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Parodius, known in Japan as Gokujou Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack (極上パロディウスだ！DELUXE PACK) is a compilation for the Sega Saturn containing the first two arcade Parodius games. It was released for the console in 1995 in Japan and Europe. A North American release was also announced by Konami, but cancelled for unknown reasons.
Developed and published by Konami, the Parodius franchise is a parody of Konami's successful Gradius fanchise, as well as other Konami-made franchises such as Antarctic Adventure and Twinbee. Both are side-scrolling shoot-'em-ups in which the player pilots various characters with their own set of weapons.
Parodius or, more accurately, Parodius Da!: Shinwa kara Owarai e (パロディウスだ! －神話からお笑いへ－) is an arcade game released in 1990 and a "sequel" to the original Parodius game released for the MSX in 1988. It is the simpler game of the two, featuring only four characters (Vic Viper (Gradius), Octopus, Twinbee (Twinbee) and Pentarou (Antarctic Adventure)).
This game is the most widely ported Parodius game, having been subsequently brought to the NES, Game Boy, Super Nintendo, and in Japan, the PC Engine and X68000. No versions were released in North America, although the arcade release and Nintendo ports saw a release in Europe, as was this compilation.
Fantastic Journey
Fantastic Journey, known as Gokujou Parodius!: Kako no Eikou o Motomete (極上パロディウス ～過去の栄光を求めて～) in Japan is the direct sequel to Parodius and was released in 1994. It features twice as many playable characters (technically four times, as the two-player characters use different sprites), bigger stages and is the more forgiving of the two.
Though the arcade release of Fantastic Journey and this compilation were released in Europe, the only standalone home port, one for the Super Famicom, remained in Japan.
Gameplay
Both Parodius and Fantastic Journey share some same basic gameplay elements, though Fantastic Journey has a number of additions to the formula. Both play extremely similarly to Gradius; players scroll from left to right, shooting enemies and avoiding obstacles and projectiles. A collision is usually instant death, and players have a limited number of lives until they are given a game over.
The power-up system from Gradius returns in Parodius, in which players collect power-up capsules to advance the power gauge at the bottom of the screen. Pressing upgrades the player with whatever is highlighted on the gauge (returning the selector back to the original position), meaning the player can choose which order they get their upgrades. The "roulette" option ("!?" or "OH") will select an upgrade at random, but can also remove upgrades, however both games also offer an "auto" mode to both avoid this and make any power-up selections for you.
Like Gradius, blue capsules can also be collected from destroyed enemies, which will eliminate any smaller enemies currently on-screen. The games also borrow from Twinbee by including power-up "bells" of varying colours, each with different effects. Bells move more quickly to the left making them harder to obtain; shooting a bell changes its colour and knocks it forward, but there is a limit to how often you can do this before it just awards points.
As the player obtains more power-ups, enemy projectiles become more common, to the point where they will be launched when an enemy is destroyed. Bosses will also adjust their attacks to counteract the player extended arsenal.
Parodius
Characters
Vic Viper
Star of the Gradius series, Vic Viper has the same power-ups as the 1985 game.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
Missile
Drops a missile at an angle towards the ground. If it lands on a solid object, it will travel to the right, destroying any enemies in its path until it hits something solid. In Parodius the missile is given little legs.
Double
Fires a second shot at a 45-degree angle, pointing to the top right. Ignored when using "auto" mode.
Laser
Replaces the standard shot with a blue beam that can penetrate through multiple enemies at once.
Option
Floating orbs that follow Vic Viper and fire the same projectiles. The player can collect up to four.
!?
!?
The roulette option.
Shield
A protective barrier that can block incoming fire from the right, but still leaves Vic Viper vulnerable from the other sides. As the shield takes hits, it gets smaller, before finally disappearing.
Octopus
An octopus, an animal whose inclusion is a running theme in Parodius games. This octopus uses one of the power-up options of 1988 game Gradius II.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
2 way missile
Fires two missiles directly above and below Octopus. They will explode as soon as they touch something.
Tail gun
A second shot is fired backwards. Ignored when using "auto" mode.
Ripple laser
Replaces the standard shot with circular lasers which expand as they move to the right.
Option
Smaller octpuses orbs that follow Octopus and fire the same projectiles. The player can collect up to four.
!?
!?
The roulette option.
