Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by ACSeraph »

Given that even M2 had trouble getting Gaiden to run properly until a patch 6 months later, I would expect that one to ship with a few problems on PS4. I can vouch for the switch version; I'm not super sensitive to lag, but if there is any I can't tell. They all feel the same as the cabs to me.
Jonpachi wrote:
heli wrote:Why cant they ship all on 1 disc for PS4 ?
I,m not buying, what do they think ?
They can ask 95,- for this ?
Pass
They're almost certainly different code bases, so I imagine it would be a major chore to get them both on one disc. It SEEMS like it should be a total gimme, but it's not as simple as it seems.
They did all ship on one cart (minus plus) in the JP LE though, so I doubt that's the reason. I think they honestly just felt two discs and more plastic made the collection feel "bigger" and more enticing to buyers of "crazy Japanese space fishing" games. It wasn't a choice aimed at serious players if I had to guess.
Shelcoof wrote:Am I missing out on the console collection or will the arcade Collection be good enough?
For a hardcore series fan they are great, but I doubt they are worth the price for most people. Of the console ports the one truly great game is Darius Force. Polarizing as it appears to be with fans, it bleeds atmosphere, and I would count it among the best SNES hori "adventure" STGs, along with games like Gradius III and R-Type III. However like those two games it is all about memorization and strict routing through stages, more so than most Darius titles (excluding Darius II), so if you don't like that style it's probably not for you. Other than that one you get some console variations of Darius II which are great but still essentially Darius II, an inferior port of Darius 1 with plus (not even Super), an OK-ish boss rush with Alpha, and Twin, which is unique but is honestly a really mediocre game, basically Darius with enemies that never shoot at you and almost every boss has an exploitable safe spot. That's as honest as I can be about the true merits of the console games, but as a hardcore fan I still love them all to death, even Twin.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by BIL »

Taito F3 seems a prickly beast to get emulated 100% (did MAME ever fix Rayforce's laserless stage 3 midboss, or get the lights to blow out properly in Elevator Action Returns?). VING's beautiful Saturn releases of RF, EAR and Bubble Symphony are total conversions, AFAIK. (edit: as you'd expect, with the Saturn being so near their arcade hardware's release date)

I'm biased by a fondness for early 16bit console releases, and like all Darius games I've not put nearly enough time on it, but I'm inordinately fond of Twin's OST. A lot of it resembles the early Kunio-kun games' flirtations with neo-rockabilly/surf, so when the customarily melancholic, militaristic OGR-style weirdpop shows up there's a distinct "EXCUSE ME WTF RU DOIN" effect. :mrgreen:

Force has some exceptional material, that one's pop-elegias I could mistake for the work of OGR himself. It's a saga of war, and man's perpetual fight for survival. Image
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Shelcoof »

ACSeraph wrote:
Shelcoof wrote:Am I missing out on the console collection or will the arcade Collection be good enough?
For a hardcore series fan they are great, but I doubt they are worth the price for most people. Of the console ports the one truly great game is Darius Force. Polarizing as it appears to be with fans, it bleeds atmosphere, and I would count it among the best SNES hori "adventure" STGs, along with games like Gradius III and R-Type III. However like those two games it is all about memorization and strict routing through stages, more so than most Darius titles (excluding Darius II), so if you don't like that style it's probably not for you. Other than that one you get some console variations of Darius II which are great but still essentially Darius II, an inferior port of Darius 1 with plus (not even Super), an OK-ish boss rush with Alpha, and Twin, which is unique but is honestly a really mediocre game, basically Darius with enemies that never shoot at you and almost every boss has an exploitable safe spot. That's as honest as I can be about the true merits of the console games, but as a hardcore fan I still love them all to death, even Twin.
Thanks for the detailed response. I'll give the arcade ports a shot but won't bother too much for the console releases.

I'm actually excited to play Gaiden again. I have it on the PS2 and it looks terrible compared to the Saturn version. Hoping Gaiden on the PS4 be much better.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by StrzxgvNuvWvfld »

Jonpachi wrote:
heli wrote:Why cant they ship all on 1 disc for PS4 ?
I,m not buying, what do they think ?
They can ask 95,- for this ?
Pass
They're almost certainly different code bases, so I imagine it would be a major chore to get them both on one disc. It SEEMS like it should be a total gimme, but it's not as simple as it seems.
The code is essentially a front end that launches an emulator. I'm pretty sure they could squeeze that on to a 25GB blu-ray! I'm not trivialising the attention to detail M2 put into their releases, but I've been a developer for 18 years and from a architecture point of view, it really doesn't sound very complicated.

