Changes: Gokujō Parodius! ~Kako no Eikō o Motomete~

Revision as of 18:43, 8 February 2020

Gokujō Parodius! ~Kako no Eikō o Motomete~ (極上パロディウス～過去の栄光を求めて～^?, lit. "Fantastic Parodius! ~Pursue the Glory of the Past~"), released in Europe as Fantastic Journey, is a side-scrolling shooter arcade game and the third title in the Parodius series produced by Konami. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of the Gradius series and other Konami games.

Gameplay

Overall, the gameplay is identical to that of its predecessor, Parodius Da!, with several new characters to choose from. Also new is that if you play a two-player game, the second player will have a different set of characters to select. They are clones of the first player characters, except with different names and slightly altered sprites or changed color palettes.

The characters are:

In the Parodius series, starting with Gokujō Parodius!, the Power Meter was changed from a bar with the weapon names as text to a bar with pictures indicating the power-ups. The borders of each icon determine the gameplay type chosen, red for auto, yellow for semi-auto, and blue for manual. As this kind of power meter is shorter, two separate power meters appear onscreen on a two player game.

When playing a two player game, shooting the other character enough times will cause it to get angry and fire shots in all directions for a short time. In the updated ports of Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius, this can be turned on or off in the options screen. Also, when a player has pressed continue, the game stops as the player chooses his/her character and the game type.

Stages

Stage	Name	Boss	Music	Remix of
1	Circo Porto Harborland	Anna Pavlova and Melora	In The Crane Game	In the Mood by Joe Garland Turkey in the Straw (American folksong)
2	Cat Battleship Forever	Cat Submarine Eliza and Neil	Cat Battleship Forever	Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa
3	Candy Land	Decoration Core	Athletics Cry for the Candies	Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka by Johann Strauss Jr.
4	Traffic Signs	Crazy Core	Run! Run! Run!	William Tell Overture by Gioacchino Rossini
5	Core Ship Parade	Capsule Monster Cappuccino	Space Hit Parade	Yankee Doodle Ej Lucka, Lucka (Czech folksong) Mary Had a Little Lamb Der Flohwalzer London Bridge is Falling Down Picnic
X	Moai Battleship	Yoshiko	The Brothers' Ships Move Again	Ride of the Valkyries by Wilhelm Richard Wagner The Old Stone Age from Gradius II: GOFER no Yabō
6	The Moon	Princess Kaguya	What Do You See When You Are Jumping?	Jyuugoya Otsuki-san by Nagayo Motoori Kagome-kagome Sakura Sakura O-Edo Nihonbashi Toryanse Hanayome-Ningyou by Haseo Sugiyama
7	Disco	Chichibinta Rika Tako's Cutie	Paro-Paro Dancing!	New World Symphony, 4th Movement by Antonín Dvořák
EX	Shooting Memories	Pentaro X	Shooting Memories	Challenger 1985 from Gradius Bell Power Up BGM from TwinBee Power of Anger from Salamander Command 770 from A-Jax Aqua Illusion from Gradius III Sky Walker from Thunder Cross Burning Heat from Gradius II: GOFER no Yabō

Ports

Gokujō Parodius! was ported to the Super Famicom in 1994. The only significant difference between the console and the arcade version was added characters: Goemon/Ebisumaru from Ganbare Goemon, Dracula-kun/Kid-D from Kid Dracula, and Upa and Rupa from Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa.

Weapon differences in the SNES release

Hikaru and Akane get the Tailgun, the Boomerang Shot from Thunder Cross, another shooter game by Konami, and a Shield instead of the Spread Bomb, the Carrot Shot and a force field called Star that they get in the arcade version, as well as on the Deluxe Pack released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Similarly, Mambo and Samba are given Homing Missiles, the Reflect Shot (which gives them two options when chosen), Grade Up and a Shield instead of the Bubble Missile, the Control Laser, Search Laser and a force field known as Barrier.

Other releases

Gokujō Parodius! was also ported along with Parodius Da! in the Gokujō Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack for PlayStation in 1994 and Sega Saturn in 1995. This compilation was released in Japan and Europe as Ultimate Parodius, with Parodius Da! simply titled Parodius and Gokujō Parodius as Fantastic Journey. The European release had English texts when the Megaphone is used and re-colored the mini Eagle Sabu enemies to green (as opposed to brown in the Japanese version).

