Gokujo Parodius
| Fantastic Parodius - Pursue the Glory of the Past | |
|---|---|
 Super Famicom cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Series | Parodius |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Super Famicom, Mobile Phone (i-mode, S!Appli, EZweb) |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Horizontal Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player multiplayer (simultaneous) multiplayer (alternating)(SFC) |
| Arcade system | Konami GX |
Fantastic Parodius - Pursue the Glory of the Past (極上パロディウス ～過去の栄光を求めて～, Gokujō Parodiusu - Kako no Eikō o Motomete), known outside Japan as Fantastic Journey, is a scrolling shooter arcade game and the third title in the Parodius series produced by Konami. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of the Gradius series and other Konami games.
Gameplay
Overall, the gameplay is identical to that of its predecessor, Parodius! From Myth to Laughter, with several new characters to choose from. Also new, if you play a two-player game, the second player will have a different set of characters to select. They are clones of the first player characters, except with different names and slightly altered sprites or changed color palettes. These characters include: Vic Viper/Lord British, Pentaro/Hanako, Twinbee/Winbee, Takosuke/Belial, Hikaru/Akane, Mambo/Samba, Michael/Gabriel and Koitsu/Aitsu.
In the Parodius series, 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.
Music
Ports
Fantastic Parodius was ported to the Super Famicom months after its arcade release. Two significant differences between the console and arcade version were added characters: Goemon/Ebisumaru from Ganbare Goemon, Dracula-Kun/Kid-D from Kid Dracula and Upa/Rupa from Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa and the alternating two player mode.
In addition, Hikaru and Akane gets a Tailgun, Boomerang Shot from Thunder Cross, another shooter game by Konami, and a Shield instead of the Spread Bomb, the Carrot Shot and a force field (named "Star") that they get in the arcade version (as well as on the Deluxe Pack released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn). Similarly, Mambo and Samba are given Homing Missiles, the Reflect Shot (which gives them two options when chosen), Grade Up and a Shield instead of the Bubble Missile, the Control Laser, Search Laser and a force-field (named "Barrier").
Fantastic Parodius! was also ported along with Parodius! From Myth to Laughter on Gokujō Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack for PlayStation in 1994 and Sega Saturn in 1995. This compilation was released in Japan and Europe. The European release was released as Parodius, with Parodius Da! simply titled Parodius and Gokujō Parodius as Fantastic Journey. In addition, it had English text when the Megaphone is used and re-colored the mini Eagle Sabu enemies to green (as opposed to Brown in the Japanese version).
It was also released for mobile phones and included in Parodius Portable on the PlayStation Portable, with some songs replaced by classical/folk songs.
Reception
On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the PlayStation version's Deluxe Pack a 32 out of 40,[1][2] and the Sega Saturn's Deluxe Pack a 31 out of 40.[3] Maximum gave the Saturn Deluxe Pack three out of five stars, saying that it is virtually identical to the arcade and PlayStation versions and has very pleasing gameplay, visuals, and music, but is outdated compared to contemporary Saturn games. They summarized, "Konami's first effort [at a Saturn game] has a lot to commend it, but when there are epics such as Panzer Dragoon stretching the shooting genre, it's clear that Parodius is not in the same league."[4]
Soundtrack
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
The Gokujō Parodius ~Original Game Sound Track~ was produced by Konami Kukeiha Club and released by King Records on July 2, 1994 in Japan by Konami Music Entertainment, Inc.
In 2005, Three Gokujo Parodius like, Run Run Run, Monster of Cappuccino and Paro Paro Dancing was added titled Classic in Game Music - Legend Compilation Series.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hooked on Goku-Paro" | 6:01 |
| 2. | ""Those Were the Good Old Days..." (Opening BGM) ~from Gradius III~" | 0:24 |
| 3. | "Showtime in Parodius (Title BGM)" | 1:05 |
| 4. | "Let's Go Together, Ok (Select BGM) ~from Tchaikovsky "Sleeping Beauty" Waltz~" | 0:52 |
| 5. | "Vic Viper & Lord British's Theme (Vic Viper & Lord British Dog Fight BGM)" | 0:50 |
