Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius (実況おしゃべりパロディウス Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodiusu, "Chatting Parodius Live"), known on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation as Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius ~forever with me~ (実況おしゃべりパロディウス 〜フォーエバー・ウィズ・ミー〜 Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodiusu ~fōebā uizu mī~, lit. "Chatting Parodius Live ~forever with me~"), is the fourth game in the Parodius series produced by Konami. The gameplay is stylistically very similar to the Gradius series, but the graphics and music are intentionally absurd. The game, as its name would suggest, contains a large amount of Japanese voice samples shouted out in a style similar to that of a game show host. Unlike the previous two titles, Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius was not created as an arcade game. It was first released on the Super Famicom in 1995 and then ported and updated for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996.
Gameplay
As stated above, the gameplay is very similar to the Gradius series, with a few exceptions. For one, there is an impressive array of characters to choose from. Each one of these characters utilizes different weapons and abilities as you obtain power-ups. The second main difference is the addition of bell power-ups, from the TwinBee series. These bells act as one-time power-ups, allowing you to destroy every enemy on screen, fire huge beams of energy, etc.
The playable characters in this game include:
- Parodius Originals: Sue, Takohiko/Takosuke, Belial, Memim, Mike, Ran, Soitsu and Doitsu.
- Gradius Ships: Vic Viper, Lord British
- Twin Bee Team: TwinBee, Winbee
- Penguins: Pentarou, Hanako
- Miracle Upa: Upa, Rupa
Ports
PlayStation/Sega Saturn
This game was ported for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996 with the title, Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius: forever with me. This port not only added improved graphics and sound from the Super Famicom game, but some altered levels and bosses, including a cheat to replace 'Tokimeki People's Dance' with an enhanced version, 'Days Of The Dream's Memories'. Also added were several "Omake" stages and an unlockable Dracula-kun (Kid Dracula) as a playable character. In a two-player game, both players can now choose to play simultaneously instead of just alternately in the Super Famicom game.
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation and Saturn version of the game was also ported to the Sony PSP as a part of the compilation titled Parodius Portable in 2007. One notable change was the first stage's music, "I Remember That!", which was an instrumental remix of "That's the Way (I Like It)" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band. The PSP game replaced the remix with "Brilliant2U" by Naoki Maeda from Dance Dance Revolution to avoid copyright infringement.