What do you guys think of the Parodius games? Which is your favorite?

[Andykin Skysk8r | 49]

I never played the MSX original, but I did play Parodius Da on the PCE back in the day and loved it. I recently played the SNES ones. The SNES version of Parodius Da was a lot less fun than the PCE one, and they made the leg dodging boss a lot harder. Gokujou Parodius has the best presentation and is super fun. Jikkyou Parodius is also really good and has a ton of playable characters. One problem I have with Gokujou and Jikkyou though is that the first level is really hard on both, and its compounded by starting with no power ups. I finished Jikkyou and in my opinion level 1 is the hardest level in the game. I havent played Sexy Parodius yet but I will one day. 

Out of the ones I played I think Gokujou Parodius is the best. The series is about a potent mix of fun and insanity and this one delivers that the best. 

Edited November 25, 2021 by Andykin Skysk8r

[Tanooki | 4,929]

I've had my fill from the SFC+GB+FC+PAL NES+PCE versions of the original, but also the SFC sequels too.  It's fantastic, but also fantastically brutal too as it's still a parody that doesn't lighten the challenge around Gradius.

Not sure what your beef is around challenge, I just don't see it on either of those SFC sequels, but whatever.  Probably due to usage and ports I'd throw it to the original, but I think I may have liked Gokujou Parodius (#2) the most as it added some more nice stage and character (like Kid Dracula and Goemon) variety I liked.

[Sumez | 2,929]

I love the Parodius games, and they were probably some of the first shooters I really played extensively.
Like most other people I guess, I'm a Gradius fan, and in my opinion Parodius does Gradius with much less of the BS, more of the good stuff, and an actual skill-based scoring system.

Almost, that is. I think the first arcade game (Parodius Da!) might honestly be my favourite at this point. It's more no-frills well designed shooting, but still with enough gimmicks to really make every stage stand out even though there's an absurd amount of them.
But at the same time, that game is also notorious for going absolutely nuts with rank. If you manage to keep your one credit going to the final stage, the enemy shots will reach absurd levels and beating that stage is almost a question of luck, if not a super closely studied path through the chaos. Rank drops a bit when you die, but since you only get two extends from score throughout the game, you can only afford to die four times throughout your run. Even if you don't use a single speed-up or shield throughout the game, you'll still be at max rank well before the final stage, so honestly the best you can hope for I guess is to keep all your lives for the final stage, and then suicide four times at the intro dogfight so you can still recover.

The ports are much more approachable. Even the otherwise arcade perfect PS1/Saturn ports have much much lower rank, making them much more feasible to complete. The SNES versions give you infinite extends, so you can afford to die more in those games as well. It's surprisingly accurate to the arcade version, too.

Gokujou Parodius was the first game in the series to win me over though. As a kid the local game magazine I read published a review of the SNES port for some reason (even though Parodius Da! was the only one that was actually released here), and I was immediately interested in its wackiness. I think the "warning signs" gag is probably my favourite  in the entire series.

Everything about this game is great. The graphics, the soundtrack, it's just such an amazingly well polished game. There's even more crazy depth to the scoring system due to the purple bells. The final extra stage has to be the most difficult challenge in any Parodius game. If you want to be completely flabbergasted, check out this high scoring run by a Japanese superplayer.

Sexy Parodius is probably going to be my next undertaking. I played it a lot back in the days when I got the Saturn version, but I haven't touched it in years. I remember it being a lot more feasible than the other games, but maybe I just haven't seen it at max rank yet. I don't like the mission structure at all, and some of the stages are a bit too gimmicky for my taste. But the game is still great, a lot of fun, and as always the production value is just through the roof.

I own both versions of Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius (they are so different they are almost two separate games), but it's been a lot of years since I've played either. I really need to get back to those. IIRC they are the easiest games in the series, which makes sense as they are original console releases.

As for the original MSX game. I've never played it either, and I've heard mixed things about it. Reported it's good ("for an MSX shooter") but has some absolute BS, like a path forward that's completely blocked off, and you need to pick up an invincibility bell at the right time to avoid dying. It has some really cool looking bosses though.

Edited November 25, 2021 by Sumez

[Sumez | 2,929]

Here's a picture of my Gradius collection that I took recently. The two PCBs are Parodius Da! and Gokujou Parodius respectively, while the bottom row has a bunch of the console releases.

I've had those games forever. But as recent as two days ago I actually got the third and final arcade game in the series, Sexy Parodius. So I'm really looking forward to returning to that!

Edited November 25, 2021 by Sumez

[Andykin Skysk8r | 49]

2 hours ago, Tanooki said:

I've had my fill from the SFC+GB+FC+PAL NES+PCE versions of the original, but also the SFC sequels too.  It's fantastic, but also fantastically brutal too as it's still a parody that doesn't lighten the challenge around Gradius.

Not sure what your beef is around challenge, I just don't see it on either of those SFC sequels, but whatever.  Probably due to usage and ports I'd throw it to the original, but I think I may have liked Gokujou Parodius (#2) the most as it added some more nice stage and character (like Kid Dracula and Goemon) variety I liked.

To clarify its not the challenge, as a whole these games are pretty average in difficulty. Its the challenge of level 1 being greater than later stages. It just feels weird to me. 

[Brickman | 3,978]

What Sumez said matches pretty much similar to my views. Loving the pictures Sumez

[Tanooki | 4,929]

Oooh that's a lot of parodius.  Stung just a little getting rid of it on PCE, but why store it when no system is owned right?

