Parodius

Parodius ~Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū~ (パロディウス ~タコは地球を救う~?, "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 its sequel Parodius Da! -Shinwa kara Owarai e- in that respect, which is also titled Parodius in Europe. 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.

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