Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

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DejahThoris
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by DejahThoris »

My console version also popped up today!
prophetic
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by prophetic »

Why does Asendia tracking say that my package is in "AMC Kennedy NY" but USPS says it's in customs in Chicago? I'm guessing USPS is more likely to be correct.
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EmperorIng
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by EmperorIng »

That's a good assumption, imo USPS is pretty reliable.
Rastan78 wrote:
Didn't they clean up the English a little in the overseas version?
I recall the wording of the Saturn NTSC-U release endings being different than the endings on this collection, so I think that you're not far off the mark.

I've since, thanks to this collection, 1cc'd Darius Old/New/Extra and Darius Gaiden. I'm currently working on and off on Darius II (which I have beaten, a few years back).

Thanks to the rank widget, I'm learning some interesting things about Darius II. It seems that rank goes down when bullets hit you (duh) - but this applies apparently even if you have a shield. This can be 'exploited' (read: will happen naturally late in the game) in later stages. A rank of 13 on the Earth zone, for example, is hugely different from rank 11 - enemies fire less, and fire more slowly. This needs to be tested more, but it seems like a crucial tool to use on the way to the 1cc!
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Rastan78
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Rastan78 »

Now we can chalk up those errant hits to intentional rank control. :wink:

Speaking of rank I was reading a Japanese wiki about Gaiden. Take this with a grain of salt bc I was using Google translate. But it seemed pretty clear they were saying the Saturn port is not accurate in terms of rank.

The rank rises slower on Saturn and the autofire code is especially broken. So on the original arcade release rank rises according to every button press. But holding down shot counts as one press. Contrast that with other games where the rank will count every shot fired even if youre holding down the shot button. This is how they balanced external autofire bc the rank will rise a good deal faster.

It sounds like the autofire code on saturn functions as software auto and holding it down counts as a single button press. So you get the advantage of super fast auto without the rank increase. It would be interesting to test out the saturn port both with the software auto code vs. an external autofire controller to see if there's a big difference. To me it seems like one of the biggest gameplay differences is that the mid-bosses become much more difficult to capture safely at high rank.

They mention that the saturn port was considered near perfect for a long time except for a few details like missing trees in zone B, slowdown differences, and music looping issues. Oh and the scoring bug on certain bosses that gives you a ridiculous high score.

So long story short the Cozmic port is now the one to have.
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Rastan78
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Rastan78 »

EmperorIng wrote:I've since, thanks to this collection, 1cc'd Darius Old/New/Extra and Darius Gaiden.

Congrats. That's impressive. Its really a great collection of games. I'm new to the series and have usually played more vertical stg in the past, but this collection is really sucking me in. Got to the final stage in Gaiden last night on one credit, so I'm getting close. Did the all down route to the jellyfish boss. Wanted to go for something different since it seems everybody and their brother starts out on the V route.
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pablumatic
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by pablumatic »

Anybody get their Collectors Edition from Strictly Limited yet?

Just wondering about the "Darius Odyssey" book it comes with. That's a translated version of the Darius Odyssey book that came with the Japanese Vita limited edition of Dariusburst CS, correct?
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Samildanach
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Samildanach »

pablumatic wrote:Anybody get their Collectors Edition from Strictly Limited yet?

Just wondering about the "Darius Odyssey" book it comes with. That's a translated version of the Darius Odyssey book that came with the Japanese Vita limited edition of Dariusburst CS, correct?
I received my Collector's Edition a couple of weeks ago (in the UK). I don't know if it is the same content as the one you mentioned, but it contains interviews and information for all the games included in the collection, therefore not much on Dariusburst (other than a joint interview between the designers of the original Darius Arcade cabinet and the Dariusburst cabinet) and nothing on G-Darius. I suspect there will be a second book that comes with the likely Darius Cozmic Revelation fancy edition. The Darius Odyssey book we got however, is fantastic, and I have been very happy with the whole package. The two soundtracks are sublime (though the first cd edges it over the second) and of course the games speak for themselves. I'm no expert in Darius, but the games seem very well emulated and silky smooth, but that is no surprise with M2's involvement.
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ZaKa-tokyobassist
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by ZaKa-tokyobassist »

Mine has been stuck in Chicago for over a week. Dude this sucks.

