Where the Darius Love at?

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ACSeraph
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by ACSeraph »

Martinov wrote:I was just looking at Taito Memories II Joukan on PS2. Are the ports of Darius II and Rayforce accurate?
I can vouch for Darius II, it's pretty much perfect.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Kollision »

Rayforce is awesome as well.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by M.Knight »

ACSeraph wrote:Thanks! Actually the Mother Hawk fight is super easy yeah, you just point blank the nose and nothing it shoots will hit you. The only dangerous part is dodging the tail fin that it throws at you. The first time I got there I was naked with zero lives. Nerves got the best of me and I ate the tail fin. But if you make it powered up there's almost no way you will lose. The strategy is the same in both PS2 and Saturn in this case. Honestly all 3 of the Darius II final bosses are really easy. Little Stripes is a standard fight but easy and rather anti-climactic since the boss design is a bit lame. Bio Strong is cool looking but you can easily exploit the fight by just riding the top edge, and Mother Hawk can be easily point blanked into oblivion (though it's a bit close for comfort at times). I'd say of the 3 I like Hawk the best, but all of them are pretty lame compared to stuff like G.T. in the first game.
So Mother Hawk is also a pushover? What a shame. It can't be worse than Little Stripes though, that one is a real letdown, difficulty and design-wise. No surprise it got demoted to stage 1 mid-boss in Darius Twin, a position it fits much better. :lol:
This gives me more motivation to reach that Killer Higia fight in Sagaia. I was close to reaching it once, but I was on my last life and got killed by the blue satellites that spawned while the warning message appeared, so all I saw of the boss was a part of his head.
Let me know if you reach the other final bosses and notice any differences. :wink:

@Keleb Parham : I can't say for the PSP version, but Darius Burst AC is a cool game, and while it does not convey the feeling of adventuring as much as the previous games due to its shorter length and abundance of stages set in outer space, it is a fun game. Playing this in the dedicated cab' with the speakers and the rumble and everything is a treat.

And, yeah, I don't think anything comes close to G-Darius when it comes to awesome lasers. That game is excellent by the way, a shame there are issues with some of the ports and the emulation (the PSX slowdown, the lack of music in MAME and the PC version).
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Special World
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Special World »

Selling my copy of Darius Twin soon... can't imagine I'll ever play it again now that I have Darius Gaiden and G-Darius <:O
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Skykid »

Don't understand why this exists.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Captain »

The crab though.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Sinful »

M.Knight wrote:And, yeah, I don't think anything comes close to G-Darius when it comes to awesome lasers. That game is excellent by the way, a shame there are issues with some of the ports and the emulation (the PSX slowdown, the lack of music in MAME and the PC version).
Emulate Tiato Legends G Darius via ePSXe2 until you can find it.
That was awesome.

And them bosses sure lot a lot easier on them 3 screens.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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In search of great justice, sailing on a sea of stars.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Sinful »

It reminds me of Seaman instead of Darius. And both images of Seaman and that image you posted look very disturbing/creepy enough to me. But hey, you at least answered the call of fish porn for some folks.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Batchee »

I expected Titanic Lance on Hysteric Empress. There must be something out there.. The only thing i have found was Anime characters dressed as Darius bosses :?
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Captain »

If you search for Darius anywhere, you get that guy from league of legends instead of quality fish.
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Pretas
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Pretas »

Don't forget Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish fame.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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so much win!
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Batchee »

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It could work out... perhaps...
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by FRO »

Special World wrote:Selling my copy of Darius Twin soon... can't imagine I'll ever play it again now that I have Darius Gaiden and G-Darius <:O
Really? It's a lesser game than Gaiden and G for sure, but it's still a reasonably fun game. I enjoy it more than Darius Force, aka Super Nova. That game feels a bit too sparse, weapon upgrades are a bit weird, and the whole thing feels more like a gaiden than the actual Darius Gaiden.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by BIL »

Actually just picked up Twin myself on a whim, happened across a nice copy.

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Reserved compared to Force/MD II, let alone Gaiden/G, but I like its slightly sunnier take on Darius's characteristically offbeat style and music, and it's not like I'm lacking for complex and/or balls-hard shooters anyway. I have a soft spot for early-gen releases too, haha. Particularly SFC, as it was the first launch I was really conscious of.

Not that I wtb Dimension Force or anything. ;3
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by soprano1 »

Box cover looks nice, at least.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Sinful »

BIL wrote:I have a soft spot for early-gen releases too, haha. Particularly SFC,
Yes, I have that very strong soft spot for early-gen releases too. And again, particularly SNES/SFC. I usually feel like the only one, so nice to hear it from someone else too.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Blue_Ray »

This is a series I never really played much of. There were never any Darius arcade cabs in my stomping grounds, nor during my travels growing up. I see I have lots of catching up to do though. What's a good place to start?
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Pretas »

Blue_Ray wrote:This is a series I never really played much of. There were never any Darius arcade cabs in my stomping grounds, nor during my travels growing up. I see I have lots of catching up to do though. What's a good place to start?
Play the series in order, including Metal Black and Border Down (the latter is a sort of spiritual sequel by the G-Darius team). You can skip the SNES-exclusive games and Darius Alpha, though.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Blue_Ray wrote:This is a series I never really played much of. There were never any Darius arcade cabs in my stomping grounds, nor during my travels growing up. I see I have lots of catching up to do though. What's a good place to start?
Darius 1 and 2 are a bit of an acquired taste. IMO start with Gaiden and than G-Darius.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Pretas »

No, Gaiden is the acquired taste. It's much looser to control, feels more unfair despite the generous bomb stock and powerup retention (much smaller area to maneuver, plus some ridiculous cheap shots in enemy patterns and boss attacks in the later zones), and there is the whole silly debate over whether or not you should use autofire.