Octopus trap
A protective barrier that can block incoming fire from the right, but still leaves Octopus vulnerable from the other sides. As the trap takes hits, it gets smaller, before finally disappearing.
Twinbee
The main character from the Twinbee series, though curiously in second player Winbee's colour scheme for this game.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
Rocket punch
Boxing gloves that travel forward for a short distance, destroying anything in their path before returning.
Tail gun
A second shot is fired backwards. Ignored when using "auto" mode.
3 way
Causes two extra shots to be fired at 45-degree angles.
Option
Smaller Twinbees that fire the same projectiles, but always travel towards the player. The player can collect up to three.
!?
!?
The roulette option.
Force field
A circular shield that can absorb attacks from all sides, getting smaller when hit.
Pentaro
From Antarctic Adventure
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
Poton missile
Drops a pink fish vertically towards the ground. If it lands on a solid object, it will travel to the right, destroying any enemies in its path until it hits something solid.
Double
Fires a second shot at a 45-degree angle, pointing to the top right. Ignored when using "auto" mode.
Spread gun
Replaces the standard shot with a projectile that creates a small blast radius when it collides with something.
Option
Smaller penguins that fire the same projectiles, but always travel towards the player. The player can collect up to three.
!?
!?
The roulette option.
Bubble
A circular shield that can absorb attacks from all sides, getting smaller when hit.
Stages
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Stage 6
Stage 7
Stage 8
Stage 9
Stage 10
Enemies
Bells
Yellow
Awards 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 or 10,000 points.
Green
Causes your character to grow in size for a short period of time, becoming invincible. You can also travel through solid objects in this state, but cannot fire.
Blue
Awards a "superbomb", which when detinated will attack everything on-screen. This lasts longer than the blue Gradius-style capsules and will damage all enemies, not just small ones.
Red
Gives the player three vertical "beams" that can be launched, which in turn will destroy anything in their path.
White
Gives the player a "megaphone", allowing them to "shout" nonsense which will damage anything in front of the player. This is one of the few gameplay areas that needed to be localised for PAL regions, exchanging Japanese phrases for English ones.
Fantastic Journey
Fantastic Journey builds on Parodius, having double (or quadruple) the number of playable characters, and being able to tap into more advanced arcade hardware. Returning from Salamander is the ability for two players to play simultaneously, and when the player dies, rather than restart from the nearest checkpoint, the game keeps scrolling, letting you pick up exactly where you are (and collect bells that are released on death).
Characters
Vic Viper/Lord British
Returning from Parodius, Vic Viper is joined by Lord British, the second player first seen in Salamander. Its power-ups are the same as in Parodius.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
Missile
Double
Laser
Option
OH!
Oh! My god!
The roulette option.
Shield
Takosuke/Belial
Takosuke and Belial replace Octopus from Parodius, but inherit the same set of powerups.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
2 way missile
Tail gun
Ripple laser
Option
OH!
Oh! My god!
The roulette option.
Octopus trap
Twinbee/Winbee
Also returning from Parodius, the stars of the Twinbee series. Twinbee is the correct colour this time.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
Rocket punch
Tail gun
3 way
Option
OH!
Oh! My god!
The roulette option.
Force field
Pentarou/Hanako
Again returning from Parodius (but being spelt "Pentarou" in-game), the stars of Antarctic Adventure.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
Poton missile
Double
Spread gun
Option
OH!
Oh! My god!
The roulette option.
Bubble
Hikaru/Akane
Bunny girls riding missiles.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
Hawk wind
Spread bomb
Carrot
Option
OH!
Oh! My god!
The roulette option.
Star
Mambo/Samba
Fish, parodying the MSX2 game Space Manbow.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
Bubble missle
Control laser
Screw laser
Seach laser
OH!
Oh! My god!
The roulette option.
Barrier
Michael/Gabriel
Angel pigs.
Power up list
Sprite
Name
Description
Speed up
Increases movement speed.
Homing missile
Round shot
Wave laser
Grade up
OH!
Oh! My god!
The roulette option.
Aura
This pigs' shield looks and behaves very similarly to rival arcade shoot-'em-up, Darius by Taito.
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upgrades the player with whatever is highlighted on the gauge (returning the selector back to the original position), meaning the player can choose which order they get their upgrades. The "roulette" option ("!?" or "OH") will select an upgrade at random, but can also remove upgrades, however both games also offer an "auto" mode to both avoid this and make any power-up selections for you.
