I think Gokujyo was the second one.

Super got a PAL release on SNES which is Parodius Da - I still have that one boxed and in pretty good nick. I can definitely remember another one released at the end of SNES's life  - I can remember it running on a display in Electronics Boutique - but only because that's when and where I bought Yoshi's Island... I think that late version was called Ultimate Parodius on SNES.

Not sure of the others on the SNES - i think Sexy P only got 32bit ports. Sexy is the fourth one afaik...

Parodius Da
Gokujo Parodius aka Fantastic Journey
Oshaberi Parodius
Sexy Parodius.

1st two appear in the deluxe pack on both PS1 and Saturn (PAL release for Saturn)
2nd two were (I think) JPN only but both on PS1 and Saturn.

Parodius is one of those series that has a fairly complex history...

linky: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/parodius/parodius.htm


My favourite character is the stick man on the paper plan that sports a condom as a shield.

Be thankful you aren't playing in two player - player 2 gets a female commentator joining in.

Can be switched off in the Saturn version - not sure about the SNES version.

Oshaberi (no. 3) on the Saturn is content packed - there are two omake levels - one that takes place on a racetrack and you record best times - and there are hidden fairies to find in the main game a la Radiant Silvergun's dogs. I think it unlocks more characters to use if you find them all. In the options there's an arrange mode to change enemy patterns and a neat facility that lets you set how much fire each player attracts in 2 player.  You can also access a save/restore menu from the pause screen which I think is unique for shmups (it doesn't save your score though).

Sexy while its pretty bare bones re options etc. has the more novel gameplay - you have a target number of certain enemies to hit or objects to collect in each level (level 2 onwards) and depending on success or failure you branch to different levels.

There's another neat feature in these games you won't see unless you have 2 players - think its available from No. 2 onwards. If one player shoots the other often enough the ship will morph into a death dealing fireball which can be useful in cutting through some levels with the other player slipstreaming behind - only lasts a few seconds but with skill and teamwork you can keep using it repeatedly. In Oshaberi this is switchable in the options.

Think Moot has set aside a fortnight for this.

Character choice really does change the game. The omake levels have plenty of life in them too as they are designed for high score chasing.

Ok. But if it's easier I could just catch up later. I'll doubt I'll be getting involved with all of them anyway.

I also need to get back to Secret of Mana 2 at some point.

davyK wrote:

I think Parodius is one of those games were rank management is very apparent. It is pretty obvious that the game cranks up the difficulty once you get powered up and at times the use of the ! item in the power up meter can be useful prior to a boss or a tricky section as the game eases off considerably once you power down.

I'm finding this quite fun, but as I'm cheating horribly I guess the difficulty hasn't eased off at any point as I've been an all-powerful death machine for ages.  Having said that, even with save states it's definitely possibly to judge the difficulty of games like this (also taking into account that I'm not very good at them as a rule), and I reckon I'd get a hell of a lot further in this without perma-saves than I would have in UN Squadron.  How you lot could dispatch that ceiling boss in UN Squadron without cheating still baffles me. 

I've just destroyed the dog-faced space station in Parodius.  The 'real world' music really works very well in this game.  I would have liked to have owned this, I wish I'd bought the Saturn version I was deliberating over many years ago (though as usual, I can remember what I opted for instead, and enjoyed Story of Thor II).

The SNES version of Parodius Da (I assume you have been playing that) is pretty long - it has a few levels more than is the norm for a shmup - and actually quite tame in terms of overall wackiness (though not in challenge).

The others really crank up the madness - Parodius Da only has 4 characters to choose from - later games go into double figures - and the graphical intensity increases with each title - they are worth a quick look at least....and character change make the game play quite differently even on the 1st game.

Yeah - bells. They offer point scoring as they double in score up to a max of 10,000pts until you let one pass by and it resets to 100pts. The omake levels throw lots of these at you to enable scoring high. But you can shoot them to change their colour...