It was also released on mobile phones and included in Parodius Portable (although in the latter release some of the songs were removed due to copyright issues).

Gallery

Trivia

Inside the arcade ROM, there are two additional pieces of music that went unused. Both a stage and boss theme are listed, and are repeated multiple times within the ROM, suggesting they were possibly placeholder pieces. The two music tracks are Je Te Veux and "Habanera" from Carmen.

Gokujō Parodius! ~Kako no Eikō o Motomete~
Characters	Takosuke and Belial • Vic Viper and Lord British • Pentaro and Hanako • TwinBee and WinBee • Hikaru and Akane • Mambo and Samba • Michael and Gabriel • Koitsu and Aitsu • Goemon and Ebisumaru • Dracula-kun and Kid Dracula • Upa and Rupa • Mr. Past Glory
Stages	Circo Porto Harborland • Cat Battleship Forever • Candy Land • Traffic Signs • Core Ship Parade • Moai Battleship • The Moon • Disco • Shooting Memories
Bosses	Anna Pavlova • Cat Submarine • Eliza • Decoration Core • Crazy Core • Capsule Monster Cappuccino • Yoshiko • Princess Kaguya • Chichibinta Rika • Tako's Cutie • Pentaro X

Gradius video games
Gradius series	Gradius • Gradius II • Gradius III • Gradius Gaiden • Gradius IV: Fukkatsu • Gradius Galaxies • Gradius V • Gradius ReBirth • Gradius: The Interstellar Assault • Gradius NEO • Gradius NEO Imperial
Spin-offs	Salamander (Life Force) (MSX ver.)• Salamander 2 • Nemesis 2 (Nemesis '90 Kai) • Nemesis 3 • Nemesis (Game Boy) • Cosmic Wars • Solar Assault
Parody games	Parodius • Parodius Da! • Gokujō Parodius!* • Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius • Sexy Parodius • Paro Wars • Otomedius (Otomedius Gorgeous) • Otomedius Excellent*
Other games	Scramble • Thunder Cross • Thunder Cross II • Space Manbow • Force Gear
Pachislot	Gradius: The Slot • CR Parodius Da! EX • Gokuraku Parodius!
Cancelled	Vic Viper • Gradius Arc • Salamander HD Remaster

