Sexy Parodius (セクシーパロディウス) is a scrolling shooter arcade game. It is the fifth game in the Parodius series produced by Konami. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of Gradius and other Konami games. It is also the final Parodius shoot 'em up game because next Parodius-related game, Paro Wars, is a strategy game like Cosmic Wars.
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 also 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 whether the player what the next stage will be. Unlike past versions, home ports of the game (except for the PSP port) has cooperative multiplayer intact (where both players play simultaneously). It is also improved in that the game continues to play 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 be purple shots that swirl all-over the screen, hearts that home in on enemies, or rockets that shoot straight ahead. This feature was first seen on Konami's arcade game Trigon (a.k.a Lightning Fighters).
Plot
Old Lecher Tako A (Takosuke) has opened-up an agency of some sort that helps clients with problems and has hired Pentarou as his secretary. He recruited "workers" (the playable characters, who had gone their seperate 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 and Toby (Original) replace Pentarou and Hanako. Ivan worked as a newspaper delivery penguin.
- Mambo and Samba (Original) also return as playable characters. They delivered the weather forecast for a station.
- Koitsu and 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)- replaces Twinbee and Winbee. Shooting Star (with it's pilot, Ace) was a boss from Twinbee Yahoo. 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 gets their own announcer that announces the name of the weapon they activate.
Ports
Sexy Parodius was ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1996 for 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 (albeit with music from some stages replaced with other remixed classical songs) for the PSP.
Stages
Stage | Name | Objective | Boss |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Farm | Defeat the boss | Corn Chiwa |
2 | Bath House | Collect 300 coins | Finally Penguin |
3A | Underwater Palace | Strip 200 maidens | Otohime |
3B | Castle Dracula | Kill 100 rats | Medusa |
4A | Girl Factory | Rescue 50 showgirls | Transporting Crane |
4B | Coal Mine | Destroy 10 targets | Tanuko the Tanuki |
5 | Sweet Sky | Collect 300 coins | Candy Core |
X | Boss Rush | Defeat all bosses | Capsule Monster Cappuccino Captain Penguinovski the 3rd Eagle Eagle Sabnosuke Hot Lips Yuko |
6 | Taj Mahal | Pursue Takosuke | "Mon" Kaori |
SPECIAL | Special Stage | Defeat the boss | Sexy Star |
Gallery
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 total although only a maximum of eight stages can be played at one time.
- 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 only the bosses in the game that has do not have an accompanying boss theme.
Links
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 |