Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～

Fantastic Parodius - Pursue the Glory of the Past (極上パロディウス ～過去の栄光を求めて～) known outside Japan as Fantastic Journey, is a scrolling shooter arcade game and the third title in the Parodius series produced by Konami. Like the rest of the series, it is a parody of the Gradius series and other Konami games.

Gameplay
Overall, the gameplay is identical to that of its predecessor, Parodius! From Myth to Laughter, with several new characters to choose from. Also new, if you play a two-player game, the second player will have a different set of characters to select. They are clones of the first player characters, except with different names and slightly altered sprites or changed color palettes. These characters include: Vic Viper/Lord British, Pentarou/Hanako, TwinBee/Winbee, Takosuke/Belial, Hikaru/Akane, Mambo/Samba, Michael/Gabriel and Koitsu/Aitsu.

In the Parodius series, starting with Gokujō Parodius, the Power Meter was changed from a bar with the weapon names as text to a bar with pictures indicating the powerups. The borders of each icon determine the gameplay type chosen, red for auto, yellow for semi-auto and blue for manual. As this kind of power meter is shorter, two separate power meters appear on screen on a two player game.

Ports
Fantastic Parodius was ported to the Super Famicom months after its arcade release. Two significant differences between the console and arcade version were added characters: Goemon/Ebisumaru from Ganbare Goemon, Dracula-Kun/Kid-D from Kid Dracula and Upa/Rupa from Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa and the alternating two player mode.

In addition, Hikaru and Akane gets a Tailgun, Boomerang Shot from Thunder Cross, another shooter game by Konami, and a Shield instead of the Spread Bomb, the Carrot Shot and a force field (named "Star") that they get in the arcade version (as well as on the Deluxe Pack released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn). Similarly, Mambo and Samba are given Homing Missiles, the Reflect Shot (which gives them two options when chosen), Grade Up and a Shield instead of the Bubble Missile, the Control Laser, Search Laser and a force-field (named "Barrier").

Fantastic Parodius! was also ported along with ''Parodius! From Myth to Laughter on Gokujō Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack'' for PlayStation in 1994 and Sega Saturn in 1995. This compilation was released in Japan and Europe. The European release was released as Parodius, with Parodius Da! simply titled Parodius and Gokujō Parodius as Fantastic Journey. In addition, it had English text when the Megaphone is used and re-colored the mini Eagle Sabu enemies to green (as opposed to Brown in the Japanese version).

It was also released for mobile phones and included in Parodius Portable on the PlayStation Portable, with some songs replaced by classical/folk songs. The Mobile Phone contain as Three Parts to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Parodius series.

Reception
On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the PlayStation version's Deluxe Pack a 32 out of 40, and the Sega Saturn's Deluxe Pack a 31 out of 40. Maximum gave the Saturn Deluxe Pack three out of five stars, saying that it is virtually identical to the arcade and PlayStation versions and has very pleasing gameplay, visuals, and music, but is outdated compared to contemporary Saturn games. They summarized, "Konami's first effort [at a Saturn game] has a lot to commend it, but when there are epics such as Panzer Dragoon stretching the shooting genre, it's clear that Parodius is not in the same league."

Other Appearances

 * Michael appears as a power-up and Koitsu makes a cameo in the ending of TwinBee Yahho!
 * Hikaru makes cameo in the arcade game Daisu-Kiss and the adventure game Snatcher.
 * Aitsu from Parodius is a secret playable character in Speed King NEO KOBE 2045.
 * Hikaru makes a brief cameo in "Wai Wai Arcade" and Pastel wears Michael, Aitsu and Eliza-like outfits in the interactive game TwinBee PARADISE in Donburi Island.
 * Koitsu from Parodius makes a cameo appearance in Super Bishi Bashi Champ.
 * Koitsu appears as stickers seen in printstations from Mitsumete Knight R.
 * Michael was Assistant and Takosuke was a playable, and Anna Pavolva makes cameo in the racing video game Konami Krazy Racers.
 * Koitsu, Pentarō, Anna Pavlova, Moai Battleship and Hikaru make a cameo in the pachinko CR Saikoro Tin Douty.
 * Koitsu appears in Nou Kaihatsu Kenkyujo Kuru Kuru Lab.
 * Koitsu and Aitsu make a cameo as one of Jonathan Morris's attacks in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair.
 * Koitsu, Mambo and Hikaru from Gokujō Parodius! appears in the puzzle game Pixel Puzzle Collection to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Parodius series.