Kinda pisses me off that they already signed with Taito for Cozmic Revelations. Here's to getting it in 2022.
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sethsez
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by sethsez »

My package has been stuck over the ocean since August 22. Swiss Post says it left them, USPS says they haven't gotten it yet.

Wonderful.
Johnpv
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Johnpv »

Mine spent about 3 1/2 weeks between left the country and USPS finally having it. I did eventually get mine but it was S.....L.....O................. ................................................W
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Fudoh »

These are customs delays. Items shipped to the US from Europe get their first scan by the USPS only when they leave customs. On the tracking they make it look like they're still in transit from the origin country, but that's wrong. Shipping to the US usually only takes 4-5 days, but customs clearence on the US east coast (either in NY or Chicago) can take weeks at the moment.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by EmperorIng »

Rastan78 wrote: Speaking of rank I was reading a Japanese wiki about Gaiden. Take this with a grain of salt bc I was using Google translate. But it seemed pretty clear they were saying the Saturn port is not accurate in terms of rank.

The rank rises slower on Saturn and the autofire code is especially broken. So on the original arcade release rank rises according to every button press. But holding down shot counts as one press. Contrast that with other games where the rank will count every shot fired even if youre holding down the shot button. This is how they balanced external autofire bc the rank will rise a good deal faster.

It sounds like the autofire code on saturn functions as software auto and holding it down counts as a single button press. So you get the advantage of super fast auto without the rank increase. It would be interesting to test out the saturn port both with the software auto code vs. an external autofire controller to see if there's a big difference. To me it seems like one of the biggest gameplay differences is that the mid-bosses become much more difficult to capture safely at high rank.
I had heard over the last few years that there were problems with the Saturn port that were never noticed for the longest time, and I think you can mostly rely on the information in the Japanese wiki. With the additional slowdown and how rank works, the Saturn port is easier than the arcade version (and Cozmic) - though keep in mind with autofire the game is already quite easy. That being said folks have noticed during the previous Calice Cup tournament that not using the cozmic port's autofire (which functions properly) lowers rank by appx 10%, which can probably make some difference in the ferocity of boss attacks (e.g. rank value at 72 vs at 80 - I bet you for Crusty Hammer this is a big deal).
Rastan78 wrote:Got to the final stage in Gaiden last night on one credit, so I'm getting close. Did the all down route to the jellyfish boss. Wanted to go for something different since it seems everybody and their brother starts out on the V route.
This is a great attitude to have with the game so I hope you keep at it. Curious Chandelier is a tough boss, but with luck, good bomb management, and some hidden 1-ups you are sure to prevail!
ZaKa-tokyobassist wrote: Kinda pisses me off that they already signed with Taito for Cozmic Revelations. Here's to getting it in 2022.
Next time do what I did, and import the Japanese version. It was eventually translated into English anyway, even the menus. As soon as I could get the order on Amazon Japan, I did so. It took a long time to get here (but not too long), but there wasn't all this goofy western distributor nonsense to put up with. Mind you this was pre-pandemic, so I will add some 'give' time.
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Klatrymadon
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Klatrymadon »

Another difference in the Saturn version is that your main shot doesn't just drop down a level after a death, it goes back to the starting peashooter every time. I never noticed this until a friend raised it recently and I erroneously tried to reassure them the series has never worked like that. :P
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Rastan78
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Rastan78 »

Emperorlng wrote:though keep in mind with autofire the game is already quite easy. That being said folks have noticed during the previous Calice Cup tournament that not using the cozmic port's autofire (which functions properly) lowers rank by appx 10%, which can probably make some difference in the ferocity of boss attacks (e.g. rank value at 72 vs at 80 - I bet you for Crusty Hammer this is a big deal).
I was wondering why some high level players look like they are intentionally boosting the rank. The guy who has all the highest scores on the switch leaderboards is the same guy who has most of the world records for the arcade version. He can always be seen hanging by the edge of the screen holding down 30 hz to increase the rank as much as possible. At some point he maxes the rank to 255 which is pretty daunting. I'm guessing this way you can milk more points off certain bosses?

