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The Parodius series is a series of horizontally-scrolling shooters developed by Konami. The games are tongue-in-cheek parodies of Gradius, hence the name (Parodius is a portmanteau on Parody and Gradius). It also parodies many other Konami franchises, including Castlevania
, Ganbare Goemon
, Lethal Enforcers, Tokimeki Memorial and Twinbee. The series is unique in that no other game designing house has dedicated themselves to poking fun at their own games with another set of games. Capcom has parodied itself by using certain characters, but has not created a game or series of games dedicated to this.

There are five games in the Parodius series (arranged by title, year of its debut and original platform):

パロディウス～タコは地球を救う～ Parodius - Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū English: (Parodius: The Octopus Saves the Earth) (1988, MSX
)
パロディウスだ! －神話からお笑いへ－ Parodius Da! - Shinwa kara Owarai e English: (It's Parodius! From Myth to Laughter) (1990, arcade)
極上パロディウス Gokujō Parodius! - Kako no Eikō o Motomete English: (Ultimate Parodius - Pursue the Glory of the Past) (1994, arcade)
実況おしゃべりパロディウス Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius English: (Chatting Parodius) (1995, Super Famicom)
セクシーパロディウス Sexy Parodius (1996, arcade)

Numerous ports have been created. Parodius Da! was ported to the Game Boy, Famicom (NES), Super Famicom (SNES), PC Engine, PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Gokujō Parodius! was ported to the Super Famicom, PlayStation and Saturn. The PlayStation and Saturn versions were a combined release of Parodius Da! and Gokujō Parodius! called Gokujō Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack. The last two titles were also released on both the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

Only a few of the games were released outside Japan: Parodius Da! and Gokujō Parodius! were released in Europe, but none of the games were released in the United States.

There is also a spin-off named Paro Wars. This game is a turn-based strategy game in the veins of Advance Wars. Aside from Pentarou, only some of the Parodius-native characters (Octopus and the like) appear in this game.

Features

Characters

Some of the characters that appear in the various games in the series include the following:

Original characters:

Octopus, Takosuke, Takohiko and Belial, they are octopuses. Octopus appears in the MSX Parodius and Parodius Da!. He is renamed Takosuke and appears as such on Gokujyou Parodius along with Belial (a yellow female octopus). Another octopus, Takohiko takes Takosuke's place in Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius. The names Takosuke and Takohiko are both portmanteaus of "tako", the Japanese word for octopus, and common endings of Japanese male names, "-suke" and "-hiko".
Hikaru and Akane, two showgirls in rabbit costumes riding on rockets. They were bosses in Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius, most likely as revenge for not being featured as playable characters. They return as usable characters in Sexy Parodius.
Soitsu, Doitsu, Koitsu, and Aitsu, little stick men flying on paper darts. They are also monsters in the Yu-Gi-Oh!
trading card game whose full power cannot be utilized unless they're played in pairs.
Michael and Gabriel, two angelic pigs, named after two Christian angels. They originally appeared as enemies in Parodius Da!
Mambo and Samba, two goofy looking fish of the mola mola species. They are named after the music styles of the same names.
Mike and Ran, a pair of cats with what looks like bandages between their legs, a comical way of suggesting they've been neutered.
Sue and Memim, two fairy girls. They replace Hikaru and Akane in Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius.
Ivan and Toby, two tough-looking penguins. Their names together form a pun of Iwatobi, the Japanese name for the Rockhopper Penguin which they are intended to be. The long yellow eyebrows of this duo are the most striking feature of this particular penguin species. They replace Pentarou and Hanako in Sexy Parodius.
Black Viper, a new space ship only playable in Sexy Parodius. It has similar weapons to Shooting Star.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Parodius series ]

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