[[File:Parodius Da logo.png|frameless|400px|center]]

{{GameInfobox
| bordercolor = #f0658c
| innerbordercolor = #f0658c
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| background = #a4bef5
| image = Parodius Da Title Screen.png
| width = 324px;
| imagecaption = Title screen
| imagescalepx = 180px

|developer = [[Konami]]
|music = Muraoka Kazuki
|program = Tokuda Tsukasa
|art = ''Gakincho'', ''Touyou Syoutarou'', Miyoshi Takemasa, ''Mory-Wandayu'', ''Mikachan''
|releasedate = '''Arcade:''' April 25, 1990 '''Famicom:''' November 30, 1990 '''Gameboy:''' April 5, 1991 '''PC Engine:''' February 21, 1992 '''Super Famicom:''' July 3, 1992 '''PlayStation:''' December 3, 1994 '''Sega Saturn:''' May 19, 1995
|previousgame = [[Trigon]]
|nextgame = [[Thunder Cross II]]
}}

'''Parodius Da!''' (Japanese: ''Parodiusu Da!'' パロディウスだ！) is a shmup developed and published by [[Konami]] in 1990. It is the second installment in the Parodius series succeeding the lesser-known [[Parodius]] (Konami 1988) released on the MSX system. It is the first of the three arcade games from the series followed by [[Gokujou Parodius]] (Konami 1994) and [[Sexy Parodius]] (Konami 1996).

'''Parodius Da!''' has received several console ports over the years, e.g. for the Super Nintendo, Sega Saturn or PlayStation - all of which differ significantly from the arcade original as well as from each other.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gameplay Overview ==

=== Controls ===
----

The game offers two different control styles which can be selected at the start of the game: '''Auto Power-Up''' (uses one button) and '''Manual Power-Up''' (uses three buttons).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! !! Auto Power-Up !! Manual Power-Up
|-
| A button || || Select Power-Up
|-
| B button || Primary weapon (shot/double/laser) Secondary weapon (missile) Bell power || Primary weapon (shot/double/laser)
|-
| C button || || Secondary weapon (missile) Bell power
|}

When Auto Power-Up is selected, the game will automatically power up the ship when enough capsules are collected. Moreover, Roulette Capsules (see [[Parodius Da!#Items|Items]] below) just count as regular capsules.

=== Characters ===
----

There are four characters to choose from: Vic Viper, Octopus, Twin Bee and Pentarou. While the basic controls are the same, each of the characters have individual strengths and weaknesses due to the different Power Meters. Although preferences may vary, the difficulty ranking for the characters from easiest to hardest may be Twin Bee > Octopus > Vic Viper > Pentarou.

The images below indicate the hitboxes which are exactly the same size for the four characters.

<gallery class="center">
File:Paro Da Vic Viper hitbox.png|'''Vic Viper'''
File:Paro Da Octopus hitbox.png|'''Octopus'''
File:Paro Da Twin Bee hitbox.png|'''Twin Bee'''
File:Paro Da Pentarou hitbox.png|'''Pentarou'''
</gallery>

=== Power Meter ===
----
[[File:Parodius Da Power Meter iso.png|600px|center]]
The Power Meter system in '''Parodius Da!''' is directly inherited from the [[Gradius]] series. When the game begins, the Power Meter starts at position 0, i.e. no box of the Power Meter is highlighted. When the player picks up a red capsule, the Power Meter position is advanced by +1 and the next box in the Power Meter sequence will be highlighted. Upon pressing A, the ship receives the currently highlighted ability. Once an upgrade is activated, the Power Meter jumps back to position 0 again and the sequence starts anew.

When a red capsule is picked up when the Power Meter is at position 7 it will jump back to position 1.

The effects of the seven positions of the Power Meter are as follows.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! Position !! Effect
|-
| Speed Up || Increases the speed of the character. This position can be selected up to 5 times to gradually increase the speed further.
|-
| Missile || Activates the secondary weapon which in most cases is useful against ground targets. The shot frequency is lower than ''Double'' or ''Laser''.
|-
| Double || Activates the first of the two primary weapons. Depending on the character it gives greater coverage diagonally up or to the back.
|-
| Laser || Activates the second of the two primary weapons. Usually gives much greater screen coverage to the front and deals more damage than ''Double''.
|-
| Option || Adds an option to the character. Vic Viper & Octopus can carry 4, Twin Bee and Pentarou can carry 3 options.
|-
| !? || The character is set back to the default state. All speed ups, weapons, options and the shield are removed immediately.
|-
| Shield || A shield is added which can protect against a number of hits from bullets or enemies/terrain. The shield has its own hitbox that is larger than the character itself.
|}

While ''Missile'' can be equipped in conjunction with ''Double'' or ''Laser'', only one of the primary weapon (''Double'' or ''Laser'') can be selected at a time. Therefore, the player has to decide when to use ''Double'' and when ''Laser'' might be the better choice.

Although the Power Meter has certain general properties, all four characters have an individual set of upgrades. The character select screen shows the following overview.