Green - invincibility (careful though - picking this up dispenses with your shield if you have one).
White - megaphone
Red - enables you to shoot out a drone that fires a beam up and down the screen  - it will scroll off the screen but  a red bell gives you 3 of them.
Blue - smart bomb.

Later versions give you a few other colours & effects but those are the basic ones that stayed through the series.

Did you hit a roulette item? That starts your power up meter rapidly cycling through the power ups and it will stop on whatever is lit when you press the power up button. I always found those very off-putting.

Its also worth giving the omake/lollipop level a go while playing that ROM.

JonB wrote:

I think the first one is more of a proper shoot 'em up than the sequels, which aren't as tough and are more 'wacky'. Haven't finished those yet, but will do it this week.

The first one is pretty tough - having sparse restart points doesn't help - the later ones let you carry on after taking a hit without having to go back to a restart point which makes a big difference. (although maybe I'm thinking about  2 player mode there)

I'm not sure why penguin is spelled differently at the top and the bottom. I like the little guy who's overjoyed at the prospect of pengin lovin' in the middle of the pic.

Just in case anyone hasn't noticed - I effing love this series - probably because it is the antithesis of all the posturing po-faced bollocks that a large part of the gaming industry seems to be steeped in and who think that playing at soldiers is somehow grown up.

Wasn't it the people who worked on these games for Konami who broke away and formed Treasure? I actually think that if one day I were to read that Treasure are doing a "Gradius V" on this series I would literally shit myself.

Thirty six (week): Free choice scrolling beat 'em up

What do you do if you find a raw chicken in a dustbin after being on the receiving end of a good kicking at the hands of doppelganger street thugs? You eat it for a health boost, of course.

A week of relaxation; prowl Metro City as the beefcake major, rescue a police officer from the clutches of an evil Sex in the City character, or dedicate yourself to true mastery of the mind in order to give Oroku Saki a swift dig in the breadbox. Choose from numerous examples of a once flourishing genre (although Bayonetta et al certainly owe a debt to these games), or just chew the fat with memories of your favourite scrolling brawlers.




Play and discuss, or simply reminisce.

Schedule:

(05/08, fortnight): El Viento (Megadrive)
(19/08, fortnight): Yoshi's Story (N64)
(02/09, week): Rollergames (NES)
(09/09, fortnight): Actraiser (SNES, VC)
(23/09, fortnight): Grand Theft Auto (PS, PC)
(07/10, week): New Zealand story (various)
(14/10, week): Bitmap Bros free choice
(21/10, fortnight): Vectorman (MD, compilations)
(04/11, fortnight): PC Kid 2/Bonk 2 (PC Engine, VC)
(18/11, week): Wonderboy week
(25/11, week): Kirby week
(02/12, fortnight): Solstice II/Equinox (SNES)
(16/12, week): Fantasy Zone (MS)
(23/12, fortnight inc. Christmas break): Pinball free choice
(06/01, fortnight): Blackthorne (various)
(20/01, week): Pilotwings Week
(27/01, week): Atari 2600 High-Score Challenge Returns

Not a genre I've really taken to over the years. I have Hagane (more a Shinobi-alike) and Magic Sword for SNES...will boot those up.

Golden Axe 1-3 are the Megadrive compilation for PS2 - will give those a go.

There's probably several on the Capcom collections too...

Moot make sure you play Double Dragon II on NES, was one Amin and I played to death back in the day, superb stuff. Make you you play on the highest difficulty though to get the proper ending.

I've played SoR 1 & 2, all Golden Axes, all Final Fights, all 8/16Bit Turtles games, Konami X-Men, Rival Turf and the Fighting Force games off the top of my 7am half asleep head.

Was thinking of picking up Street Gangs on 3DS VC or The Simpsons off PSN. Any other recommendations?

davyK wrote:

Not a genre I've really taken to over the years. I have Hagane (more a Shinobi-alike) and Magic Sword for SNES...will boot those up.

I like a bit of Magic Sword, and Black Tiger, the arcade version at least. I tried Hagane for the first time recently and found it horribly frustrating. Awkward controls and unfair deaths.