| 6. | "In the Crane Game (Stage 1 BGM) ~from J.Garland "In the Mood"~" | 1:52 |
| 7. | "The Dancing Panda (Stage 1 Boss BGM) ~from Bizet "Carmen" March of the Toréadors~" | 1:39 |
| 8. | "Takosuke & Belial's Theme (Takosuke & Belial Dog Fight BGM)" | 0:54 |
| 9. | "The Cat Battleship Forever (Stage 2 BGM) ~from Sousa "The Stars and Stripes Forever"~" | 2:45 |
| 10. | "I'm Eliza (Stage 2 Boss BGM)" | 0:55 |
| 11. | "Twinbee & Winbee's Theme (Twinbee & Winbee Dog Fight BGM)" | 0:55 |
| 12. | "Candy Sports Festival (Stage 3 BGM) ~from Johann Strauss "Tritsch Tratsch Polka"~" | 1:22 |
| 13. | "Cooking Mambo (Stage 3 Boss BGM) ~from D.P.Prado "Mambo No.5"~" | 1:35 |
| 14. | "Pentarou & Ohana-chan's Theme (Pentarou & Ohana-chan Dog Fight BGM)" | 0:48 |
| 15. | "Run! Run! Run! (Stage 4 BGM) ~from Rossini "William Tell Overture"~" | 1:38 |
| 16. | "Hikaru-chan & Akane-chan's Theme (Hikaru-chan & Akane-chan Dog Fight BGM)" | 0:49 |
| 17. | "Space Hit Parade (Stage 5 BGM) ~from American Tune "Yankee Doodle", Czechoslovakian Tune "Ej Lucka, Lucka, Lucka Zelena", American Tune "Mary Had A Little Lamb", Japanese Tune "Neko Funjatta", English Tune &quo" | 2:42 |
| 18. | "Capsule Monster "Cappuccino" (Stage 5 Boss BGM) ~from Mozart "Piano Sonata No.11" 3rd Movement Turkish March~" | 1:31 |
| 19. | "Mambo & Samba's Theme (Mambo & Samba Dog Fight BGM)" | 0:52 |
| 20. | "Once Again, Here Comes the Ship of Brothers (Moai Battleship Stage BGM) ~from Wagner "The Ride of the Valkyries" and Gradius II~" | 1:17 |
| 21. | "Yoshiko and Yoshio's Love... (Moai Boss BGM) ~from Sarasate "Zigeunerweisen" and Mozart "Symphony No.25" 1st Movement~" | 1:16 |
| 22. | "Archangel Michael & Archangel Gabriel's Theme (Archangel Michael & Archangel Gabriel Dog Fight BGM)" | 0:48 |
| 23. | "What Are You Watching When You Hop? (Stage 6 BGM) ~from Nagayo Motoori "Jugoya Otsukisan", Children's Songs "Kagome Kagome", "Sakura Sakura", Folk Song "Oedo Nihonbashi", Children's Song "Touryanse"," | 2:49 |
| 24. | "Ah, The Moon Princess (Stage 6 Boss BGM) ~from Children's Song "Zuizuizukkorobashi~" | 1:13 |
| 25. | "I Don't Get It!! (Punch Line BGM)" | 0:06 |
| 26. | "Koitsu & Aitsu's Theme (Koitsu & Aitsu Dog Fight BGM)" | 0:52 |
| 27. | "Paroparo Dancing! (Stage 7 BGM) ~from Dvorak "Symphony No.9 ~ From the New World" 4th Movement~" | 2:18 |
| 28. | "Rika on the Beat (Chichibinta Rika BGM) ~from Gradius II~" | 1:22 |
| 29. | "Kiss My Feet! (Final and Stage 4 Boss BGM) ~from Gradius I~" | 0:40 |
| 30. | "Hello! Glory Boy of the Past (End Demo BGM)" | 0:13 |
| 31. | "Farewell Love (Ending BGM) ~from Gradius II~" | 2:01 |
| 32. | "Memory of Shooting (Special Stage BGM) ~from Konami Shooting Medley~" | 5:28 |
| 33. | "Theme of Pentarou X (Special Stage Boss BGM) ~from Rimsky-Korsakov "The Flight of the Bumble-Bee"~" | 0:59 |
| 34. | "It's the Ultimate Continue! (Continue BGM)" | 0:57 |
| 35. | "It's the Ultimate Game Over! (Game Over BGM)" | 0:09 |
| 36. | "It's the Ultimate Ranking! (Ranking BGM) ~from Tchaikovsky "The Nutcracker" March~" | 0:56 |
| 37. | "Please Play Again, Ok! (Game Over Demo BGM) ~from Gradius II~" | 0:15 |
| 38. | "Mini Drama 1 "Hikaru and Akane..."" | 1:34 |
| 39. | ""Purely Surely Lovely"" | 4:10 |
| 40. | "Mini Drama 2 "Dreaming of Broadway"" | 2:51 |
| 41. | ""Curiosity"" | 4:32 |
| 42. | "Mini Drama 3 "Bunny at Heart"" | 2:19 |
| 43. | ""Love Kini²"" | 4:32 |
Adaptation
A manga based on Gokujou Parodius by Namie Iwao was serialized in Comic Gamest magazine, and compiled into a single book. It primarily stars Hikaru and Takosuke, but as expected, many penguins are involved. The pigs are represented as humanoids, dressed in casual clothing, which looks mighty bizarre, to say the least.
References
- ^ PLAYSTATION CROSS REVIEW: 極上パロディウスだ! DELUXE PACK. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.333. Pg.21. 5 May 1995.
- ^ おオススメ!! ソフト カタログ!!: 極上パロディウスだ! DELUXE PACK. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.335. Pg.114. 12–19 May 1995.
- ^ NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: 極上パロディウスだ! DELUXE PACK. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.336. Pg.31. 26 May 1995.
- ^ "Parodius Deluxe Pack". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine (1). Emap International Limited: 146–7. October 1995.
External links
- Official Konami Mobile Minisite Template:Ja icon
- Gokujou Parodius! at the Killer List of Videogames
- Gokujō Parodius! at MobyGames
- This article contains text imported from http://gradius.wikia.com/wiki/Gokujō_Parodius! under CC-BY-SA 3.0 license