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Parodius: The Octopus that Saves the Earth

Parodius: The Octopus Saves the Earth
Parodius MSX.jpg
Developer(s) Konami
Publisher(s) Konami
Series Parodius
Platform(s) MSX, Mobile Phones, Virtual Console
Release MSX
  • JP: April 28, 1988
Mobile Phones
i-mode
  • JP: December 1, 2006
S Appli!
  • JP: May 1, 2007
Virtual Console
Wii
  • JP: January 12, 2010
Wii U
  • JP: December 25, 2013
PC
  • JP: April 11, 2014
Genre(s) Horizontal scrolling shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer (alternating)

Parodius: The Octopus Saves the Earth (パロディウス ~タコは地球を救う~ Parodiusu: Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū?), or referred to just Parodius, is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Konami for the MSX computer and was released in Japan. The game is notable for being the first title in the Parodius series, although it is often confused with its sequel Parodius! From Myth to Laughter. The name itself is a portmanteau of "Gradius" and "Parody" and, eponymously, the game is a parody of the Gradius series of space-based horizontally scrolling shooters. Many of the characters and enemies are derived from that famous shooter series, while other elements are extracted from other Konami titles, such as Antarctic Adventure and TwinBee. This game is of particular note in the series as being heavily infused with Japanese culture and folklore.

The gameplay is very similar to the Gradius games, with other aspects from games such as TwinBee. However, the characters are replaced with silly characters taken from either these or other Konami games as well as Japanese culture. The music is mostly taken from classical music pieces.

The player can play as either Takosuke, an octopus, the Penguin (father of Pentarou) from Antarctic Adventure and the exclusive MSX game Penguin Adventure, Goemon from the Ganbare Goemon series, the Popolon knight from the MSX game Knightmare or the Vic Viper spaceship from Gradius. The game is composed of six stages consisting of various obstacles and enemies such as penguins and bees, as well as more traditional Gradius enemies such as moai. As with Gradius, the game utilizes a similar selection-bar based power-up system.


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