is a series of
cute 'em ups
Cuteness is a subjective term describing a type of attractiveness commonly associated with youth and appearance, as well as a scientific concept and analytical model in ethology, first introduced by Konrad Lorenz. Lorenz proposed the concept o ...
developed and published by
Konami. The games are tongue-in-cheek
parodies of ''
Gradius'', and also feature characters from many other Konami franchises.
Video games
There are six games in the Parodius series. The last of them, ''Paro Wars'', is a spin-off strategy game.
The only games released outside Japan are ''From Myth to Laughter'' and ''Fantastic Journey'', which received European localizations. None of them were released in the Americas.
Parodius games have been ported to several different platforms, including arcade machines, mobile phones, and home consoles.
Compilations
Pachinko machines
In addition to the video games, a number of Parodius-themed
pachinko mechanical games have been released in Japan:
* ''Little Pirates'' (1998)
* ''CR Parodius Da! EX'' (2000)
* ''CR Parodius Da! ZE'' (2000)
* ''CR Parodius Da! 2'' (2000)
* ''CR Saikoro Chindōchū'' (2004)
* ''CR Gokujō Parodius!'' (2006)
* ''Gokuraku Parodius'' (2010)
* ''Gokuraku Parodius A'' (2010)
See also
*''
Air Zonk
''Air Zonk'', known in Japan as , is a horizontally scrolling shooter released for TurboGrafx-16 in 1992. ''Air Zonk'' was an attempt to update the company's image via a modern, punkish character called Zonk, who bears a purposeful resemblance t ...
'' and ''
Super Air Zonk
''Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly-Paradise'', released in Japan as , is a horizontal scrolling shooter developed by Dual and published by Hudson Soft. It was released for the TurboGrafx-CD/TurboDuo in 1993, and was released on the Wii's Virtual Console ...
'', colorful shooter games by
Hudson Soft
was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...
starring its mascot character
*''
Harmful Park
is a 1997 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Sky Think System for the PlayStation in Japan. Set in a theme park, the game has been described as a cute 'em up and resembles Konami's ''Parodius'' games. It has b ...
'', a PlayStation game inspired by Parodius
*''
Otomedius'', another series of parody shooters by Konami
*''
Space Invaders '95
''Space Invaders'' is a Japanese shooting video game released in 1978 by Taito. It was developed by Tomohiro Nishikado, who was inspired by other media: '' Breakout'', ''The War of the Worlds'', and ''Star Wars''. It is one of the forerunners o ...
'', a cartoonish parody of
Space Invaders
*''
Star Parodier
is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by Kaneko and published by Hudson Soft for the PC Engine CD-ROM² in 1992. It is a spin-off of the ''Star Soldier'' series and was localized for North America as ''Fantasy Star Soldier''. ...
'', a game by Hudson Soft that follows a similar concept
*''
TwinBee'', a cartoon-themed series of shooters by Konami
Notes
References
{{Konami franchises