Sexy Parodius (セクシーパロディウス Sekushī Parodiusu) is a horizontal scrolling shooter game developed and published by Konami originally released on arcades in 1996, and receiving ports to the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn later the same year. It is the fifth game in the Parodius series. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of Gradius and other Konami titles. It is also the final Parodius shoot 'em up game, as the next Parodius-related game, Paro Wars, is a strategy game (similar to Cosmic Wars).
Plot[]
Old Lecher Tako A (Takosuke) has opened up an agency of some sort that helps clients with problems, and has hired Pentaro as his secretary. He recruited "workers" (the playable characters, who had gone their separate ways prior to Sexy Parodius) that will solve the problems of each client.
Playable characters[]
- Vic Viper/Lord British (Gradius series) - The only remaining member of the team from the original MSX Parodius. They delivered packages via air mail.
- Michael/Gabriel (original) - Returning as playable characters since Gokujō Parodius!
- Hikaru/Akane (original) - Returning as playable characters after being bosses in Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius.
- Ivan/Toby (original) - Replace Pentarō and Hanako. Ivan worked as a newspaper delivery penguin.
- Mambo/Samba (original) - Also return as playable characters. They delivered the weather forecast for a station.
- Koitsu/Aitsu (original) - Little men flying on paper planes. Like Michael, they power up instead of gaining Options. Koitsu worked with the movers, lifting furniture.
- Option/Multiple (original) - Vic Viper and Lord British's Options with faces (to denote emotions). They are escorted by small Vic Vipers and Lord Britishes when no power-ups are activated.
- Shooting Star/Black Viper (TwinBee Yahho!/original) - Replace TwinBee and WinBee. Shooting Star (with its pilot, Ace) was a boss from TwinBee Yahho! Black Viper is an original character. Once its respective weapon is activated, hold down the shoot button to charge up and release the button to use the Wide Blast or Spark Laser. Ace was a farmer, planting rice plants in a field.
Each character has their own announcer, who announces the name of the weapon they activate.
Voice actors[]
The list of voice actors from Sexy Parodius:
- Joshua Popenoe: Shooting Star and Black Viper
- Kumiko Watanabe: Ivan and Toby
- Yuko Nagashima: Hikaru and Akane
- Nobuyuki Hiyama: Michael and Gabriel
Gameplay[]
The gameplay in Sexy Parodius is similar to Gradius and the games before it, but with a new catch; instead of just playing through each level and destroying enemies while avoiding getting hit, the player must complete a special mission for each stage as well. Some of these missions range from collecting a certain amount of coins in a stage to destroying a certain object or enemies. Depending whether or not the player completes the mission will determine what the next stage will be. Unlike previous titles, home ports of the game (except for the PlayStation Portable port) have cooperative multiplayer intact, where both players play simultaneously. It is also improved in that the game continues playing even when one player is choosing a character upon continuing.
In a 2-player game, when certain characters are near enough, a third-shot appears between them which can manifest either as purple shots that swirl all over the screen, hearts that home toward enemies, or rockets that shoot straight ahead. This feature was first seen in Konami's arcade game Lightning Fighters (a.k.a Trigon).
Ports[]
Sexy Parodius was ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1996 in Japan. These versions allow the Special Stage to be selected on the title screen after finishing the game with all conditions passed. They also come with unlimited continues (the game doesn't keep track of credits). It was also included in Parodius Portable for the PlayStation Portable (although with music from some stages replaced with other remixed classical songs).
Stages[]
| Stage | Name | Objective | Boss | Music | Remix of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farm | Defeat the boss | Corn Chiwa | Pastoral March Corn Spirit Rhapsody |
American Patrol by F. W. Meacham My Old Kentucky Home by Stephen C. Foster Fuchs, Du Hast Die Gans Gestohlen by Ernst Anschütz |
| 2 | Bath House | Collect 300 coins | Finally Penguin | Sonic Speed Bath Toilet n' Penguin |
Csikos Post by Hermann Necke Entry of the Gladiators by Julius Fučík |
| 3A | Underwater Palace | Strip 200 maidens | Otohime | 1 - 2 - Kung Fu, Go to the Dragon King's Palace Lovely Otohime |
Battle Theme from Yie Ar Kung-Fu Mayim Mayim (Israeli folksong) Korobeiniki by Nikolai Alexeevich Nekrasov (PSP version) |
| 3B | Castle Dracula | Kill 100 rats | Medusa | Chu Chu Polka Welcome, Boy |
Vampire Killer from Castlevania Clarinet Polka (Polish folksong) Poison Mind from Castlevania The Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms |
