Gokujō Parodius!
Japanese Name	Gokujō Parodius!
European Name	Fantastic Journey
Release date	JPN 1994
Developer	Konami
Publisher	Konami
Platforms	Arcade, Super Famicom, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Mobile Phones, Sony PSP
Chronology
Previous Parodius Da!	Next Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius

Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～ (Gokujō Parodiusu! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～ |lit. "Fantastic Parodius! ～Pursue the Glory of the Past～"), released in Europe as Fantastic Journey, is a 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.

GameplayEdit

Also see Parodius Series

Overall, the gameplay is identical to that of its predecessor, Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－, with several new characters to choose from. Also new, 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:

• Vic Viper & Lord British
• Pentarou & Hanako
• TwinBee & Winbee
• Takosuke & Belial
• Hikaru & Akane
• Mambo & Samba
• Michael & Gabriel
• Koitsu & Aitsu
• Goemon & Ebisumaru
• Dracula-Kun & Kid Dracula
• Upa & Rupa

When playing a two player game, shooting the other character enough times will cause it to get angry and fire shots in all drections for a short time. In the updated ports of Jikkyo 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.

ManualsEdit

• Main Article : Instruction Gokujō Parodius! Manual Arcade
• Main Article : Instruction Gokujō Parodius! Manual Super Famicom

StagesEdit

Stage 1: Circo Porto Harborland

Stage 2: Cat Battleship Forever

Stage 3: Candy Land

Stage 4: High Speed City

Stage 5: Core Ship Parade

Stage X: Moai Battleship

Stage 6: Rabbit Moon

Stage 7: Penguin Disco

Special Stage: Shooting Memories

BossesEdit

• Stage 1 : Anna Baburowa & Meroowa
• Stage 2 : Cat Submarine MK II, Eliza & Neil
• Stage 3 : Decoration Core MK I (Big Core MK III Parody)
• Stage 4 : Crazy Core (Demos Parody)
• Stage 5 : Capsule Monster Cappuccino
• Stage X : Yoshiko
• Stage 6 : Kaguya Princess
• Stage 7 : Chichibinta Rika, Big Octopus
• Special Stage : Pentaro X

PortsEdit

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 Ganbare Goemon, Dracula-Kun/Kid-D from Kid Dracula and Upa/Rupa from Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa.

In addition, Hikaru & Akane gets a Tailgun, 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 (named "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 (named "Barrier").

Gokujō Parodius! was also ported along with Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ on 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 text 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 a the first three episodes in Mobile Phones and included in Parodius Portable on the PSP, with some songs replaced by classical/folk songs.

TriviaEdit

• 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 possibily placeholder pieces).

The two music tracks are: Je Te Veux and "Habanera" from Carmen

• Cute Bird makes a cameo in Stage 2, but it looks possible on how it revived in Sexy Parodius, but she was possibly revived.