Either way, I was happy to just buy the arcade disc. I own a couple of the console versions and I'm not overly bothered about having the others. There's only so much Darius I'm ever likely to play!
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Shepardus »

BIL wrote:did MAME ever fix Rayforce's laserless stage 3 midboss
They did, in fact, fix that - I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but the stage 3 midboss fires its lasers properly on recent versions of MAME. Was a pleasant surprise when I was revisiting that game a couple months ago.
Last edited by Shepardus on Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Klatrymadon »

I've always had a big soft spot for Twin's soundtrack, too. A lot of it sounds a bit 'safe' for Darius music, but occasionally it reaches highs that would do OGR proud; I like the Zone H piece in particular, which manages to sound off-kilter and vaguely melancholic despite generally aiming for soaring space opera guff. Love that big Super Tennis bass sound, too.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by BIL »

Shepardus wrote:They did, in fact, fix that - I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but the stage 3 midboss fires its lasers properly on recent versions of MAME. Was a pleasant surprise when I was revisiting that game a couple months ago.
Good to hear! Always seemed bizarrely serendipitous, the parallel beams not being merely invisible but absent entirely, despite audibly firing off.
Klatrymadon wrote:I've always had a big soft spot for Twin's soundtrack, too. A lot of it sounds a bit 'safe' for Darius music, but occasionally it reaches highs that would do OGR proud; I like the Zone H piece in particular, which manages to sound off-kilter and vaguely melancholic despite generally aiming for soaring space opera guff. Love that big Super Tennis bass sound, too.
Now that I re-listen to it, the earlier bit of Zone B has some of YACK's "Dual Moon" jive to it (similar starfield backdrop and open stage design, even). I wonder if there was anything to that behind the scenes. Not that the resemblance goes too far! The breakdowns and pileups between the jittery opening and the brooding latter parts are very cool. (that bleak spacey tone is actually reminding me of a heavily deconstructed "Visitor," now I'm really curious)
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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ACSeraph wrote: For a hardcore series fan they are great, but I doubt they are worth the price for most people. Of the console ports the one truly great game is Darius Force...
Thanks alot for explaining, appreciated.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by NikuKun »

I ordered the PS4 Collector's Edition after the Switch one sold out on the first batch. I didn't realize there was going to be a second run and now the Switch one is still available. Now I'm not sure if I should get both, the price is pretty high once it gets exchanged to my currency ^^: I do already own the Japanese standard edition so maybe I should just get the console set or wait for digital. Either way I'm happy to finally be able to get this, especially the book and soundtracks.

Though as others have said I do wish they were able to get the GB version of Sagaia on there somehow. I don't understand why something like that has to be so limited..
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Zeether »

The fact that there's no digital release happening for the collection here is disappointing since this is feeding scalpers. May as well just get JP eShop funds if I want it at this rate.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Shepardus »

Zeether wrote:The fact that there's no digital release happening for the collection here is disappointing since this is feeding scalpers. May as well just get JP eShop funds if I want it at this rate.
"Strictly Limited Games has amended its previous statement, saying that while it has no intention of publishing a digital release, it can confirm that a digital version will be released in early 2020 by another publisher."
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by heli »

StrzxgvNuvWvfld wrote:
Jonpachi wrote: Either way, I was happy to just buy the arcade disc. I own a couple of the console versions and I'm not overly bothered about having the others. There's only so much Darius I'm ever likely to play!
You are right, it is all the same game.
Another game i dont play, i also have the gradius collection for PS2, i only play gradius 5.
The dariusburst PS4 looks like amateur work for 60 euro so i wont have that problem here.
Cozmic is still not sold out, it is not very popular or what ?, bubble bobble also not sold out.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Special World »

I don't know if this has been posted, but I called my game store asking if they had any copies, and they said it's getting a US Switch release on Feb 28th. She didn't have an entry for PS4, but that may be because Limited Run snagged it, or something?
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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PS how do you guys feel about the game selection here? I really like Darius Gaiden but I havent played the rest. I assume everything has the typical M2 love, training modes, etc?
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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The collection, since it has more games, doesn't have as many features as a ShotTrigGers release. There are no arrange modes, for example.