Darius I and II are much easier to pick up, get a handle on and understand right away. They "make sense" in a way that Gaiden, G and Burst don't. This isn't to say I necessarily prefer them, though.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Squire Grooktook »

^^^Never felt that way at all. Darius 1 and 2 at first attempt always felt rickety, slow, and archaic to me, whereas Gaiden and G immediately feel more modern and rewarding with their faster speed (both in terms of movement and pace), more intricate boss patterns and set pieces, level designs, etc. 1 and 2 are great fun but the hardest part of getting into them IMO is fighting the urge to quit after a few credits. If you can get past that, you're good though.
Pretas wrote:plus some ridiculous cheap shots in enemy patterns and boss attacks in the later zones
It's a rare shmup that doesn't have at least one or two cheap memo hazards in the end game. And, as much as I hate to admit it, it's especially prevalent in older shmups.
RegalSin wrote:Japan an almost perfect society always threatened by outsiders....................

Instead I am stuck in the America's where women rule with an iron crotch, and a man could get arrested for sitting behind a computer too long.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Dave_K. »

^Wow there are a lot of pics of the build process for that mini Darius cab. Pretty detailed. It looks like he used some kind of a laser CNC machine to make all the parts.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by M.Knight »

Sinful wrote:
M.Knight wrote:And, yeah, I don't think anything comes close to G-Darius when it comes to awesome lasers. That game is excellent by the way, a shame there are issues with some of the ports and the emulation (the PSX slowdown, the lack of music in MAME and the PC version).
Emulate Tiato Legends G Darius via ePSXe2 until you can find it.
I tried this solution after reading your post but it seems my computer is not powerful enough for PS2 emulation. :|
:lol:
Red Crab is my favorite part.

As for the best Darius game to begin the series with, I wouldn't recommend Darius 1 or 2. Well, 2 is really cool, but the penalty for dying was a real turn-off for me when I started so I don't think it will motivate a new player.
The original Darius is still a good game, but the stages have repetitive backgrounds and some can feel longer than they should (the very first stage for instance), the three screen set-up can make it difficult to play if you don't have a very large monitor or TV (while Darius 2's default two screen set-up is IMO perfectly fine on a 16:9 monitor/TV) and isn't always suited to the low shot-limit, especially with the Wave weapon, though it is definitely manageable.
Furthermore, it takes ages to power-up your weapons and dying is particuliarly frustrating if you happen to die just before a power upgrade, not to mention checkpoints. Dying is also frustrating in Darius 2, but its pace seems faster so restarting the game is less cumbersome.
You can't also see the branching path map, but that one is nitpicking.

I would start with Darius Gaiden. Well, I actually started with it.
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ACSeraph
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by ACSeraph »

M.Knight wrote:the three screen set-up... isn't always suited to the low shot-limit, especially with the Wave weapon, though it is definitely manageable.
This just isn't true, the game is built around the shot limit. It encourages you to stay far to the right for offensive purposes, as getting pushed back to defend comes with the trade-off of having to be extremely deliberate and precise with your shots. Were it not like that most players would just hide on the safety of the left edge the entire time.

Also with regards to the powerdown, it is infinitely worse in Darius II. There are times where powering down can fuck your run in Darius 1, but there are just as many times where its entirely possible to make a comeback. Dying at just about any point after getting the wave is a non-issue. In Darius II unless you have died literally while fighting the final boss, it becomes almost impossible to clear.

---

I should point out that I started this series with Darius 1, and the rebalanced version Extra is my favorite game in the series and all time favorite shmup (when played on the original cab). I'd recommend a new player actually do what Pretas said and try each game. Maybe don't go for a clear, but play through just one credit of each and see which one calls to you. The games are all quite different from one another and will appeal to different personalities I think.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by M.Knight »

Hum...I see what you mean about staying on the right side of the screen. Even when I played, I noticed I stayed on the offensive whenever I could and that mostly negated the low shot limit. However, with the Wave, I picked my shots way more often as there is one less available shot.

I defintely can't deny that dying in Darius 2 is much worse than in Darius 1, what I meant is that once I die in Darius 2, I know the run is over so I have no illusions. While in Darius 1, as there is a chance to recover, trying to get back on my feet is not very motivating when I know I may have to pick up seven/eight powerups of each type to come back to the level I was about to reach. That said, it is not an issue once I get the wave indeed.

Well, maybe I feel this way just because I am more experienced with Darius 2 than with Darius 1.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by BIL »

Oh wow, I love how Darius Twin gives Great Thing his boss BGM from the original game. And even lets him put a few bullets onscreen too! What a shock going from Twin to even Force, let alone Gaiden/G. Bullets? What are those again? Oh FUUU-

I'm surprised at how good Twin's OST is. Definitely the game's better feature. Particularly liking the classic rock & roll-styled Padi and Noemu BGMs.
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