Collection essentials #201: Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius / Chatting Parodius Live (SNES)

I just talked about a Parodius game earlier this week, and here’s another one of those silly yet really-well-made self-parody shoot ‘em ups Konami made spoofing their own series of Gradius. 

Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius is unusual for an old shoot ‘em up because, unlike most others in this time, this one was made specifically for home consoles. Typically, a shoot ‘em up was made as an arcade game first, and later an adaptation was made for one or more of the home consoles at the time. 

There’s a lot that can be said about this game, but I’m actually not going to say much right now. You see, a year later this game got a beefed-up remake on newer consoles. One of those updated versions is the one I’ve played the most by far. The Super Nintendo original is not strictly inferior, as there were many changes made, so it provides a bit of a unique experience. However, I think the vast majority would agree that this would not be the preferred version if you had to go with only one.

It’s still an essential because I’m a Parodius fan, but you’ll have to stay tuned for when I say a lot more about the best version of this game later this year.