| 4A | Girl Factory | Rescue 50 showgirls | Transporting Crane | 'Please, Help Me!' The Carrying Dance |
El Bimbo by Claude Ciari Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, 1st Movement by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Habanera from Carmen by Georges Bizet |
| 4B | Coal Mine | Destroy 10 targets | Tanuko the Tanuki | The Moon Appeared Tanuko's Destiny |
Tankoubushi Hokkai Bon'uta Symphony No. 5, 1st Movement by Ludwig van Beethoven Serenade No. 13 in G by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Genkotsuyama no Tanukisan (Japanese children song) |
| 5 | Sweet Sky | Collect 300 coins | Candy Core | Let's Sing! Destroy the Candy |
Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe I Lost The C on My Clarinet (French folksong) |
| X | Boss Rush | Defeat all bosses | Capsule Monster Cappuccino Captain Penguinovski the 3rd Eagle Eagle Sabnosuke Hot Lips Yuko |
Capsule Monster Cappuccino It's Boss BGM! Eagle Sabu Theme Theme of Hot Lips Yuko is Your Enemy |
Rondo Alla Turca by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov The Star Spangled Banner (American National Anthem) Take Care! from Gradius II Can Can by Jacques Offenbach Prelude Op. 28 No. 7 by Frédéric Chopin Scene from Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |
| 6 | Taj Mahal | Pursue Takosuke | "Mon" Kaori |
The End, Hallelujah! I'm Kaori |
Water Music Suite No. 2 in D Major by George Frideric Handel Hallelujah Chorus by George Frideric Handel Procession of the Sardar by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov Dark Force from Gradius III |
| SPECIAL | Special Stage | Defeat the boss | Sexy Star | Maniac of Shooting Am I Sexy |
Remixes from Konami Shoot em' ups Fur Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven |
Enemies[]
- Peppi & Steve
- Penguin Battery
- Mt. Charopino
- Kanimaru
- Maoi Formation
- Corn Missile
- Straw Pen
- Moo Moo
- Floating, Flapping High
- Penguin Ducker
- Marimopoulos
- Hiyoppi and Kokekko
- Yagian and Merinon
- Hakutsuru and Gun-chan
- Kuma-chan
- Chobi
- Heisul
- Milpin
- Muteki-teki
- Briti Seiji
- Bathroom Spirit
- Thousand-face Monster
- Ankoku Chonin
- Ahiru-chan
- Tsukio
- Ryuko
- Floating Katamari
- Awaji
- Catharine, Stefany, Brandi, Linda, Neil & Eliza
- Tsubo Kurage
- Lee-kun
- Ramen Hatch
- Chojuan
- Hirame (actually a female)
- Angel
- Ryumen
- Coffin
- Genius Iron Ball Boy "1"
- Balloon DE Chu
- Bat Hiro
- Otori
- Flier DE Chu
- Nata
- Hide DE Chu
- Magical DE Chu
- Para DE Tude
- Guarding DE Chu
- Harechu
- Blocking DE Chu
- Running DE Chu
- Sick DE Chu
- Parent and Child Chu
- Support
- Chu Battery
- Furniture
- Kotachu
- Oba-K
- Cattle Mutilation
- Go-Through DE Chu
- Hijikata Lady
- Canarino Canaria
- Usako
- Army Tee
- Nonashi
- Laser Minister
- Underground Lucky Mochi
- Dogu
- Chiteiken
- Shigechi
- Doripen
- Fracture Zone
- Sexy Dynamite
- Tsurupen
- Tokkoro
- Dokidoki Heart
- Holerun Desu
- Iwanami Bungo
- Kane Chichiken
- Pillar
- Boxed Sister
- Lively Namiro
- Condenser Deluxe
- Tonkichi and Spannan
- Pig
- Poppo
- Condenser
- UFO
- Villani #1 and #2
- Giyara
- Boltonpe
- Kyaatatatatata
- Kewpie Do
Gallery[]
Packaging artwork[]
_-_01.jpg "Sexy Parodius (PSX) - 01.jpg (238 KB)")
_-_01.jpg "Sexy Parodius (SAT) - 01.jpg (176 KB)")
Character artwork[]
Screenshots[]
Promotional artwork[]
Trivia[]
- A bad ending can be achieved by letting the timer run out on Stage 6. This ending depicts Takosuke surrounded with women and the player characters being frustrated.
- Considering the Boss Rush as a separate stage, this game has ten stages in total, although only a maximum of eight stages can be played during a playthrough.
- The Black Viper, Shooting Star's counterpart, is the only second player character to have its own theme song, in this case a remix of "Departure from Space" (titled "Departure for Sexy") from Gradius III.
- The intro of the music for Stage 3B is Vampire Killer from the Castlevania series. The intro for Medusa's theme is "Poison Mind", also from the same series.
- The Gunwalls are the only bosses in the game that don't have an accompanying boss theme.
External links[]
- GameFAQs
- MobyGames
- Sexy Parodius at Gaming History
| Sexy Parodius | ||
| Characters | Vic Viper and Lord British • Ivan and Toby • Hikaru and Akane • Mambo and Samba • Michael and Gabriel • Koitsu and Aitsu • Option and Multiple • Shooting Star and Black Viper (Ace) • The Old Lecher Tako | |
| Stages | Farm • Bath House • Underwater Palace • Castle Dracula • Girl Factory • Coal Mine • Sweet Sky • Boss Rush • Taj Mahal • Special Stage | |
| Bosses | Corn Chiwa • Finally Penguin • Otohime • Medusa • Transporting Crane • Tanuko the Tanuki • Candy Core • Capsule Monster Cappuccino • Captain Penguinovski the 3rd • Eagle Eagle Sabnosuke • Hot Lips • Yuko • "Mon" • Kaori • Sexy Star | |
| 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 | |