Fantastic Journey (Saturn) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
261A playthrough of Konami's 1996 shoot 'em up for the Sega Saturn, Fantastic Journey. It is a port of the arcade game Gokujou Parodius (極上パロディウス ～過去の栄光を求めて～) and was sold as part of "Parodius," a compilation disc for 32-bit consoles (known in Japan as the Gokujou Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack).
Played through as Koitsu (the paper airplane-riding stick figure) on the normal difficulty level. I was also lucky enough to both get the bonus Moai stage AND successfully complete the bonus stage in this playthrough. It took many attempts at recording to finally nail that!
Fantastic Journey is the third game in the Parodius series, following the original MSX game and its direct sequel, Parodius Da! (https://youtu.be/EVEycXM_JZA ). It, like Parodius Da!, did receive a SNES port, but the Saturn and PlayStation versions are the only ones that received official home releases in English, albeit only in PAL territories. This specific version - the Saturn port - it the most faithful of the home conversions, though since it is a straight arcade port, it is lacking the extras found in the SNES/PS1 versions.
It amps things up considerably over the previous game. Being four years newer, the graphics and sound have received a massive upgrade and they look (suitably) fantastic. The screen practically bleeds color, the animation quality is excellent, and the move to a 32-bit platform allows it to chuck an endless supply of sprites at you without a hiccup. The bosses are only slightly less ridiculous this time around, and there are a few real standouts: I loved the ill-tempered mermaid and the cardboard cutout of the Moon Goddess, in particular. The music is just as catchy as in the previous game, but the quality of the synthesis is far, far higher thanks to the hardware. I love the soundtracks to all of the Parodius games, but in my opinion, this one's music is the series' high point.
Because this is an accurate, faithful port of the arcade game, it is also brutally difficult. It's Konami, after all. The rank system is in full effect here, so you have to be extremely careful on choosing which upgrades you want - if you max out your strength at the beginning, the game will most assuredly become impossible before you even hit the halfway point. Purposely dying to lower the difficulty works to an extent, but its not a technique you really want to rely on... balancing your offensive power with the difficulty level becomes quite a strategic battle, and does add some depth to the game. However frustrating.
That last special stage, though? Omfg arggghhhhh! If you're prone to throwing controllers in fits of frustration, I would advise you to skip that stage altogether. The first time I finished the level, I wasn't sure if it was Jesus that I needed, or alcohol. Probably both :)
Anyways, Fantastic Journey/Gokujou Parodius is another great Konami shooter that will regularly both infuriate you and make you laugh, and the Saturn port is a more than sufficient way to experience it.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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