Btw Gaiden is still kinda hard for me, since I haven't played shmups in a while. 1cc'd Thunder Force AC as a warm up. Now that is an easy game lol

Agreed about just getting the Japanese version. I did the same thing and probably will for G Darius too. Although back then the Gaiden port was all jacked up. Another thing they mentioned on that wiki page is that to fix Gaiden, M2 basically threw out the code and started from scratch. I hope this doesn't go to waste and we see other Taito F3 games in the future.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by prophetic »

Fudoh wrote:These are customs delays. Items shipped to the US from Europe get their first scan by the USPS only when they leave customs. On the tracking they make it look like they're still in transit from the origin country, but that's wrong. Shipping to the US usually only takes 4-5 days, but customs clearence on the US east coast (either in NY or Chicago) can take weeks at the moment.
What do you think about my situation? My package got out of customs, went to Elk Grove, then to Chicago, then back to Elk Grove. I don't think this is a customs delay.

https://imgur.com/a/RCmtXYc
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ZaKa-tokyobassist
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by ZaKa-tokyobassist »

I finally got my copy in yesterday and started today.

Anybody know where you can get an extra life in Sagaia v1 and v2? I found them pretty easily in Darius 2 but they seem to be rare or in different locations.

One last thing. In the first Darius (Extra Version) I noticed it tallied up my remaining lives but it doesn't seem to do that one Old or New version every time I've finished it and I can't seem to break anything higher than 4 million with lives alone. I'm guessing you have milk bosses? That would be a royal PITA on some of these bosses. That one pirahna boss is straight doo doo just trying to beat.

All in all I like Darius Gaiden but the rest of these games man...they are very much the start of the series and not very graceful.
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Klatrymadon
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Klatrymadon »

Yeah, the points bonus for remaining lives was one of the main changes to the Extra Version, specifically intended to negate the need for boss milking.
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Kiken
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Kiken »

After 2+ weeks of being stuck presumably in orbit, my package has managed to arrive in Chicago. We'll see how long it takes to get to Maryland.
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davyK
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by davyK »

Mine arrive yesterday - Northern Ireland based. I suppose the delays are good practice for when we leave the EU end of the year. ;)

I just ordered the basic version with the badge. I have it digital on my Switch so I will just keep this sealed for now.

Got the 8bitdo SN30 for a normal dpad. It feels OK. I'm used to playing Gaiden with a stick but this will be fine. Enjoying Darius 2 - just has a certain something about it. Playing on a nice big screen makes all the difference.
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Rastan78
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Rastan78 »

ZaKa-tokyobassist wrote:Anybody know where you can get an extra life in Sagaia v1 and v2? I found them pretty easily in Darius 2 but they seem to be rare or in different locations.
If you start any of the games in training mode, once you pick a level and start the game enter the pause menu. You'll see a map that shows all the items in every level. I think in Sagaia v2 there's only one 1up in stage B.
Edit: it shows up in normal mode too once you start a credit.

Also you could abuse the training mode and just fully power up your ship to max weapons. Then just do a quick run through of a stage shooting all the walls to check where the hidden items are.
Last edited by Rastan78 on Sat Sep 05, 2020 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Rastan78
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Rastan78 »

davyK wrote:Got the 8bitdo SN30 for a normal dpad. It feels OK. I'm used to playing Gaiden with a stick but this will be fine. Enjoying Darius 2 - just has a certain something about it. Playing on a nice big screen makes all the difference.
I got the Hori Pokken controller for Switch after getting frustrated with the pro controller. The D pad on it is amazing and it ran me about 12 dollars. The buttons on it are a little stiff, but not necessarily in a bad way. Might be the best shmup D pad I've used. I used to always play on stick as well.
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ZaKa-tokyobassist
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by ZaKa-tokyobassist »

Thanks for all the tips y'all. Its been very helpful.

Darius 2 feels a little chunky but Darius Gaiden is as dope as it always has been and its nice to own a legal copy of it now.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by EmperorIng »

Rastan78 wrote: Btw Gaiden is still kinda hard for me, since I haven't played shmups in a while. 1cc'd Thunder Force AC as a warm up. Now that is an easy game lol
.
It's funny you say that, because I have yet to beat Thunder Force AC but I can clear Darius Gaiden no issue! I should remember there was a time I found DG almost impossible, though I didn't use autofire back then. At the same time a lot of newer players played Darius Gaiden for a tournament earlier this year and there were a great deal of clears made quickly (all using the easiest route though).