[[File:Parodius Da Power Meter.png|500px]]

=== Items ===
----

There are two types of items: power capsules and bells. An item will pop up either if the player destroys certain waves of enemies fully or when a red enemy is destroyed.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]] || '''Red Capsule''' Advances the Power Meter by 1.
|-
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]] || '''Roulette Capsule''' Starts roulette mode in the Power Meter. Visually indistinguishable from regular Red Capsules. Found in fixed locations.
|-
| [[File:Paro Da blue capsule.png|50px|center]] || '''Blue Capsule''' Clears the screen from all enemies (no points are awarded for these).
|-
| [[File:Paro Da yellow bell.png|50px|center]] || '''Yellow Bell''' Score item. Value increases with subsequent collection: 500 > 1000 > 2,500 > 5,000 > 10,000. Value resets when a Yellow Bell goes off screen or upon death.
|-
| [[File:Paro Da blue bell.png|50px|center]] || '''Blue Bell''' Adds a screen clearing bomb to the player's bell stock. Additional bombs can be picked up for a maximum of three.
|-
| [[File:Paro Da white bell.png|50px|center]] || '''White Bell''' When picked up, all regular weapons are disabled for a certain amount of time and a megaphone shouts out text that has great coverage and also cancels all bullets.
|-
| [[File:Paro Da green bell.png|50px|center]] || '''Green Bell''' When picked up, all regular weapons are disabled for a certain amount of time and the player sprite increases in size granting invincibility and extra speed.
|-
| [[File:Paro Da red bell.png|50px|center]] || '''Red Bell''' Adds 3 laser barriers to the player's bell stock. These barriers cover almost the whole screen vertically and destroy all enemies and bullets touching them.
|}

All regular items except Roulette Capsules appear in the following item cycle. Missing an enemy that holds an item does not advance the item cycle. Once the item cycle has reached the end it starts all over again. Roulette Capsules are fixed and always found inside the same enemies. They have no effect on the regular item cycle.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Item Cycle
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da yellow bell.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da yellow bell.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red capsule.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da blue capsule.png|50px|center]]
|}

The bell cycle starts at yellow. Hitting a Yellow Bell five times will make it advance to the next color. Every other color just takes a single hit to make the bell cycle go to the next yellow again. All bells share the same cycle over the course of the entire game. For example, when the player picks up a White Bell, the next bell that appears is a yellow one and hitting it five times will make it switch to green. This cycle is not affected by missing bells or picking them up. Once the bell cycle has reached the end it starts all over again. If an individual bell goes through the full bell cycle twice (or is hit with the equivalent number of shots if the bell cycle extends over 2+ bells simultaneously), it blows up. Destroying a bell in this way has no affect on the score value of the yellow bells.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Bell Cycle
| [[File:Paro Da yellow bell.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da blue bell.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da yellow bell.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da white bell.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da yellow bell.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da green bell.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da yellow bell.png|50px|center]]
| [[File:Paro Da red bell.png|50px|center]]
|}

==== Despawning Items ====
----
When the spritelimit of the game is exceeded while shooting enemies that would otherwise spawn an item (bells and capsules - including roulette capsules), these items can sometimes not spawn. Even when a regular item is despawned in this way, the item cycle will still advance as if it had appeared.

Despawning a yellow bell does not result in a decrease of the present bell value.

Bells regularly despawn during a stage transition (e.g. when a boss fight starts). This will likewise not affect the bell value.

=== Extra Lives ===
----
On default settings, the player is awarded with two extra lives, one at 30,000 and the second at 100,000.

=== Rank ===
----

'''Parodius Da!''' has an incredibly unforgiving rank system. Due to the few lives the game grants to the player it is paramount to control it and keep it low as much as possible. Generally speaking, there are two main rank counters at play: the Base Rank and the Frame Rank.

The Base Rank is affected by the following four factors. Minimum and maximum values are given in parentheses.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! Base Rank
|-
| Minimum Rank (difficulty: 0 to 6 + stage: 0 to 15) + Power Ups (0 to 5) + Bell Stock (0 to 3) + Frame Rank (0 to 15)
|}

Base Rank is capped at 31. How the values of these factors are calculated is explained in the following four sections.

# Minimum Rank
----
The minimum rank is calculated by the difficulty (as set in the dip switch settings) and the current stage number. Per stage, the Base Rank never falls below this minimum rank number.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center
|-
! Easy
| 0
|-
! Normal
| 2
|-
! Hard
| 4
|-
! Very Hard
| 6
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col"|
! scope="col"| Loop 1
! scope="col"| Loop 2
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 1
| 0
| 8
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 2
| 1
| 9
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 3
| 2
| 10
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 4
| 3
| 11
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 5
| 1
| 9
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 6
| 3
| 11
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 7
| 4
| 12
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 8
| 5
| 13
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 9
| 6
| 14
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 10
| 7
| 15
|}

