Was Parodius ever released in the U.S.?
 

I know that Parodius games were released for a number of systems in Japan, but have any of them ever been released in the U.S. (either alone or as part of a compilation)?

No. :(

Awesome series though.. get the Sega Saturn versions if possible.

Parodious for the SNES was released in english in Europe. I think an arcade version might've slipped in somewhere too.

I thought one of the Parodius was released on the NES... called Stinger.

That was Twinbee 2.

Nope... neither are close. Parodius was a series in itself which starred Twinbee and Vic Viper as well as other Konami characters as the series evolved. It was a series only developed and released in Europe and Japan. I'd highly suggest these games for the Gradius/Life Force/Salamander fans as these are some fun as well as humorous games and almost exactly the same style. I myself had the Famicom version of Parodius Da! but the Super Famicom version is much better.

IMO, the best version of the game period is the Saturn version of Parodius 3: Forever with Me. Sexy Parodius (P4) was lacking something but I couldn't really place my finger on it.

DLogic, I meant that the NES version of Twinbee 2 was released stateside under the title Stinger.

What are the reasons you believe the Saturn version is better than the PS1 version for multiplatform versions? I need a reason beyond just Saturn = 2-d. Emphasize more on the software than the hardware.

There is no more reason you really need other than the Saturn's hardware is more capable of properly handling a 2D shooter game. I have played both versions of Sexy Parodius, the Saturn version is sharper, smoother, and features less load times. I don't know if Forever With Me was released on Playstation. It's an updated version of an SNES game anyway (Chatting Paroduis).

Oops, my bad....

Forever With Me (Chatting Parodius) was released on Playstation....and as far as I can tell, they all made an appearance on Playstation.

These include:

Parodius Deluxe Pack (Contains Parodius 1 and 2)
Sexy Parodius
Parodius: Forever With Me

Heres a cool little page about the Deluxe Pack:

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bevhome/pardelrev.htm

Speaking of Konami shooters...Gradius Gaiden is hands down the best of THAT series and one of the best shmups ever made. Its a Playstation only game and plays perfectly too.

Womp (Shmups fan to the core) :)