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Infobox Game
-|title           = Gokujō Parodius! ~ Kako no Eikō o Motomete ~
+|title           = Gokujō Parodius!<br />~Kako no Eikō o Motomete~
 |image           = GokujōParodius!.jpg
 |caption         =
 |alternate_title =
-|european_title  = Fantastic Journey
+|european_title  = '''''Fantastic Journey'''''
-|japanese_title  = <small>極上パロディウス～過去の栄光を求めて～<br />''Gokujō Parodiusu! ~ Kako no Eikō o Motomete ~''</small>
+|japanese_title  = 極上パロディウス ～過去の栄光を求めて～
 |developer       = [[Konami]]
 |publisher       = [[Konami]]
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 |designer        =
 |composer        =
-|platform        = Arcade, Super Famicom, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Mobile Phones, Sony PSP
+|platform        =
+Arcade<br />
-|release_date    = JPN 1994
+Mobile phones<br />
+PlayStation<br />
+PlayStation Portable<br />
+Sega Saturn<br />
+Super Famicom
+|release_date    =
+'''<u>Arcade</u>'''<br />
+[[File:Flag of Japan.png|22px|Japan]] April 25, 1994<br />
+[[File:Flag of Europe.png|22px|Europe]] 1994<br />
+'''<u>Super Famicom</u>'''<br />
+[[File:Flag of Japan.png|22px|Japan]] November 25, 1994<br />
+'''<u>Mobile phones</u>'''<br />
+[[File:Flag of Japan.png|22px|Japan]] December 12, 2007 <small>(Part 1)</small><br />
+[[File:Flag of Japan.png|22px|Japan]] February 22, 2008 <small>(Part 2)</small><br />
+[[File:Flag of Japan.png|22px|Japan]] March 21, 2008 <small>(Part 3)</small><br />
+[[File:Flag of Japan.png|22px|Japan]] September 1, 2009 <small>(S!Appli)</small><br />
+[[File:Flag of Japan.png|22px|Japan]] October 8, 2009 <small>(EZ)</small>
 |media           =
+Mbit ROM cartridge<br />
+Digital download
 |ratings         =
-|genre           =
+|genre           = Side-scrolling shoot'em up
 |modes           =
+Single player<br />
+Multiplayer (simultaneous)<br />
+Multiplayer (alternating) (SFC)
 |input           =
 |gallery         =
 }}
-{{Nihongo|'''''Gokujō Parodius! ~ Kako no Eikō o Motomete ~'''''|極上パロディウス～過去の栄光を求めて～|lit. Fantastic Parodius! ~ Pursue the Glory of the Past ~}}, released in Europe as '''''Fantastic Journey''''', is a side-scrolling shooter arcade game and the third title in the ''[[Parodius (series)|Parodius]]'' series produced by [[Konami]]. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of the ''[[Gradius (series)|Gradius]]'' series and other Konami games.
+{{Nihongo|'''''Gokujō Parodius! ~Kako no Eikō o Motomete~'''''|極上パロディウス ～過去の栄光を求めて～||lit. "Fantastic Parodius! ~Pursue the Glory of the Past~"}}, released in Europe as '''''Fantastic Journey''''', is a side-scrolling shooter arcade game and the third title in the ''[[Parodius (series)|Parodius]]'' series produced by [[Konami]]. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of the ''[[Gradius (series)|Gradius]]'' series and other Konami games.
 ==Gameplay==
-Overall, the gameplay is identical to that of its predecessor, ''[[Parodius Da!]]'', with several new characters to choose from. Also new is that if you play a two-player game, the second player will have a different set of characters to select. They are clones of the first player characters, except with different names and slightly altered sprites or changed color palettes.
+Overall, the gameplay is identical to that of its predecessor, ''[[Parodius Da! ~Shinwa kara Owarai e~|Parodius Da!]]'', with several new characters to choose from. Also new is that if you play a two-player game, the second player will have a different set of characters to select. They are clones of the first player characters, except with different names and slightly altered sprites or changed color palettes.
 The characters are:
@@ Line 36: / Line 58: @@
 *[[Mambo and Samba]]
 *[[Michael and Gabriel]]
-*[[Soitsu, Doitsu, Koitsu, and Aitsu|Koitsu and Aitsu]]
+*[[Koitsu, Aitsu, Soitsu and Doitsu|Koitsu and Aitsu]]
-*[[Goemon|Goemon and Ebisumaru]]
+*[[Goemon|Goemon]] and [[w:c:goemon:Ebisumaru|Ebisumaru]]
 *[[Kid Dracula|Dracula-kun and Kid Dracula]]
-*[[Upa|Upa and Rupa]]
+*[[Upa and Rupa]]