# <li value="2"> Power Ups</li>
----
Depending on the power ups equipped, the following rank increase is added to the Base Rank. If the setup changes, so does the rank increase. Note that an equipped shield or active bell affects the rank in two ways. First, the Base Rank directly increases when an active shield/bell is used according to the table below (this number will decrease again when the shield/bell is lost). Moreover, an active shield/bell affects the Frame Rank (see below).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! rowspan="3" |
! colspan="6" | No Shield/Bell Power
! colspan="6" | Shield/Bell Power
|-
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Double
! rowspan="2" | Laser
! colspan="3" | Missile
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Double
! rowspan="2" | Laser
! colspan="3" | Missile
|-
! Shot !! Double !! Laser !! Shot !! Double !! Laser
|-
! No Options
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1
|-
! 1 Option
| 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
! 2 Options
| 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3
|-
! 3 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4
|-
! 4 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5
|}

# <li value="3"> Bell Stock</li>
----
The rank increase from the bell stock is calculated in a straightforward manner: for each slot that is filled, the Base Rank is increased by +1. When the bell power is used, the rank will decrease again accordingly. Since only Blue Bells and Red Bells can fill slots of the bell stock, only these can directly affect the Base Rank. Other bells and the effect duration of bell powers only affect the Frame Rank (see below).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col"|
! scope="col"| Bomb (Blue Bell)
! scope="col"| Laser Barrier (Red Bell)
|-
! scope="row"| Empty Stock
| 0
| 0
|-
! scope="row"| Stock 1
| 1
| 1
|-
! scope="row"| Stock 2
| 2
| 2
|-
! scope="row"| Stock 3
| 3
| 3
|}

# <li value="4"> Frame Rank</li>
----
The Frame Rank consists of a main counter and an incremental counter. The incremental counter goes +1 for every 32 frames passed. When the incremental counter surpasses 255, the main counter and thereby the Frame Rank increases by +1. Only this number of the main counter has then an effect on the calculation of the Base Rank.

The incremental counter can increase at a higher rate and is affected by the number of speed ups equipped and likewise by an active shield and active bell power. The incremental counter is not affected by the bell stock as such but only during the duration of the bell power itself (e.g. for the duration the character sprite is increased in size from a Green Bell). If the player loses a speed up/shield or the duration of a bell power wears off, the incremental counter is increasing at a slower rate again.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col"|
! scope="col"| No active Shield or Bell Power
! scope="col"| Active Shield or Bell Power
|-
! scope="row"| 0 to 1 Speed Ups
| x1 (32f)
| x2 (16f)
|-
! scope="row"| 2 Speed Ups
| x2 (16f)
| x4 (8f)
|-
! scope="row"| 3 to 5 Speed Ups
| x4 (8f)
| x8 (4f)
|}

To put this into perspective, the main counter of the Frame Rank increases by +1 every 136 seconds with a 32f increase rate. In contrast, it increases every 17 seconds with a 4f increase rate.

For every death, the main counter of the Frame Rank decreases by -2 and the incremental counter resets to 0. This means that dying with a high incremental counter can make the main counter decrease by almost -3 at times. If Frame Rank reaches 12 or higher, revenge bullets will appear on the first loop, and a second delayed revenge bullet will appear in loop 2.

=== Loops ===
----

Unlike games of the [[Gradius]] series, the arcade version of '''Parodius Da!''' does not feature infinite loops and ends after Loop 2. There are no requirements for the second loop so that upon beating 1-10 the player will always enter 2-1.

Upon entering 2-1, the player loses all of their Power Ups and starts in the default state again. If the Power Meter was highlighted at any position at the end of Loop 1, it will be highlighted on the first position "Speed Up" beginning with Loop 2. This is very helpful in order to quickly gain more upgrades again.

Minimum rank is much higher during the loop (see above). Moreover, there's a flag for Loop 2 that will always activate single revenge bullets. On higher rank, additional revenge bullets can spawn after the first revenge bullet. These additional revenge bullets often spawn with a significant delay which makes them particularly troublesome to dodge.

=== Scoring ===
----

Scoring in '''Parodius Da!''' is exceedingly simple and consists of three parts:

# Destroy enemies
Simply destroying enemies is the most important part of scoring. More enemies can be spawned by reaching higher levels of rank sooner. A few more enemies can be shot down when the destruction of hatches that spawn enemies is delayed (e.g. the clowns in stage 2). Some of the bosses are another important source of optimizing points and can be milked for a while.

# <li value="2">Collect yellow bells</li>
It is crucial for scoring to not miss or despawn (due to the sprite limit) any yellow bell. This includes keeping the use of other bells to a minimum as each pick-up of a bell that is not yellow essentially means losing 10k. More bells can be spawned by keeping certain hatches with bell dropping enemies alive (e.g. in stage 5).

# <li value="3"> Double K.O. against the 1-10 boss</li>
The double K.O. against the Last Boss of Loop 1 has a twofold function: First, to decrease rank for the beginning of loop 2 and second, to gain an additional 100,000 points per double K.O. for a total maximum gain of 400,000 points when all extra lives are sacrificed this way. In order to perform the double K.O., the player simply has to steer into a wall after the eighth arm is destroyed. The timing for this is very lenient.

== Strategy ==

== Version Differences ==

There are three different romsets for the arcade game: 1) Japan; 2) Asia; 3) World. No gameplay differences whatsoever have been reported.

== Other ==

== References & Contributors ==

* Page created and written by [[User:Plasmo|Plasmo]].
* Images showing the hitboxes provided by sikraiken.
* Rank information is largely modeled on the description provided by Wayder: <https://wayder.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-2934.html>. Many of this has been confirmed independently by sikraiken.


