even expanding to poke fun at the other game industries' famous shooters, such as Taito's Darius and Irem's R-Type
R-Type
is a side scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. The player controls a space fighter named R-9a "Arrowhead" to defend humanity against a mysterious but powerful alien life-form known as "Bydo", which was later discovered to be not entirely alien in origin...
.
Some power-ups exclusive to Parodius include:
- Homing Missile: Two missiles are fired at once and track the enemy. Later on included in Otomedius.
- 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. Used by Hikaru in the SNES port of Gokujo Parodius, Kid Dracula in Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius: Forever With Me, and by Option in Sexy Parodius. This is took directly from Thunder Cross.
- 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. The bullets will slant upward or downward if the character was moving up or down when they were fired. Hikaru's Carrot Shot is similar but does not leave explosions.
- 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. Known as Funshin in his game series.
- 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!: Originally in MSX Parodius, 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. In the ports of Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius, it can be replaced with a roulette game instead.
Parodius in other media
- In Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card GameYu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card GameThe is a Japanese collectible card game developed and published by Konami. It is based on the fictional game of Duel Monsters created by manga artist Kazuki Takahashi, which is the main plot device during the majority of his popular manga franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and its various anime adaptations...
, Koitsu, Aitsu, Soitsu, Doitsu appear as monster cards. English version of the cards are also available.http://gradius.classicgaming.gamespy.com/yugioh.html
- In Gamest Comics Collection, Those Parodius Characters in Gokujyou Parodius appear as Manga and Comics Japanese, Created by Namie Iwao and Released in 1995.
Trivia
- Starting with Gokujō Parodius, the Power Meter was changed from a bar with the weapon names as text to a bar with pictures indicating the powerups. The borders of each icon determine the gameplay type chosen, red for auto, yellow for semi-auto and blue for manual. As this kind of power meter is shorter, two separate power meters appear on screen on a two player game. Note that the SNES parodius games still use the classic power meter and that the PSX and PSP version of Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius simply use the first letter of the weapon name.