So I would say if you use 30hz autofire you will be playing the game at a lower difficulty than even 20hz, or 12/15hz (which I sometimes do to give myself a challenge).
ZaKa-tokyobassist wrote: Darius 2 feels a little chunky but Darius Gaiden is as dope as it always has been and its nice to own a legal copy of it now.
It is chunky but I think I'm understanding it better now, even more so when I got the clear. Knowing about the rank, and how to position your spread shot to kill the hard-to-reach enemies are turning out to both be very important.

You will still find yourself dying to a bullet you saw coming 2 miles away though. :oops:
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Samildanach »

Having very recently 1CC'd Thunder Force AC , by the skin of my teeth that is, that bodes well for attempting it in Darius Gaiden. It might be a while though as I want to work through the series from the start. Doomed to failure I suspect.

Thunder Force AC was surprisingly a lot harder to 1CC for me than TFIII, despite the similarities (and Thunder Spirits was very easy thanks to slowdown). Not quite sure even now what made the difference, perhaps it was the combination of being forced to start in Hydra each time and the brutal TFII tribute level. That damn temple level in TFII was the bane of any 1CC attempt I made in that game.
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sethsez
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by sethsez »

Collector's edition finally arrived, and it's pretty nice! I feel like I would have been far more impressed with the whole package if this had gotten here before Arrow's outstanding Gamera box set, a lot of things just feel a bit loose in the package rather than having any particular place which feels kinda haphazard for how much it cost, but it's still pretty solid all told.

Definitely not enough to convince me to go through all this again for the next collection, though.
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Kiken
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Kiken »

Just like Sethsez, I too received my Switch LE today.
Image

More photos behind the spoiler.
Spoiler
Image
Inside the PCB-style cardboard outer box is an inner sleeved box and beneath that is the hardback art/interview book and the move stickers.

Image
The inner box and slip case.

Image
As stated by Sethsez, everything inside the inner box is loose and can slide around bumping into whatever. It's a miracle that only the top of the flap took any damage.

Image
You've got the two games, only one of which fits into the inner foam tray insert, the other one just being loose. The two soundtrack CDs, the 3 pins and the 6 acrylic art plates.

Image
Easily the weirdest inclusion. Two of the pins were completely loose. The respective bags that were intended to hold them were sealed... with nothing inside... I don't... I don't understand. Why include empty sealed bags at all.. either cut them open, pop the pins inside and then staple them or just don't include them....

Image
The CDs and the image plates.

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The move sheets, stickers, post card and art/interview book.
I had thought about doing an unboxing video but when I noticed that a sticker on the bottom of the main outer box said Playstation 4, I was compelled to open it up and make sure they hadn't sent me the wrong version.
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by davyK »

I just went for the limited edition of the arcade collection. I already had it digital so I will keep the game sealed as long as I don't need to open it.

It came with a badge - and it too was loose and came with sealed bag!

Came with one of those postcards too (shown bottom middle in the above post). Nice to have but I was really only after the game to be honest.
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Kiken
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Kiken »

I've mostly been playing the console half of the set since its arrival and I'm really enjoying MD Darius 2. Running Plus in SG mode is a nifty bonus and the parallax scrolling effect is quite impressive... although the stage length is approaching Compile levels. The two SFC entries are just aggressively terrible games (Twin & Force)... the A stages in both are just painful and whoever was responsible for the enemy wave sequences must have had a giant hard-on for the flying Medusa heads in Castlevania. I've yet to try Darius Alpha or MS Darius 2.

I'm finding that after several plays, the BGM in MD Darius 2 has a habit of just cutting out mid-level. Anyone else experiencing this?
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Rastan78
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by Rastan78 »

Emperorlng wrote:This is a great attitude to have with the game so I hope you keep at it. Curious Chandelier is a tough boss, but with luck, good bomb management, and some hidden 1-ups you are sure to prevail!
Man I finally got that jellyfish, but I started from a save state on the 2nd level. I'd been practicing this way to avoid boredom on the first level. Then I suddenly found myself getting a no miss up until the last boss. Then had plenty of lives and bombs to finish him off. But now I have to do it over again from the beginning for the 1cc to count! lol
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Re: Darius Cozmic Collection [Switch, PS4]

Post by EmperorIng »

You've done it already, now get it together for that full run! I look forward to seeing the screenshot of your triumph :wink:
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