[[Category:Horizontal orientation]]

Gokujou Parodius

2026-09-06T00:41:32Z

Orangebc18:

[[File:Gokujou Parodius Logo.png|frameless|400px|center]]

{{GameInfobox
| bordercolor = #df002a
| innerbordercolor = #df002a
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| background = #ffffff
| image = Gokujou Parodius Title Screen.png
| width = 324px;
| imagecaption = Title screen
| imagescalepx = 220px
|developer = [[Konami]]
|music = Seiichi Fukami Satoko Miyawaki Kazuhiro Senoo
|program = Tokuda Tsukasa Yasuyuki Moritome
|art = Shūjirō Hamakawa Chiyoko Hanano Taro Matsuishi Rika Ishimaru Natsumi Bouike
|releasedate = '''Arcade:''' April 1994 '''Super Famicom:''' November 25, 1994 '''PlayStation:''' December 3, 1994 '''Sega Saturn:''' May 19, 1995 '''PlayStation Portable:''' January 25, 2007
|previousgame = [[Pop’n TwinBee]]
|nextgame = [[TwinBee Yahho!]]
}}

'''Gokujō Parodius ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～''' (Japanese: ''極上パロディウス～過去の栄光を求めて～'' "Gokujou Parodius – Pursuing the Past Glory") is a shmup developed and published by [[Konami]] in 1994. It is the third installment in the Parodius series succeeding [[Parodius Da!]] (Konami 1990). It is the second of the three arcade games from the series followed by [[Sexy Parodius]] (Konami 1996).

'''Gokujou Parodius''' received ports on the Super Nintendo, PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PlayStation Portable. It was localized overseas under the title '''Fantastic Journey'''.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gameplay Overview ==

=== Controls ===
----

The game offers three different control styles which can be selected at the start of the game: '''Auto Power-Up''' (uses one button), '''Semi-Auto Power-Up''' (uses two buttons), and '''Manual Power-Up''' (uses three buttons).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! !! Auto Power-Up !! Semi-Auto Power-Up !! Manual Power-Up
|-
| A button || || Select Power-Up || Select Power-Up
|-
| B button || Primary weapon (shot/double/laser) Secondary weapon (missile) Bell power || Primary weapon (shot/double/laser) Secondary weapon (missile) Bell power || Primary weapon (shot/double/laser)
|-
| C button || || || Secondary weapon (missile) Bell power
|}
When Auto Power-Up is selected, the ship will automatically power up when enough capsules are collected. Roulette Capsules will count as regular capsules.

=== Characters ===
----

''Gokujou Parodius'' has 8 characters, 4 of them return from [[Parodius Da!]] while the others are completely new. Each character has a counterpart when using 2P side, but this is a purely cosmetic difference.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Vic_Viper.png]] '''Vic Viper'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Lord_British.png]] '''Lord British'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Takosuke.png]] '''Takosuke'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Belial.png]] '''Belial'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Twinbee.png]] '''TwinBee'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Winbee.png]] '''WinBee'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Pentaro.png]] '''Pentarou'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Hanako.png]] '''Hanako'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Hikaru.png]] '''Hikaru'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Akane.png]] '''Akane'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Mambo.png]] '''Mambo'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Samba.png]] '''Samba'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Michael.png]] '''Michael'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Gabriel.png]] '''Gabriel'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Koitsu.png]] '''Koitsu'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Aitsu.png]] '''Aitsu'''
|-
|}

=== Power Meter ===
----
[[File:Gokujou Parodius Power Meter.png|600px|center]]
Instead of words, the Power Meter system in '''Gokujou Parodius''' uses icons for each upgrade. When the player picks up a red capsule, the next box in the Power Meter sequence will be highlighted; when a red capsule is picked up at position 7, it will jump back to position 1.

Although the Power Meter has certain general properties (Speed Up, Missile, and Shield), all eight characters have an individual set of upgrades.

[[File:Gokujou Parodius Select.png|500px]]

=== Items ===
----

An item will pop up either if the player destroys certain waves of enemies fully or when a red enemy is destroyed.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]] || '''Red Capsule''' Advances the Power Meter by 1.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]] || '''Roulette Capsule''' Starts roulette mode in the Power Meter. Visually indistinguishable from regular Red Capsules. Found in fixed locations.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro blue capsule.png|50px]] || '''Blue Capsule''' Clears the screen from all enemies (no points are awarded for these).
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]] || '''Yellow Bell''' Score item. Value increases with subsequent collection: 500 > 1000 > 2,500 > 5,000 > 10,000. Value resets when a Yellow Bell goes off screen or upon death.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro blue bell.png|50px]] || '''Blue Bell''' Adds a screen clearing bomb to the player's bell stock. Additional bombs can be picked up for a maximum of three.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro white bell.png|50px]] || '''White Bell''' When picked up, all regular weapons are disabled for a certain amount of time and a megaphone shouts out text that has great coverage and also cancels all bullets.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro green bell.png|50px]] || '''Green Bell''' When picked up, all regular weapons are disabled for a certain amount of time and the player sprite increases in size granting invincibility and extra speed.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro red bell.png|50px]] || '''Red Bell''' Adds 3 laser barriers to the player's bell stock. These barriers cover almost the whole screen vertically and destroy all enemies and bullets touching them.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro purple bell.png|50px]] || '''Purple Bell''' When picked up, all enemies are turned into regular items.
|}

