is a series of
cute 'em ups developed and published by
Konami
, commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...
. The games are tongue-in-cheek
parodies
A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can als ...
of ''
Gradius
is a series of shooter ( shoot'em up) video games, introduced in 1985, developed and published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper. ...
'', 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
is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Gambling in Japan, Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of l ...
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'' and ''
Super Air Zonk'', colorful shooter games by
Hudson Soft
was a Japanese video game company known for releasing numerous titles across video game consoles, home computers, and mobile phones. Headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, it also maintained an office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. F ...
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 be ...
'', a PlayStation game inspired by Parodius
*''
Otomedius
is a side-scrolling shooter video game by Konami which features personification of space fighters from various Konami games. The game's title is a pun, being a portmanteau of the terms " Otome" and " Gradius", with a set of equipment resembli ...
'', another series of parody shooters by Konami
*''
Space Invaders '95
is a 1995 parody fixed shooter game created by Taito for its Taito Cybercore system.
It is the sequel of '' Space Invaders DX'' and part of the influential ''Space Invaders'' series.
It was included in the ''Taito Legends 2'' compilation for t ...
'', a cartoonish parody of
Space Invaders
is a 1978 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Taito for Arcade video game, arcades. It was released in Japan in April 1978, with the game being released by Midway Manufacturing overseas. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed s ...
*''
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
is a vertically scrolling shooter released by Konami as an arcade video game in 1985 in Japan. Along with Sega's '' Fantasy Zone'', released a year later, ''TwinBee'' is credited as an early archetype of the " cute 'em up" type in its genre. I ...
'', a cartoon-themed series of shooters by Konami
Notes
References
{{Konami crossover series