You DO have save-states, replay-saving, lots of widgets, and good customizable buttons: autofire rates, combining shot/missile buttons, etc.

Game selection, for a Darius fan, is quite nice. If you have the full version, the console games are a great inclusion (though I don't know if they're worth it on their own, separately). The base arcade package has an all-time classic in Darius Gaiden. Beyond that, Darius Extra is the best version of the three Darius 1's on the package, albeit rough around the edges (to say the least). Darius II is a good game with very unforgiving difficulty/recovery. The two revisions, Sagaia v1 and Sagaia v2, are enjoyable - especially Sagaia v2, which was a real delight to discover: wholly-new levels, rearranged stage layout, new enemies, new sprites, etc. Cutting out about 1/3 of the stages in Darius II ends up working in the game's favor I feel.

For the console games, Darius II MD is a game I prefer to its punishing arcade forebear. The Master System port is a neat curiosity but not essential. Darius Alpha can be left aside imo. Darius Twin is mediocre though not without a little bit of charm, and Darius Force almost plays out like an Irem memorizer. Very unique and I like it, but the beginning of the game is so difficult with recoveries that it's hard to get in to it.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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Special World wrote:I don't know if this has been posted, but I called my game store asking if they had any copies, and they said it's getting a US Switch release on Feb 28th. She didn't have an entry for PS4, but that may be because Limited Run snagged it, or something?
It's on sale right now (PS4&Switch) at https://store.strictlylimitedgames.com/collections/all and is divided into two releases: one for the arcade games and one for the console games.

I just went with the arcade release as the console game pack is fairly pricey imo.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by steveovig »

Shit, I didn't even realize the differences in the versions before I pre-ordered. I thought the $60 version had arcade versions and console. Now, I wish I had gotten the Arcade version instead. Why the hell is this so odd and confusing? Just put everything on one collection.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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steveovig wrote:Shit, I didn't even realize the differences in the versions before I pre-ordered. I thought the $60 version had arcade versions and console. Now, I wish I had gotten the Arcade version instead. Why the hell is this so odd and confusing? Just put everything on one collection.
Yeah it sucks and I think many people feel the same as there are plenty of copies left. They should've just put them onto one disc but seems like they got greedy.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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Just as a quick reminder/PSA, the Japanese Switch LE has everything on a single cart.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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Is there a place to buy the J LE that's less expensive than buying them separately? Not actually sure how much I need the console games, if Darius Twin is any indication of quality.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Martinov »

Can you set autofire in the arcade games on this compilation?
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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ACSeraph wrote:For a hardcore series fan they are great, but I doubt they are worth the price for most people. Of the console ports the one truly great game is Darius Force. Polarizing as it appears to be with fans, it bleeds atmosphere, and I would count it among the best SNES hori "adventure" STGs, along with games like Gradius III and R-Type III. However like those two games it is all about memorization and strict routing through stages, more so than most Darius titles (excluding Darius II), so if you don't like that style it's probably not for you. Other than that one you get some console variations of Darius II which are great but still essentially Darius II, an inferior port of Darius 1 with plus (not even Super), an OK-ish boss rush with Alpha, and Twin, which is unique but is honestly a really mediocre game, basically Darius with enemies that never shoot at you and almost every boss has an exploitable safe spot. That's as honest as I can be about the true merits of the console games, but as a hardcore fan I still love them all to death, even Twin.
I've owned Super Nova (aka Darius Force) for years, and I always thought it was a step back from Darius Twin. Yeah, Twin is kind of basic, and quite easy, but it looks and sounds good, and feels like a Darius game, despite these concessions. Super Nova is an interesting diversion, but it never quite clicked with me. Maybe I need to give it another try...
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Special World »

Just realized today that i can plug my headphones into the Switch during docked play. Now I can properly look forward to this release :)
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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Martinov wrote:Can you set autofire in the arcade games on this compilation?
Yes
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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steveovig wrote:Shit, I didn't even realize the differences in the versions before I pre-ordered. I thought the $60 version had arcade versions and console. Now, I wish I had gotten the Arcade version instead. Why the hell is this so odd and confusing? Just put everything on one collection.
I was the same and fortunately for me I purchased the arcade version accidentally instead of the console version. If I had known that I was only getting half of the collection I would have never bothered ordering the game.