All regular items except Roulette Capsules appear in the following item cycle. Roulette Capsules are always found in the same enemies and have no effect on the cycle.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Item Cycle
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro blue capsule.png|50px]]
|}

The bell cycle starts at yellow. Hitting a Yellow Bell five times will make it advance to the next color. Every other color takes a single hit to make the bell cycle go to the next yellow again. This is not affected by missing bells or picking them up.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Bell Cycle
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro blue bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro white bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro green bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro purple bell.png|50px]]
|}

=== Extra Lives ===
----
On default settings, the player is awarded with two extra lives, one at 200,000 and the second at 500,000.

=== Rank ===
----

'''Gokujou Parodius''' has a very similar rank system to [[Parodius Da!]], but it's slightly more forgiving. Unlike [[Parodius Da!]] revenge bullets cannot spawn on the first loop from rank, so keeping rank down is not as overly essential. Not that this is based on the Japanese version, but the European version is similar, just with faster frame rank.

The Rank is affected by the following four factors. Minimum and maximum values are given in parentheses.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! Total Rank
|-
| Stage Rank (stage: 0 to 24) + Power Ups (0 to 5) + Yellow Bell Chain (0 to 3) + Frame Rank (0 to 31)
|}

How the values of these factors are calculated is explained in the following four sections.

# Stage Rank
----
Stage Rank is the same no matter the difficulty setting. There is no way to drop Stage Rank.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col"|
! scope="col"| Loop 1
! scope="col"| Loop 2
! scope="col"| Loop 3
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 1
| 0
| 8
| 16
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 2
| 1
| 9
| 17
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 3
| 2
| 10
| 18
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 4
| 3
| 11
| 19
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 5
| 5
| 13
| 21
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 6
| 6
| 14
| 22
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 7
| 7
| 15
| 23
|-
! scope="row"| Moai Stage
| 0
| 8
| 16
|-
! scope="row"| Special Stage
| 16
| 24
| N/A
|}

Stage rank Loop 4 onwards will be 24 as Stage Rank cannot increase higher than that.

# <li value="2"> Power Ups</li>
----
Depending on the power ups equipped. If your power ups change (from either activating power ups, or dying/activating OH!), so does the rank increase. Note that an equipped shield affects the rank in two ways. First, the Power Up Rank directly increases when an active shield is equipped according to the table below (this number will decrease again when the shield is lost). Moreover, an active shield affects the Frame Rank (see below). Depending on the character chosen, they use a different Power Up Rank calculation.

If using Vic Viper, Takosuke, Twinbee, Pentarou, Micheal, or Koitsu, Power Up rank is calculated according to the table below.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! rowspan="3" |
! colspan="6" | No Shield
! colspan="6" | Shield
|-
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Double
! rowspan="2" | Laser
! colspan="3" | Missile
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Double
! rowspan="2" | Laser
! colspan="3" | Missile
|-
! Shot !! Double !! Laser !! Shot !! Double !! Laser
|-
! No Options
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1
|-
! 1 Option
| 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
! 2 Options
| 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3
|-
! 3 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4
|-
! 4 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5
|}

If using Hikaru, Power up Rank is calculated according to the table below.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! rowspan="3" |
! colspan="6" | No Star
! colspan="6" | Star
|-
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Carrot
! colspan="2" | Hawkwind Missile
! colspan="2" | Spread Bomb
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Carrot
! colspan="2" | Hawkwind Missile
! colspan="2" | Spread Bomb
|-
! Shot !! Carrot !! Shot !! Carrot !! Shot !! Carrot !! Shot !! Carrot
|-
! No Options
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1
|-
! 1 Option
| 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 3
|-
! 2 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 4 || 5
|-
! 3 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 4 || 5
|-
! 4 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 4 || 5
|}

If using Mambo, Power up Rank is calculated using the formula below.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! Power Up Rank
|-
| (Barrier + all option types equipped) / 8 (the output value is then truncated)
|}
Option types are these values
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center
|-
! Bubble Missile
| 3
|-
! Control Laser
| 5
|-
! Screw Laser
| 6
|-
! Search Laser
| 7
|}

# <li value="3"> Bell Chain</li>
----
Collecting yellow bells in a row increases a separate counter from rank, each yellow bell in a chain increasing this counter by 1. When the counter reaches a multiple of 8, Total Rank increases by 1, Total Rank increase from a yellow bell chain is capped at 3. Dropping a bell decreases this count by 4. Dying resets the count. If playing with 2 players, a player who has lost all their lives does not lose their bell count unless they continue.

# <li value="4"> Frame Rank</li>
----
The Frame Rank consists of a main counter and an incremental counter. The incremental counter goes +1 for every X (see table below) frames passed. When the incremental counter surpasses 255, the main counter and thereby the Frame Rank increases by +1. Only this number of the main counter has then an effect on the calculation of the Total Rank.