+In the ''[[Parodius (series)|Parodius]]'' series, starting with ''Gokujō Parodius!'', the Power Meter was changed from a bar with the weapon names as text to a bar with pictures indicating the power-ups. The borders of each icon determine the gameplay type chosen, red for auto, yellow for semi-auto, and blue for manual. As this kind of power meter is shorter, two separate power meters appear onscreen on a two player game.
-When playing a two player game, shooting the other character enough times will cause it to get angry and fire shots in all directions for a short time. In the updated ports of ''[[Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius]]'', this can be turned on or off in the options screen. Also, when a player has pressed continue, the game stops as the player chooses his/her character and the game type.
+When playing a two player game, shooting the other character enough times will cause it to get angry and fire shots in all directions for a short time. In the updated ports of ''[[Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius]]'', this can be turned on or off in the options screen. Also, when a player has pressed continue, the game stops as the player chooses his/her character and the game type.
+{{clr}}
 ==Stages==
 {| border="1" class="wikitable"
@@ Line 49: / Line 73: @@
 |-
 !1
-|[[Circo Porto Harborland]]||[[Anna Pavlova|Anna Pavlova and Melora]]||In The Crane Game||''In the Mood'' by Joe Garland<br/>''Turkey in the Straw'' (American folksong)
+|[[Circo Porto Harborland]]||[[Anna Pavlova|Anna Pavlova and Melora]]||In The Crane Game||''In the Mood'' by Joe Garland<br />''Turkey in the Straw'' (American folksong)
 |-
 !2
-|[[Cat Battleship Forever]]||[[Cat Submarine]]<br/>[[Eliza|Eliza and Neil]]||Cat Battleship Forever||''Stars and Stripes Forever'' by John Philip Sousa
+|[[Cat Battleship Forever]]||[[Cat Submarine]]<br />[[Eliza|Eliza and Neil]]||Cat Battleship Forever||''Stars and Stripes Forever'' by John Philip Sousa
 |-
 !3
@@ Line 61: / Line 85: @@
 |-
 !5
-|[[Core Ship Parade]]||[[Capsule Monster Cappuccino]]||Space Hit Parade||''Yankee Doodle''<br/>''Ej Lucka, Lucka'' (Czech folksong)<br/>''Mary Had a Little Lamb''<br/>''Der Flohwalzer''<br/>''London Bridge is Falling Down''<br/>''Picnic''
+|[[Core Ship Parade]]||[[Capsule Monster Cappuccino]]||Space Hit Parade||''Yankee Doodle''<br />''Ej Lucka, Lucka'' (Czech folksong)<br />''Mary Had a Little Lamb''<br />''Der Flohwalzer''<br />''London Bridge is Falling Down''<br />''Picnic''
 |-
 !X
-|[[Moai Battleship]]||[[Yoshiko]]||The Brothers' Ships Move Again||''Ride of the Valkyries'' by Wilhelm Richard Wagner<br/>''The Old Stone Age'' from ''[[Gradius II: GOFER no Yabō]]''
+|[[Moai Battleship]]||[[Yoshiko]]||The Brothers' Ships Move Again||''Ride of the Valkyries'' by Wilhelm Richard Wagner<br />''The Old Stone Age'' from ''[[Gradius II: GOFER no Yabō]]''
 |-
 !6
-|[[The Moon]]||[[Princess Kaguya]]||What Do You See When You Are Jumping?||''Jyuugoya Otsuki-san'' by Nagayo Motoori<br/>''Kagome-kagome''<br/>''Sakura Sakura''<br/>''O-Edo Nihonbashi''<br/>''Toryanse''<br/>''Hanayome-Ningyou'' by Haseo Sugiyama
+|[[The Moon]]||[[Princess Kaguya]]||What Do You See When You Are Jumping?||''Jyuugoya Otsuki-san'' by Nagayo Motoori<br />''Kagome-kagome''<br />''Sakura Sakura''<br />''O-Edo Nihonbashi''<br />''Toryanse''<br />''Hanayome-Ningyou'' by Haseo Sugiyama
 |-
 !7
-|[[Disco]]||[[Chichibinta Rika]]<br/>[[Tako's Cutie]]||Paro-Paro Dancing!||''New World Symphony, 4th Movement'' by Antonín Dvořák
+|[[Disco]]||[[Chichibinta Rika]]<br />[[Tako's Cutie]]||Paro-Paro Dancing!||''New World Symphony, 4th Movement'' by Antonín Dvořák
 |-
 !EX
-|[[Shooting Memories]]||[[Pentaro X]]||Shooting Memories||''Challenger 1985'' from ''[[Gradius]]''<br/>''Bell Power Up BGM'' from ''[[w:c:twinbee:TwinBee (video game)|TwinBee]]<br/>''Power of Anger'' from ''[[Salamander]]''<br/>''Command 770'' from ''[[w:c:konami:A-Jax|A-Jax]]''<br/>''Aqua Illusion'' from ''[[Gradius III]]''<br/>''Sky Walker'' from [[Thunder Cross]]<br/>''Burning Heat'' from ''[[Gradius II: GOFER no Yabō]]''
+|[[Shooting Memories]]||[[Pentaro X]]||Shooting Memories||''Challenger 1985'' from ''[[Gradius]]''<br />''Bell Power Up BGM'' from ''[[w:c:twinbee:TwinBee (video game)|TwinBee]]<br />''Power of Anger'' from ''[[Salamander]]''<br />''Command 770'' from ''[[w:c:konami:A-Jax|A-Jax]]''<br />''Aqua Illusion'' from ''[[Gradius III]]''<br />''Sky Walker'' from [[Thunder Cross]]<br />''Burning Heat'' from ''[[Gradius II: GOFER no Yabō]]''