ACSeraph wrote:Just as a quick reminder/PSA, the Japanese Switch LE has everything on a single cart.
Are you sure about that? I thought I read somewhere that it was partially on the cart and partial download
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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Special World wrote:Is there a place to buy the J LE that's less expensive than buying them separately? Not actually sure how much I need the console games, if Darius Twin is any indication of quality.
It's just expensive unfortunately, I think a used copy of just the basic LE will run you around 20,000 yen. I want to say I payed around 30,000 at launch for my BEEP version.

That said were you to buy all the games on it separately, even excluding Alpha, you'd pay a lot more and end up with inferior versions imo.

Keep in mind what I said earlier about the console ports though, do you really want to put real time into them? I did actually, but I think it's a case where only hardcore fans need apply, they aren't worth it for collecting's sake. I specifically wanted to learn all of the games and routes using save-states. I didn't buy them just because Darius.
FRO wrote:I've owned Super Nova (aka Darius Force) for years, and I always thought it was a step back from Darius Twin. Yeah, Twin is kind of basic, and quite easy, but it looks and sounds good, and feels like a Darius game, despite these concessions. Super Nova is an interesting diversion, but it never quite clicked with me. Maybe I need to give it another try...
When I was new to the series I preferred Twin, but my opinion has reversed these days (not that I hate Twin mind you). Force is off-putting because it's just not a Darius game. It's an Irem game with Taito audiovisual style. But approached for what is the game has great stage design and a general sense of epicness. Just listen to the music in the final stage of the first course; it's among the best in the series. The vibe reminds me a lot of Metal Black.

Darius Force (and Irem style memorizers in general) are better with save states imo, so for me the Switch port really brought new life to the title. It can be a pain in the ass to learn on SFC.
Shelcoof wrote:
ACSeraph wrote:Just as a quick reminder/PSA, the Japanese Switch LE has everything on a single cart.
Are you sure about that? I thought I read somewhere that it was partially on the cart and partial download
Yes, I own the game. The one exception is Sagaia GB which is a totally separate digital only game offered as an Amazon preorder. That one is 100% not worth tracking down or paying extra for. You can buy an actual cart for dirt cheap anyhow. I knowingly chose the more expensive BEEP release even though that game wasn't included. Also as a side note, JP Cozmic Collection doesn't include Darius Plus, but that's another "who cares?" title, even in the eyes of a devoted fan.
Last edited by ACSeraph on Thu Jan 30, 2020 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by EmperorIng »

Super Darius II would have been more interesting, because of all the new bosses and stages, but I suspect getting the rights from NEC would have been difficult.

A reason to keep my Turbo Duo around, I suppose!
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by ACSeraph »

Super Darius II is an awesome game, it was unfortunate that didn't make it on the collection. That one is Sagaia level unique.

Seriously though Plus? Just... why? Why not Super? Hell, why not the new MD port?
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by BrianC »

I perplexed by how the collection is priced. I was hoping some of the games would be released as DLC later on instead of a more expensive release that has only the console games (along with the questionable choices of Darius Twin and Alpha and Sagaia GB being limited to a pre-order bonus). I'm glad I went with the regular JP release, though. I like the earlier AC games quite a bit, as well as Gaiden. That MD port of Darius definitely would have been a nice addition. It's closer to the AC, but still has some extras from the PCE versions. It even has high score saving.

Actually, the mini's are probably the reason a couple of the games are left out. Isn't Super going to be on the TG-16/PCE mini?
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by GSK »

ACSeraph wrote:Just as a quick reminder/PSA, the Japanese Switch LE has everything on a single cart.
It doesn't have the new console games they're adding in tandem with the overseas release, and it's also pre-patch and you don't want to play Darius Gaiden pre-patch, so buying the LE isn't necessarily the optimal solution.
ACSeraph wrote:Super Darius II is an awesome game, it was unfortunate that didn't make it on the collection. That one is Sagaia level unique.

Seriously though Plus? Just... why? Why not Super? Hell, why not the new MD port?
They didn't want to overlap with PCE Mini and MD Mini, basically.
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