The incremental counter can increase at a higher rate and is affected by the number of speed ups equipped and likewise by an active shield. The incremental counter is not affected by the bell stock as such but only during the duration of the bell power itself (e.g. for the duration the character sprite is increased in size from a Green Bell). If the player loses a speed up/shield or the duration of a bell power wears off, the incremental counter is increasing at a slower rate again.

The initial value of Frame Rank on the first start is 20 no matter what settings are applied.

Difficulty setting sets the inital Frame Rank speed (Keep in mind that Difficult 4 is the default Difficulty).
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col"| Difficulty
! scope="col"| Approximate time in frames for the incremental counter
! scope="col"| Approximate time in seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 1
| 128f
| 565 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 2
| 64f
| 278 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 3
| 42.667f
| 186 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 4
| 32f
| 139 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 5
| 25.6f
| 112 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 6
| 21.333f
| 93 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 7
| 18.286f
| 80 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 8
| 16f
| 69 seconds
|}

Speed ups and Shields/Active Bells act as multipliers for Frame Rank
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col"|
! scope="col"| No active Shield or Bell Power
! scope="col"| Active Shield or Bell Power
|-
! scope="row"| 0 to 1 Speed Ups
| x1 (32f)
| x2 (16f)
|-
! scope="row"| 2 Speed Ups
| x1.25 (25.6f)
| x2.25 (14.222f)
|-
! scope="row"| 3 Speed Ups
| x2 (16f)
| x3 (10.667f)
|-
! scope="row"| 4 Speed Ups
| x2.25 (14.222f)
| x4.5 (7.111f)
|-
! scope="row"| 5 Speed Ups
| x2.5 (12.8f)
| x3.5 (9.143f)
|}

=== Loops ===
----

By default, '''Gokujou Parodius''' does not loop, but an option to enable a second loop and even infinite loops can be set in the dipswitches (or going to the options menu in the ports). The loop has no requirements when enabled, so the player will always enter 2-1 upon beating stage 1-7.

The player loses all Power Ups and starts in the default state again. If the Power Meter was highlighted at any position at the end of loop 1, it will be highlighted on the first position beginning with loop 2.

== Strategy ==
WIP

== Version Differences ==

[[Category:Horizontal orientation]]
[[Category:Option_mechanic]]
[[Category:Upgrade_bar_mechanic]]
[[Category:Environmental_hazard_mechanic]]

Gokujou Parodius

2026-09-06T00:41:01Z

Orangebc18:

[[File:Gokujou Parodius Logo.png|frameless|400px|center]]

{{GameInfobox
| bordercolor = #df002a
| innerbordercolor = #df002a
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| background = #ffffff
| image = Gokujou Parodius Title Screen.png
| width = 324px;
| imagecaption = Title screen
| imagescalepx = 220px
|developer = [[Konami]]
|music = Seiichi Fukami Satoko Miyawaki Kazuhiro Senoo
|program = Tokuda Tsukasa Yasuyuki Moritome
|art = Shūjirō Hamakawa Chiyoko Hanano Taro Matsuishi Rika Ishimaru Natsumi Bouike
|releasedate = '''Arcade:''' April 1994 '''Super Famicom:''' November 25, 1994 '''PlayStation:''' December 3, 1994 '''Sega Saturn:''' May 19, 1995 '''PlayStation Portable:''' January 25, 2007
|previousgame = [[Pop’n TwinBee]]
|nextgame = [[TwinBee Yahho!]]
}}

'''Gokujō Parodius ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～''' (Japanese: ''極上パロディウス～過去の栄光を求めて～'' "Gokujou Parodius – Pursuing the Past Glory") is a shmup developed and published by [[Konami]] in 1994. It is the third installment in the Parodius series succeeding [[Parodius Da!]] (Konami 1990). It is the second of the three arcade games from the series followed by [[Sexy Parodius]] (Konami 1996).

'''Gokujou Parodius''' received ports on the Super Nintendo, PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PlayStation Portable. It was localized overseas under the title '''Fantastic Journey'''.

{{VideoIndex}}
__TOC__
{{clear}}

== Gameplay Overview ==

=== Controls ===
----

The game offers three different control styles which can be selected at the start of the game: '''Auto Power-Up''' (uses one button), '''Semi-Auto Power-Up''' (uses two buttons), and '''Manual Power-Up''' (uses three buttons).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! !! Auto Power-Up !! Semi-Auto Power-Up !! Manual Power-Up
|-
| A button || || Select Power-Up || Select Power-Up
|-
| B button || Primary weapon (shot/double/laser) Secondary weapon (missile) Bell power || Primary weapon (shot/double/laser) Secondary weapon (missile) Bell power || Primary weapon (shot/double/laser)
|-
| C button || || || Secondary weapon (missile) Bell power
|}
When Auto Power-Up is selected, the ship will automatically power up when enough capsules are collected. Roulette Capsules will count as regular capsules.

