Parodius Da!
Game Overview
After the success (unexpected or otherwise) of ParodiusThe first game in what would become Konami's parody mascot space shooter crossover series. Featuring gameplay taking from Gradius and TwinBee, this is s strange, silly, hard-as-nails title released only for the ASCII MSX. (aka Parodius: The Octopus Saves the Earth) Konami found themselves in the position of having three successful shooting franchises on their hands: TwinBee, Gradius, and now Parodius. The first Parodius was a mash-up of the other other franchises, mixing and matching the gameplay from the two, plus mascot characters from a few different Konami franchises, into a colorful and strange shoot ‘em up experience. Since those two other franchises were popular in arcades, leeching plenty of money from their willing audiences, it just made sense to bring its sequel over to arcades as well.
The result was the bigger, brighter, and more colorful Parodius Da! Shinwa kara Owarai e (aka Parodius! From Myth to Laughter and, confusingly, just Parodius for some releases), released in arcades in 1990. This second effort for the franchise took everything that worked in the first game and cranked it up. More silliness, more levels, more characters, all mashed up in a funnier and weirder crossover mascot edition.
The game features upgraded graphics over the original title. The first Parodius was built for the MSX and was limited by the graphical capabilities of that console. The sequel, though, could make use of Konami’s arcade hardware, presenting graphics far above those of the MSX (and even the relatively more capable NES as well). Longer stages and more involved musical tracks also came along with the package, making for a very attractive game for fans to play.
The big highlight, though, was the inclusion of a more varied set of characters over the previous game. While there are still only four playable characters / ships in the game – the Vic Viper, Octopus, TwinBee, and Pentarou – each comes with their own selection of abilities and power-ups. They no longer all play the same but, instead, have loadouts that turn each into a unique play experience. This made going back and pumping in more quarters to experience each character and find a favorite a viable play experience, which naturally made arcade owners happy.
Naturally this game was a solid hit for Konami, as were their other shooter series. This led to the game receiving ports to a variety of consoles, including the Famicom, Game Boy, PC Engine, Super Famicom, PlayStation, and more. It also ensured the development of further games in the series, leading to a solid, healthy life for the franchise throughout the 1990s.