CORBIE'S GAME BLOG

You may be wondering why I saved Parodius Portable for last. Well that would be because I've always been a huge fan of the Parodius series despite the fact that the series has seen very few releases here in the US. I even paid a large amount of money to import a white Sega Saturn system and have kept it all these years just because of the Chatting Parodius and Sexy Parodius releases for the system in Japan. Easily two of my favorite shooters. Parodius is basically a "parody" of the Gradius series of games and basically turns the outer space theme into a circus of insane and cartoony enemies, bosses, and some of the zaniest backgrounds you can imagine. A good example would be the anime girls all bubble bathing in their tubs during a level in Sexy Parodius. And the sound is even more over-the-top than the visuals as perfectly shown in Chatting Parodius where you'll spend the entire game being shouted at by a Japanese game show host. Don't let the quirkiness of the games scare you off as these are some serious shooter challenges and rank right up there with some of my all-time favorite shoot em' ups. And don't let the looks fool you either, as these games are plenty challenging with some of the later levels in many of these games being downright hard.

The Parodius Portable collection brings together five of the best the Parodius series has to offer. The games on this collection are: Parodius, Gokujou Parodius, Chatting Parodius, Sexy Parodius, and Parodius: Tako Saves Earth. As with the other collections, the game's visuals vary depending on how recent a release the game was. Sexy Parodius and Chatting Parodius both look outstanding, even all these years later and still provide the same outrageous experience they did the first time I popped them into my Sega Saturn ten years ago. I'm excited about all three of the new Konami shooter collections, but it's Parodius Portable that has me the most excited. If you've never played a Parodius game you really need to try this collection and become familiar with what I consider to be the most underrated shooter series in history. And those are big words coming from someone that's as big a shooter fan as I am. All I can say is "Thank You" Konami. You really made my year with these releases. And now I can take them with me wherever I go. It's going to be like Christmas all over again. : )