Wikipedia

Star Parodier

Star Parodier
DeveloperKaneko
PublisherHudson Soft
ComposersHiroshi Saito
Jin Watanabe
Shinichi Sakamoto (PSG)
PlatformPC Engine CD
Release1992
GenreShoot 'em up
ModeSingle-player

Star Parodier (スターパロジャー, Sutā Parojā) is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by Kaneko and published by Hudson Soft for the PC Engine CD-ROM² in 1992. It is a spin-off of the Star Soldier series and was localized for North America as Fantasy Star Soldier, but this version was never released.[1] The game was released for the Wii Virtual Console on March 7, 2008 in Japan, March 16 in Europe and later in North America on August 11.

Gameplay

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Star Parodier is a vertical scrolling shooter, much like the Star Soldier games, and features many of the same conventions, such as collecting power-ups to upgrade the player's weapons, and facing several bosses and minibosses as they progress through the game. The game also features the 2- and 5-minute high score time attack modes seen in previous games.

In parodying the hard sci-fi atmosphere of the Star Soldier games, Star Parodier takes a lighthearted approach by featuring cute, cartoonish graphics and toning down the violence (for example, defeated enemies wave white flags in surrender). The players choose from three craft to play as in the game: the Paro Ceaser from Star Soldier, a giant flying Bomberman or an anthropomorphic PC Engine console that shoots HuCards and CD-ROMs at enemies.

Development and release

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The title is also playable on the Turbografx-16/PC Engine Mini Console.

Reception

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According to Famitsu, Star Parodier sold over 2,999 copies in its first month on the market in Japan.[14] The Japanese publication Micom BASIC Magazine ranked the game second in popularity in its July 1992 issue, and it received a 24.97/30 score in a 1993 readers' poll conducted by PC Engine Fan, ranking among PC Engine titles at the number 14 spot.[15][16] It also garnered generally favorable reviews from critics.[4][5][10][17]

References

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  1. ^ Star Parodier - The PC Engine Software Bible
  2. ^ Hermellin, François (May 1992). "Super CD ROM Review: Star Parodia". Consoles + [fr] (in French). No. 9. Editions Mondiales S.A. pp. 54–55.
  3. ^ Whitehead, Dan (May 20, 2008). "Virtual Console Roundup: Gley Lancer, Star Parodier, Digital Champ". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2014-08-04. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  4. ^ a b "New Games Cross Review: STARパロジャー". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 176. ASCII Corporation. May 1, 1992. p. 38. (Transcription by Famitsu.com. Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine).
  5. ^ a b "新レビュー大作戦!! スターパロジャー". Gekkan PC Engine [ja] (in Japanese). Vol. 4, no. 5. Shogakukan. May 1992. p. 159.
  6. ^ Ladoire, Frank (June 1992). "Consoles: Star Parodia". Génération 4 [fr] (in French). No. 45. Pressimage. p. 154.
  7. ^ Thomas, Lucas M. (August 11, 2008). "Star Parodier (Virtual Console) Review". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2008-08-15. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  8. ^ Morisse, Jean-François; Hellot, Grégoire (June 1992). "PC Engine: Star Parodia". Joypad [fr] (in French). No. 9. Challenge SARL. pp. 118–119.
  9. ^ Demoly, Jean-Marc (June 1992). "Consoles News: Star Parodia". Joystick (in French). No. 28. Sipress. p. 150.
  10. ^ a b "新作ソフトお毒味チャート: STARパロジャー". Marukatsu PC Engine [ja] (in Japanese). Vol. 4, no. 5. Kadokawa Shoten. May 1992. p. 129.
  11. ^ Dillard, Corbie (May 16, 2008). "Star Parodier (Wii Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16) Review". Nintendo Life. Nlife Ltd. Archived from the original on 2012-10-09. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  12. ^ Scamps, Olivier (June 1992). "Tests de Jeux: Star Parodia". Player One [fr] (in French). No. 21. Média Système Édition [fr]. pp. 88–89.
  13. ^ Weckwerth, Rainer (July 1993). "Turbo Duo: Star Paroder". Play Time [de] (in German). No. 25. Computec. p. 136.
  14. ^ "Game Search". Game Data Library. Archived from the original on 2024-11-18. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  15. ^ Matsuyama, Benī (July 1992). "Super Soft Hot Information: PC Engine". Micom BASIC Magazine [ja] (in Japanese). No. 121. The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation [ja]. p. 238.
  16. ^ "PC Engine All Catalog '93 10月号特別付録". PC Engine Fan (in Japanese). Vol. 6, no. 10. Tokuma Shoten. October 1, 1993. p. 79.
  17. ^ "News: Engine-Ereignisse". Video Games [de] (in German). No. 8. Markt & Technik. July 1992. pp. 32–33.
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