=== Characters ===
----

''Gokujou Parodius'' has 8 characters, 4 of them return from [[Parodius Da!]] while the others are completely new. Each character has a counterpart when using 2P side, but this is a purely cosmetic difference.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Vic_Viper.png]] '''Vic Viper'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Lord_British.png]] '''Lord British'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Takosuke.png]] '''Takosuke'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Belial.png]] '''Belial'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Twinbee.png]] '''TwinBee'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Winbee.png]] '''WinBee'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Pentaro.png]] '''Pentarou'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Hanako.png]] '''Hanako'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Hikaru.png]] '''Hikaru'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Akane.png]] '''Akane'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Mambo.png]] '''Mambo'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Samba.png]] '''Samba'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Michael.png]] '''Michael'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Gabriel.png]] '''Gabriel'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 1P side || 2P side
|-
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Koitsu.png]] '''Koitsu'''
| [[File: Goku_Paro_Aitsu.png]] '''Aitsu'''
|-
|}

=== Power Meter ===
----
[[File:Gokujou Parodius Power Meter.png|600px|center]]
Instead of words, the Power Meter system in '''Gokujou Parodius''' uses icons for each upgrade. When the player picks up a red capsule, the next box in the Power Meter sequence will be highlighted; when a red capsule is picked up at position 7, it will jump back to position 1.

Although the Power Meter has certain general properties (Speed Up, Missile, and Shield), all eight characters have an individual set of upgrades.

[[File:Gokujou Parodius Select.png|500px]]

=== Items ===
----

An item will pop up either if the player destroys certain waves of enemies fully or when a red enemy is destroyed.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]] || '''Red Capsule''' Advances the Power Meter by 1.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]] || '''Roulette Capsule''' Starts roulette mode in the Power Meter. Visually indistinguishable from regular Red Capsules. Found in fixed locations.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro blue capsule.png|50px]] || '''Blue Capsule''' Clears the screen from all enemies (no points are awarded for these).
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]] || '''Yellow Bell''' Score item. Value increases with subsequent collection: 500 > 1000 > 2,500 > 5,000 > 10,000. Value resets when a Yellow Bell goes off screen or upon death.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro blue bell.png|50px]] || '''Blue Bell''' Adds a screen clearing bomb to the player's bell stock. Additional bombs can be picked up for a maximum of three.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro white bell.png|50px]] || '''White Bell''' When picked up, all regular weapons are disabled for a certain amount of time and a megaphone shouts out text that has great coverage and also cancels all bullets.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro green bell.png|50px]] || '''Green Bell''' When picked up, all regular weapons are disabled for a certain amount of time and the player sprite increases in size granting invincibility and extra speed.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro red bell.png|50px]] || '''Red Bell''' Adds 3 laser barriers to the player's bell stock. These barriers cover almost the whole screen vertically and destroy all enemies and bullets touching them.
|-
| [[File:Goku Paro purple bell.png|50px]] || '''Purple Bell''' When picked up, all enemies are turned into regular items.
|}

All regular items except Roulette Capsules appear in the following item cycle. Roulette Capsules are always found in the same enemies and have no effect on the cycle.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Item Cycle
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red capsule.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro blue capsule.png|50px]]
|}

The bell cycle starts at yellow. Hitting a Yellow Bell five times will make it advance to the next color. Every other color takes a single hit to make the bell cycle go to the next yellow again. This is not affected by missing bells or picking them up.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Bell Cycle
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro blue bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro white bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro green bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro red bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro yellow bell.png|50px]]
| [[File:Goku Paro purple bell.png|50px]]
|}

=== Extra Lives ===
----
On default settings, the player is awarded with two extra lives, one at 200,000 and the second at 500,000.

=== Rank ===
----

'''Gokujou Parodius''' has a very similar rank system to [[Parodius Da!]], but it's slightly more forgiving. Unlike [[Parodius Da!]] revenge bullets cannot spawn on the first loop from rank, so keeping rank down is not as overly essential. Not that this is based on the Japanese version, but the European version is similar, just with faster frame rank.

The Rank is affected by the following four factors. Minimum and maximum values are given in parentheses.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! Total Rank
|-
| Stage Rank (stage: 0 to 24) + Power Ups (0 to 5) + Yellow Bell Chain (0 to 3) + Frame Rank (0 to 31)
|}

How the values of these factors are calculated is explained in the following four sections.

# Stage Rank
----
Stage Rank is the same no matter the difficulty setting. There is no way to drop Stage Rank.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col"|
! scope="col"| Loop 1
! scope="col"| Loop 2
! scope="col"| Loop 3
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 1
| 0
| 8
| 16
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 2
| 1
| 9
| 17
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 3
| 2
| 10
| 18
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 4
| 3
| 11
| 19
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 5
| 5
| 13
| 21
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 6
| 6
| 14
| 22
|-
! scope="row"| Stage 7
| 7
| 15
| 23
|-
! scope="row"| Moai Stage
| 0
| 8
| 16
|-
! scope="row"| Special Stage
| 16
| 24
| N/A
|}

Stage rank Loop 4 onwards will be 24 as Stage Rank cannot increase higher than that.

