msxnet > Konami MSX Games > Parodius
Parodius is a 1 megabit, SCC megaROM cartridge. It is a shoot 'm up like Nemesis. In fact, it is meant as a parody on Nemesis, that's why the game is called Parodius. It's a crossover between the words 'Gradius' (the Japanese title for nemesis) and 'Parody'. Maybe the graphics are somewhat less serious, but playing the game is still hard work.
The game wasn't released anywhere else but Japan, so there are a lot of Japanese texts in the game. However, the game has been translated! The translated manual is also available.
This is one of Konami's favourite charas. Pennie the penguin starred in 'Antarctic adventure', 'Penguin adventure' and co-starred in many other games. He even appears in Nemesis 2 as secret chara, that is if you're smart enough to put 'Penguin Adventure' in slot 2. One thing that's sure about this one is his big appetite for fish!
Goeman is a true warrior! He comes from the game 'Samoerai' also known as 'Goemon Warrior' or 'Legend of the mystical Ninja' on the SNES. He stars in this game with honour and loyalty.
"Goemon" is a character modelled from an actual man, and his full name is "Ishikawa Goemon". He was a thief with a cause long ago. While he stole money from people filled their pocket, he favored the poor. (This scene is Edo-era: The age when real "SAMURAI" and "NINJA" walked street(^_^;)) And his power-ups aren't cards but a kind of hard money(coin?)....I think... It is the gold coin called "koban", but it is more larger than common coins.
A knight from the ancient greek period. He is a wild lover boy whom even married Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Now he has got out of retirement just to save the world again. In Knightmare he defeated Hudnos (has this got something to do with 'Hudsonsoft'?) and in Knightmare II: The Maze of Galious he got rid of the evil priest Galious. So this little problem is just a piece of cake for him... Just slaying some giant penguins is easy compared to what he's been through...
The only not carbon based live form in the parodius team. It is a special fighter craft designed by the Vixen Space Agency. Like Herbie the volkswagen it has got a life of its own. It dislikes Bacterians, Dr Venom and everything else that fires at it. Vic Viper's only reason to exist is space battle and lucky for you... It pretty good at it too!
This is the first of many to come! It's a typical Konami-Easterisland-statue. It has the abiltiy to puke laserrings at you and in this game he even caught a cold. So beware! He is trying to infect you too! His weak spot is in his mouth, so just blast at it for a while until the poor thing sees birds flying around his head. If you want to gain extra point/lives just fly under his neck to warp to a tough bonus stage.
Woooow! A penguin on steroids! Once again a typical Konami thingie. To blast this sucker is easy! X marks the spot, so keep blasting until his gutts fly out! Just don't get intimidated by his facial expression and you'll be just fine. Piece of Space cake!
This is a spaceship shaped like a hand. It's an enemy which likes gambling. It plays a game called 'Jan-Ken'. First, you make a choice of which sign you want to make, and then you show this at your opponent. At the same time he shows his sign. There are 3 signs:
The winner of this game depends on the combination:
The outcome has the following effect on parodius:
Takamichi Suzukawa explains: Traditionally, a day before an important occasion such as a school trip, Japanese children tie a piece of cloth in the middle leaving a small "head". They they draw a face, usually a series of kanas "he-no-he-no-mo-he-ji-" (last one with " accent drawn above the left eye as "head hear"). Japanese children hang such tied facial cloth down the window pane believing that it, "teruterubozu" (sunny sunny boy) wards off bad weather.
You probably know "ji" is spelled as "shi" with an " accent. The drawn face is therefore, if spelled in romaji;
He He i " No No Mo He S h
The "shi" is written extremely vertically and horizontally magnified.
Parodius Stage 3 boss is a direct depictation of teruterubozu, who is practically a god of good weather.
Visual proofs: Henohenomoheji and Teruterubozu.
The weak spot is the thin rope it hangs on. Just target it for a while and after a few good hits it will break and the rain doll will fall of the screen!
No, it's not the Rollings stones that threatens you in this stage! These smile dudes attack you from all sides. A good technique to attack is to destroy the one at the upper left before it slides to the left. This will give you more space when you destroyed the right row and the other row starts scrolling from left to right and back.
Just fly between them and shoot the right granny in her belly. But beware: if they look kinda pissed, they will pull a deadly 'belly bounce' attack! Don't get squashed between them. Also look out for the cookies they throw. Although it may seem that way, this stage isn't really a piece of cake!
The best way is to lure her to the bottom-right, fly over her and shoot her in the eye. Repeat this for a while and you'll fly off to the next stage.
Takamichi Suzukawa explains: This eyeball with a woman's body is a parody of Medama Oyaji, one of the characters in Gegege no Kitaro series. Medama Oyaji is small and baths in a teacup. Real eye of this cyclops is the "iris" part which has an eyelid, just like when the Parodius 5th stage boss is shot. He is unknown outside Japan but here everyone know him, and his shrieking voice.
This gross looking brain and bowels kinda thing is the toughest of all!(NOT!) Just stay at the left and blast its brain out or something like that...easy!
Finally! The last subspace anomaly that blocks your path! A strange ant eating mammal. He's pretty well armed but gets paralysed if you target its snout. A quick salvo of laser blast will do the trick. As long as you hit him, he can't hit you. And then there is the most challenging part of Parodius: understanding the story! It left me pretty confused. At least you get the chance to do it all over again. Only this time it will be even harder!
Takamichi Suzukawa explains: Japanese people believe tapir eats human dreams. We call this animal "baku", which is almost homonym to bug. I think this animal is unknown in anywhere other than .my and .jp (like nijntje are unknown outside .nl and .jp) but if you go to a Japanese zoo, you can see people trying to keep safe distance from tapirs ;)
All minor enemies on the screen will die...
Wrap around horizontally. You can fly of the screen and appear at the other
side.
Wrap around vertically. You can fly of the screen and appear at the other
side.
Time Freeze. Stops scrolling & enemies for a few seconds.
Mine. Destroys all enemies on the same height.
Rotary drill. You are immune to most enemies for some time.
Up Laser. You have Up Laser for some time. Pretty handy dandy!
Vector Laser. You have Vector Laser for some time. Best weapon in the game!
There are, as far as I know three bonus stages. The first is in stage 1. When you have defeated the moai, fly under it's neck.
The second is in stage 4. At a certain point, you have to fly up out of the screen or you'll hit a dead end. Fly into the dead end, and go to the far upper right corner.
The third is in stage 5. Fly under all the jumping gravestones, after the piece of empty space.
The following passwords have an effect. To enter, press <F1> to pause the game, type the password, press <ENTER> and <F1> to resume the game.
ZENBUKONAMIBUTAKOTAKO18THPAROKATAI
BiFi <bifi@msxnet.org>