One thing is certain and I've avoided it for some years now, mostly due to distaste on pricing thanks to the west infiltrating Japanese stores and them catching on, but while I do I'm sure some noticed have a small Famicom collection, I don't have SFC stuff at all.  When the 2005 death of the collection hit I had maybe 30 SFC games all CIB and stunning, these days even the more less hip to own stuff in that cost as much in average shape loose as they did all there before so I just haven't.  I want to, I just can't get my mind over that hump... IF I do though, I'd go straight to Parodius 1-3 just to start, along with the few Twinbee(itself, Popn and Rainbow Ball) too from Konami.  I shudder to think what it would cost to get the carts I had then back, cart only even now, really wish this exploitation hyper inflation racket on games would die already.

Parodius 1-3 are just pinnacle awesome, though to be fair, never touched sexy parodius so I can't rate that one.

[Sumez | 2,929]

The Parodius and Twinbee games don't cost very much.

Arcade versions can demand a bit of a penny, but the home versions are generally quite feasible, especially for the genre. And outside of the NES port, most of them are pretty good.

[Tulpa | 3,488]

I want to like the Famicom Parodius Da!, but the slowdown makes that game a real chore.

[T-Pac | 7,513]

I've only played Parodius Da [SFC], but it left a good impression on me overall. I love the wacky characters and unlimited continues, but I found the music a bit grating and the misogyny hard to stomach.

I'd be interested in trying the other SFC releases. I wasn't even fully aware that the system had multiple entries in the series.

-CasualCart

[Tanooki | 4,929]

3 hours ago, CasualCart said:

I've only played Parodius Da [SFC], but it left a good impression on me overall. I love the wacky characters and unlimited continues, but I found the music a bit grating and the misogyny hard to stomach.

I'd be interested in trying the other SFC releases. I wasn't even fully aware that the system had multiple entries in the series.

-CasualCart

You really should.  Go find like the last legit(or developed) release of bsnes for windows as it's stable and runs nicer than even that cobbled multi-system mess that was higan.  That'll have you covered for accurate play and the special chip required for #3 as it uses the SA1.  You will not regret it.

[Driftwood | 209]

My favorite would probably be sexy parodius, though i think i may play more parodius da!

[Sumez | 2,929]

I can definitely see Sexy Parodius being pretty mysgonistic in some of the stage missions, but Parodius Da? That's a stretch. There are two depicted women in the game which have their sexuality highlighted, but they are also clearly empowered and in control.

Depending on where that debate goes, I might regret even responding to it, and I especially don't want to come across like I think those things should be ignored in games - I just don't think Parodius Da! deserves that lens.

But maybe I'm just jaded from a few decades of embarassing shooting games pandering to horny teenagers, all of which are a million times worse than Parodius.

3 hours ago, Tanooki said:

You really should.  Go find like the last legit(or developed) release of bsnes for windows as it's stable and runs nicer than even that cobbled multi-system mess that was higan.  That'll have you covered for accurate play and the special chip required for #3 as it uses the SA1.  You will not regret it.

Or you could just use a SNES

[T-Pac | 7,513]

14 hours ago, Sumez said:

I can definitely see Sexy Parodius being pretty mysgonistic in some of the stage missions, but Parodius Da? That's a stretch. There are two depicted women in the game which have their sexuality highlighted, but they are also clearly empowered and in control.

Depending on where that debate goes, I might regret even responding to it, and I especially don't want to come across like I think those things should be ignored in games - I just don't think Parodius Da! deserves that lens.

But maybe I'm just jaded from a few decades of embarassing shooting games pandering to horny teenagers, all of which are a million times worse than Parodius.

No worries - that’s a fair take and I wasn’t trying to crusade or bait anyone haha. 
In any case, my gut-feeling is that the developers’ motivation behind their depiction of women in Parodius isn’t genuine empowerment. An argument can certainly be made for separating the art from the artist in situations like this, but that only goes so far to make potential objectification more palatable (at least to me).

-CasualCart
 

18 hours ago, Tanooki said:

You really should.  Go find like the last legit(or developed) release of bsnes for windows as it's stable and runs nicer than even that cobbled multi-system mess that was higan.  That'll have you covered for accurate play and the special chip required for #3 as it uses the SA1.  You will not regret it.

My Hyperkin clone runs SuperFX games - do you think it could handle the SA1?

-CasualCart

[Sumez | 2,929]

SA1 is a very common expansion chip. Anything that supports SuperFX would be expected to definitely support SA1 as well.

10 hours ago, CasualCart said:

the developers’ motivation behind their depiction of women in Parodius isn’t genuine empowerment

Oh I mean sure, I won't argue there. The motivation was definitely "let's put in a hot chick".

But I still think there's an important distinction between cherishing sexy women and objectifying them, and you often do see video games crossing that line. I just don't think Da! does that.  One of the attractive females in the game is more of an elegant women that's not played for any sexy features at all. The other is a vegas showgirl, so I guess that's the one point where your mileage may vary.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

17 hours ago, CasualCart said:

My Hyperkin clone runs SuperFX games - do you think it could handle the SA1?

-CasualCart

Supaboy S/SFC/Black has the 1:1 accurate knockoff chipset that can handle the entire SNES library chips n' all, even the SD2SNES too and it's made up stuff like the MSU1 -- so yeah SA1 works perfectly if you have a kit.

If you have the older crappy Supaboy v1/v2 chipped games mostly fail.

[ScaryD | 236]

Only Parodius game I have every played is Parodius Da on the PCE and I enjoyed it. I will eventually pick up some others to try at some point.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

1 hour ago, ScaryD said:

Only Parodius game I have every played is Parodius Da on the PCE and I enjoyed it. I will eventually pick up some others to try at some point.

A very good one to get, exceptional port along with the SFC version of that game.