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This article concerns the first Parodius game. For a general overview of the series, see Parodius (series).

Parodius
Developer	Konami
Publisher	Konami
Released	1988
Genre	Horizontal scrolling shooter
Mode(s)	Single player multiplayer (alternating)
Platform(s)	MSX, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, PSP

Parodius ～Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū～ (パロディウス ～タコは地球を救う～, Parodius ～Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū～^? lit. Parodius: The Octopus Saves the Earth) or just Parodius, is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Konami for the MSX computer and was released in Japan. The game is notable for being the first title in the Parodius series, although it is often confused with Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ in that respect. The name itself is a portmanteau of "Gradius" and "Parody" and, eponymously, the game is a parody of the Gradius series of space-based horizontally-scrolling shooters. Many of the characters and enemies are derived from that famous shooter series, while other elements are extracted from other Konami titles, such as Antarctic Adventure and Twinbee. This game is of particular note in the series as being heavily infused with Japanese culture and folklore.

The gameplay is very similar to the Gradius games, with other aspects from games such as Twinbee. However, the characters are replaced with silly characters taken from either these or other Konami games as well as Japanese culture. The music is mostly taken from classical music pieces.

The player can play as either Takosuke, an octopus, the Penguin (father of Pentarou) from Antarctic Adventure and the exclusive MSX game Penguin Adventure, Goemon from the Ganbare Goemon series, the Popolon knight from the MSX game Knightmare or the Vic Viper spaceship from Gradius. The game is composed of six stages consisting of various obstacles and enemies such as penguins and bees, as well as more traditional Gradius enemies such as moai. As with Gradius, the game utilizes a similar selection-bar based power-up system.

The gameplay of Parodius, as with the rest of the games in the series, can be altered significantly by collecting bell powerups (from the Twinbee game). The powerups, however, are only similar in appearance, with the function being altered:

Yellow Bell: Causes all minor enemies on the screen to die instantly. (Smart Bomb)

White Bell: Wrap around horizontally. The player can fly off the left or right of the screen and appear at the other side.

Green Bell: Wrap around vertically. The player can fly off the top or bottom of the screen and appear at the other end.

Cyan Bell: Time Freeze. Stops scrolling & enemies for a few seconds.

Purple Bell: Mine. Destroys all enemies on the same height.

Blue Bell: Rotary drill. Makes the player immune to most enemies for some time.

Dark Green Bell: Up Laser. Grants the player the Up Laser for some time, which fires a laser beam upward from the top of the player's character.

Red Bell: Vector Laser. Grants the player the Vector Laser for some time, which destroys any enemy in one shot.

Parodius was later included in Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol.3 for PlayStation, Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack for Sega Saturn, Parodius Portable in PSP with enhanced graphics..

Main article: Parodius Music

• Japanese page covering Parodius
• Translated Manual (with scans)
• Parovadius Reset, a Parodius-style flash movie
• Hardcore Gaming 101 covers the series
• Parodius at MobyGames