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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.
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 Nintendo ports saw a release in Europe.
Parodius: Fantastic Journey
Parodius: Fantastic Journey, also known simply as Fantastic Journey and in Japan, Gokujou Parodius!: Kako no Eikou o Motomete (極上パロディウス ~過去の栄光を求めて~) 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 was released in Europe, the only home port, one for the Super Famicom, remained in Japan.
History
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. The games are filled references to Konami's history, humour and frequently require you to shoot scantily clad women.