 |}
 ==Ports==
-''Gokujō Parodius!'' was ported to the Super Famicom in 1994. The only significant difference between the console and arcade version was added characters: Goemon/Ebisumaru from ''[[w:c:goemon:Ganbare Goemon (series)|Ganbare Goemon]]'', Dracula-kun/Kid-D from ''[[w:c:castlevania:Kid Dracula|Kid Dracula]]'' and Upa/Rupa from ''[[w:c:konami:Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa|Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa]]''.
+''Gokujō Parodius!'' was ported to the Super Famicom in 1994. The only significant difference between the console and the arcade version was added characters: [[Goemon]]/[[w:c:goemon:Ebisumaru|Ebisumaru]] from ''[[w:c:goemon:Ganbare Goemon (series)|Ganbare Goemon]]'', [[Kid Dracula|Dracula-kun/Kid-D]] from ''[[w:c:castlevania:Kid Dracula|Kid Dracula]]'', and [[Upa and Rupa]] from ''[[w:c:konami:Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa|Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa]]''.
 ===Weapon differences in the SNES release===
-[[Hikaru and Akane]] get the Tailgun, the Boomerang Shot from ''[[Thunder Cross]]'', another shooter game by Konami, and a Shield instead of the Spread Bomb, the Carrot Shot and a force field called Star that they get in the arcade version as well as on the Deluxe Pack released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Similarly, Mambo and Samba are given Homing Missiles, the Reflect Shot (which gives them two options when chosen), Grade Up and a Shield instead of the Bubble Missile, the Control Laser, Search Laser and a force field known as Barrier.
+[[Hikaru and Akane]] get the Tailgun, the Boomerang Shot from ''[[Thunder Cross]]'', another shooter game by [[Konami]], and a Shield instead of the Spread Bomb, the Carrot Shot and a force field called Star that they get in the arcade version, as well as on the ''Deluxe Pack'' released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Similarly, [[Mambo and Samba]] are given Homing Missiles, the Reflect Shot (which gives them two options when chosen), Grade Up and a Shield instead of the Bubble Missile, the Control Laser, Search Laser and a force field known as Barrier.
 ===Other releases===
-''Gokujō Parodius!'' was also ported along with ''[[Parodius Da!]]'' in the ''[[Gokujō Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack]]'' for PlayStation in 1994 and Sega Saturn in 1995. This compilation was released in Japan and Europe as ''Ultimate Parodius'', with ''Parodius Da!'' simply titled ''Parodius'' and ''Gokujō Parodius'' as ''Fantastic Journey''. The European release had english texts when the Megaphone is used and re-colored the mini Eagle Sabu enemies to green (as opposed to Brown in the Japanese version).
+''Gokujō Parodius!'' was also ported along with ''[[Parodius Da! ~Shinwa kara Owarai e~|Parodius Da!]]'' in the ''[[Gokujō Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack]]'' for PlayStation in 1994 and Sega Saturn in 1995. This compilation was released in Japan and Europe as ''Ultimate Parodius'', with ''Parodius Da!'' simply titled ''Parodius'' and ''Gokujō Parodius'' as ''Fantastic Journey''. The European release had English texts when the Megaphone is used and re-colored the mini Eagle Sabu enemies to green (as opposed to brown in the Japanese version).
 It was also released on mobile phones and included in ''[[Parodius Portable]]'' (although in the latter release some of the songs were removed due to copyright issues).
 ==Gallery==
+<gallery position="center" captionalign="center">
-<gallery>
 GokujouArt.jpg|Key art
 </gallery>
@@ Line 96: / Line 119: @@
 *Inside the arcade ROM, there are two additional pieces of music that went unused. Both a stage and boss theme are listed, and are repeated multiple times within the ROM, suggesting they were possibly placeholder pieces. The two music tracks are [http://sprites-inc.co.uk/knight/GokujoParodius!_JeTeVeux.mp3 Je Te Veux] and [http://sprites-inc.co.uk/knight/GokujoParodius!_Habanera.mp3 "Habanera" from Carmen].
-{{Gokujou Parodius}}
+{{Gokujō Parodius!}}
 {{Games}}
 [[Category:Arcade games]]