Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－

Parodius! From Myth to Laughter
European NES box art
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Series	Parodius
Platform(s)	Arcade Family Computer/NES, Game Boy, PC Engine, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Super Famicom/SNES, X68000, Mobile Phone
Release date(s)	April 25, 1990 Arcade JP: April 25, 1990 Famicom/NES JP: November 3, 1990 EU: 1992 Game Boy JP: April 5, 1991 EU: 1992 X68000 JP: April 19, 1991 PC Engine JP: February 21, 1992 Super Famicom/SNES JP: July 3, 1992 EU: 1992 JP: September 30, 1997 (Nintendo Power) PlayStation JP: December 3, 1994 EU: 1996 JP: March 20, 1997 (PlayStation the Best) JP: November 20, 2003 (PSone Books) Sega Saturn JP: May 19, 1995 EU: 1996 Mobile Phones JP: February 19, 2003 JP: February 18, 2004 (Vodafone) JP: 2004 (Konami Net DX, as Parodius Da! DX (パロディウスだ! 豪華版, Parodiusu da! Gōka-ban?)) PlayStation Portable JP: January 25, 2007
Genre(s)	Horizontal scrolling shooter
Mode(s)	Single player multiplayer (alternating)
Cabinet	Upright
Display	Raster, 288 x 244, horizontal orientation

Parodius! From Myth to Laughter (パロディウスだ! －神話からお笑いへ－, Parodiusu Da! Shinwa kara Owarai e^?, lit. "It's Parodius! From Myth to Laughter"), released outside Japan as Parodius, is a shoot'em up arcade game and is the second title in the Parodius series produced by Konami. The European SNES version is also known as Parodius: Non-Sense Fantasy. The gameplay is stylistically very similar to the Gradius series, but the graphics and music are intentionally absurd.

This game is often mistaken as the original game of the series. The lesser known original game, Parodius: The Octopus Saves the Earth, was released for the MSX computer in Japan.

The Great Octopus has threatened Earth. To help Parodius save the planet, you and his friends must begin your search for the truth. As you search the whole world over you must find the enemy and you must destroy him.

As stated above, gameplay is very similar to the Gradius series with a few differences. Parodius retains the selectability of different weapons configurations but implements via four different characters: Vic Viper (from Gradius), Octopus, TwinBee, and Pentarou. The second main difference is the addition of bell power-ups, from the TwinBee series. These bells act as one-time power-ups, allowing the player to destroy every enemy on screen, fire huge beams of energy, etc. Enemies and environments from the Gradius games and TwinBee are mixed in along with a host of anime-style opponents, including scantily-clad women. All of the Gradius elements are integrated in a light-hearted fashion. The Big Core, a regular boss within the Gradius series, is given a neon look and is called "Viva Core". Moreover, there is a moai (Easter Island head statues) level, but all of the statues are given a much more animated look. The boss of that level, the Moai Head, fires other moai at the player by spitting them out of her mouth. The final boss, in typical Gradius fashion, is an unarmed enemy that once defeated results in a destruction/escape sequence.