# <li value="2"> Power Ups</li>
----
Depending on the power ups equipped. If your power ups change (from either activating power ups, or dying/activating OH!), so does the rank increase. Note that an equipped shield affects the rank in two ways. First, the Power Up Rank directly increases when an active shield is equipped according to the table below (this number will decrease again when the shield is lost). Moreover, an active shield affects the Frame Rank (see below). Depending on the character chosen, they use a different Power Up Rank calculation.

If using Vic Viper, Takosuke, Twinbee, Pentarou, Micheal, or Koitsu, Power Up rank is calculated according to the table below.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! rowspan="3" |
! colspan="6" | No Shield
! colspan="6" | Shield
|-
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Double
! rowspan="2" | Laser
! colspan="3" | Missile
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Double
! rowspan="2" | Laser
! colspan="3" | Missile
|-
! Shot !! Double !! Laser !! Shot !! Double !! Laser
|-
! No Options
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1
|-
! 1 Option
| 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
! 2 Options
| 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3
|-
! 3 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4
|-
! 4 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5
|}

If using Hikaru, Power up Rank is calculated according to the table below.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! rowspan="3" |
! colspan="6" | No Star
! colspan="6" | Star
|-
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Carrot
! colspan="2" | Hawkwind Missile
! colspan="2" | Spread Bomb
! rowspan="2" | Shot
! rowspan="2" | Carrot
! colspan="2" | Hawkwind Missile
! colspan="2" | Spread Bomb
|-
! Shot !! Carrot !! Shot !! Carrot !! Shot !! Carrot !! Shot !! Carrot
|-
! No Options
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1
|-
! 1 Option
| 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 3
|-
! 2 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 4 || 5
|-
! 3 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 4 || 5
|-
! 4 Options
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 4 || 5
|}

If using Mambo, Power up Rank is calculated using the formula below.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! Power Up Rank
|-
| (Barrier + all option types equipped) / 8 (the output value is then truncated)
|}
Option types are these values
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center
|-
! Bubble Missile
| 3
|-
! Control Laser
| 5
|-
! Screw Laser
| 6
|-
! Search Laser
| 7
|}

# <li value="3"> Bell Chain</li>
----
Collecting yellow bells in a row increases a separate counter from rank, each yellow bell in a chain increasing this counter by 1. When the counter reaches a multiple of 8, Total Rank increases by 1, Total Rank increase from a yellow bell chain is capped at 3. Dropping a bell decreases this count by 4. Dying resets the count. If playing with 2 players, a player who has lost all their lives does not lose their bell count unless they continue.

# <li value="4"> Frame Rank</li>
----
The Frame Rank consists of a main counter and an incremental counter. The incremental counter goes +1 for every X (see table below) frames passed. When the incremental counter surpasses 255, the main counter and thereby the Frame Rank increases by +1. Only this number of the main counter has then an effect on the calculation of the Total Rank.

The incremental counter can increase at a higher rate and is affected by the number of speed ups equipped and likewise by an active shield. The incremental counter is not affected by the bell stock as such but only during the duration of the bell power itself (e.g. for the duration the character sprite is increased in size from a Green Bell). If the player loses a speed up/shield or the duration of a bell power wears off, the incremental counter is increasing at a slower rate again.

The initial value of Frame Rank on the first start is 20 no matter what settings are applied.

Difficulty setting sets the inital Frame Rank speed (Keep in mind that Difficult 4 is the default Difficulty).
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col"|
! scope="col"| Approximate time in frames for the incremental counter
! scope="col"| Approximate time in seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 1
| 128f
| 565 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 2
| 64f
| 278 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 3
| 42.667f
| 186 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 4
| 32f
| 139 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 5
| 25.6f
| 112 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 6
| 21.333f
| 93 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 7
| 18.286f
| 80 seconds
|-
! scope="row"| 8
| 16f
| 69 seconds
|}

Speed ups and Shields/Active Bells act as multipliers for Frame Rank
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col"|
! scope="col"| No active Shield or Bell Power
! scope="col"| Active Shield or Bell Power
|-
! scope="row"| 0 to 1 Speed Ups
| x1 (32f)
| x2 (16f)
|-
! scope="row"| 2 Speed Ups
| x1.25 (25.6f)
| x2.25 (14.222f)
|-
! scope="row"| 3 Speed Ups
| x2 (16f)
| x3 (10.667f)
|-
! scope="row"| 4 Speed Ups
| x2.25 (14.222f)
| x4.5 (7.111f)
|-
! scope="row"| 5 Speed Ups
| x2.5 (12.8f)
| x3.5 (9.143f)
|}

=== Loops ===
----

By default, '''Gokujou Parodius''' does not loop, but an option to enable a second loop and even infinite loops can be set in the dipswitches (or going to the options menu in the ports). The loop has no requirements when enabled, so the player will always enter 2-1 upon beating stage 1-7.

The player loses all Power Ups and starts in the default state again. If the Power Meter was highlighted at any position at the end of loop 1, it will be highlighted on the first position beginning with loop 2.

== Strategy ==
WIP

== Version Differences ==

[[Category:Horizontal orientation]]
[[Category:Option_mechanic]]
[[Category:Upgrade_bar_mechanic]]
[[Category:Environmental_hazard_mechanic]]