PARODIUS DA ! -SHINWA KARA O OWARAI E-
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パロディウスだ！ -神話からお笑いへ-
©1990,1992 Konami
Release : 1992-02-21 (¥9800)
HuCard (8 Mbits) KM91003
Shooter / Horizontal
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Parodius Da! Shinwa kara o-warai e is an horizontal shooter by
Konami and conversion of the arcade game of the same name. The game
is at heart a parody of Gradius, another Konami classic
hit - but it also features many characters from other Konami games
such as Twin Bee or Antarctic Adventures and is peppered
with humorous references to traditional Japanese folklore. The
player is given a choice to control one of four fighter ships - a cute
chibi version of Vic Viper (from Gradius), a pink flying
octopus, Twin Bee and a penguin called Pentarō (from
Antarctic Adventure). Each ship comes equipped with an unique,
upgradable weapon system largely based on the one found in
Gradius - the player must collect and accumulate power-pods and
use them to acquire weapons and power-ups. They range from simple
speed updates to missiles, lasers, options
and shields. In addition to the primary weapons, special bells
(directly borrowed from Twin Bee) are also dotted around each
level and give the player temporary powers - loud speakers,
barriers, smart bombs or the ability to grow to gargantuan
size. This PC Engine port of Parodius Da! also features an
extra special stage and a two-player option.
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This PC Engine port has several significant differences despite
remaining especially faithful to the original arcade game. Two levels didn't
make the final cut. The fifth level was omitted, so there's no large
Moai-headed mothership (picture on the right) to be found here and the underwater/icy penguin
eight stage was also cut, along with the blowfish boss. However, the
game features an exclusive introduction sequence and a special stage
where mini Moai-motherships appear as a tribute to their missing mother.
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Surprisingly enough, and despite popular belief, the first
Parodius game was released by Konami for the MSX
computer in 1988. This first episode was also an horizontal shooter and
featured characters such as Takosuke (octopus, weapon
configuration from Salamander), Penguin (Antarctic
Adventure), Vic Viper (Gradius) but also Goemon
(Ganbare Goemon, aka Mystical Ninja) and Popolon (knight
found in Knightmare released by Konami in 1986 for the MSX).
In Parodius Da!, Konami dropped Popolon in favor of
Twin Bee and Goemon will only reappear much later in the
Parodius series. The game was first released in the arcades in 1990
and was ported to home systems such as the Famicom (1990),
Game Boy (1991), Sharp X68000 (1991), PC Engine (1992)
and Super Famicom (1992). A sequel, called Gokujyō Parodius!,
followed in the arcades in 1994 and was ported to the Super Famicom (1994)
and also included in Parodius Da! deluxe pack for the
Playstation (1994) and Saturn (1995). The next Parodius
wasn't released in the arcades but for the Super Famicom in
1995 - Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius : Forever with Me (also known as
Chatting Parodius) features even more characters from Konami's
most popular franchises at the time. The game was also ported to the
Playstation (1996) and Saturn (1996). Finally, Sexy Parodius,
released in the arcades in 1996, is often regarded as the fifth and (so far)
last Parodius game - it was later ported to the Saturn (1996) and
Playstation (1996). There're more Parodius games and compilations
worth mentioning such as the strategy game Paro Wars (Playstation, 1997)
and Parodius Portable (Playstation Portable, 2007), a compilation
that features all the Parodius games. Finally, Parodius fans may
enjoy this one - Otomedius was a shooter released by Konami in the
arcades in 2007 and for the XBox 360 (2008). The game is not directly
connected to Parodius but is a definite wacky and comedic take on
Gradius and Parodius.
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Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
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--STAFF--
Main Programmer
Chichibinta Tsukasa
Sub-Programmer
Nishikawa The Villain
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Character Designer
Kayo Chan
Hobibi Igou
Mika Chan
Midorin-Yoshino
Sound
-Cameo- Matano
-Doc.- Umeno
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Visual Designer
Matsuda Pirochi
Special Thanks
A. Nagata
K. Hashimoto
Pigs Team Members
---And You!
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©1990,1992
KONAMI
All Rights Reserved
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O
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Konami has produced some of the best, most innovative and some of the
highest rated shooters ever created. Parodius is no exception and has
always hold a special place in my gamer heart. This PC Engine port is
surprisingly really close to the original arcade game (and Super Famicom
version for that matter). My only complain would be limited to... the limitations.
Konami simply missed a couple of levels in the conversion process, maybe
they ran out of space and didn't want to switch to a larger HuCard (8 Mbits
was already a lot back then). Konami compensated this minus with an
exclusive (and wacky) introduction sequence and a Special Stage. Because
of the two missing levels, the Super Famicom port is probably more faithful
to the arcade game, but all in all, this port is simply amazing, fantastic,
definitively silly and shouldn't be missed even by the most serious/hardcore shooter fans.
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