Developer: Kaneki, Inster State Co. Publisher: Hudson Soft Release: 04/24/92 Genre: Shooter
Apparently every long running shooter series has to poke fun at itself at some point. Konami pioneered the art of parody with Parodius which to this day is still a genius name. Hudson Soft took notice and decided they wanted in on that action with Star Soldier being the primary target. And you know what? If they can all be this good I say keep them coming. Star Parodier is not only a funny game but a fantastic shooter. I say it constantly but this is another in a long line of PC Engine gems.
Although Star Parodier mainly parodies Super Star Soldier its reach extends further than that. It draws from a good many shooters that have appeared on the PC Engine, some of them blatantly so. The first few levels resemble Twin Bee so much if you squint you can see Konami’s lawyers approaching. You will also see echoes of Gradius and Bomberman as well. But the most important thing is that even though these elements are present the game does not use them to cover up shoddy gameplay. In fact it is very accomplished in that regard.
You have a choice of three characters that all play very differently. Bomberman, Paro Ceaser, and PC Engine all have unique weapon load outs that change your approach to the game. Of the trio Paro Ceaser is the closest to the traditional Star Soldier mold with its weapons. All three, straight laser, exploding cloud, and Vulcan come from Super Star Soldier. Bomberman has a variety of unique bombs with different effects that are slower than normal. PC Engine attacks with CDs and hucards which is….weird. The auxiliary weapons such as homing missiles and such are also exclusive to each character. While their weapons are unique for the most part they are all equal in strength so no one character feels more powerful. Working around the nuances of each weapon is what makes them stand out.
Each of Star Parodier’s eight levels is a wild ride through some video game inspired world. Stage 1 cribs from Detana Twinbee liberally but goes for a carnival theme. The familiar blocks that dot the next level come straight out of Tetris. Later levels reference Starship Hector, Super Star Soldier, and Bomberman. Many of the enemies and bosses pull from those series as well. Except here they are given a cuddly makeover. The cute art style does not mean the game is lacking in its action however. There is rarely a moment of respite as the waves never stop. Despite all the chaos the game never slows down either. Too bad, you could use a moment to breathe every now and then.
To an extent you can accuse Star Parodier of being derivative. Its best moments are those that they pull from other games. That is something that Parodius manages better; even though it takes bits from the various games it pokes fun of it has just as many original elements as well. Star Parodier fails in that regard. That does not mean it is bad; far from it. But it does mean that the overall journey feels a bit too familiar at times. How much that affects your enjoyment will vary.
The difficulty in Star Parodier is just right. For the most part the way death is handled makes the game accessible. With each hit your weapon drops in power. It only takes three items to reach full power which is easy initially. Once you max out your weapons you can mow through most stages easily. With no power-ups a single hit means death. Normally this would send you back to a checkpoint. But you can collect hearts that let you respawn immediately instead. The early stages of the game allow you to build these up and are rife with power-ups. But late in the game weapon drops become rare and the difficulty curve rises. Even with that I found the game remained fair outside of the high speed maze in the final level. I had so much fun I replayed the game with the other characters immediately which is rare.
In Closing
Star Parodier is an excellent game that provides plenty of action to go along with the silliness. Even if this were not a parody and a completely original game it would still be great. The comedic hijinks are simply the icing on the cake. It is a damn shame it never left Japan like most of the series but it’s a shooter, an English localization would not have mattered as there is little translation necessary. Add this to the many great titles on this platform in your import library.
