I got Darius R today...

[Middlemoor]

By the way, Hard mode adds a whole new dimension to the game.

[BrianC]

Suck must be the new good! I can't believe people actually like this game.

Dude, it's a Darius game, and the series has a substantial following amongst shmuppers. If you're going to say that Darius R sucks, at least try and explain why you think so. And let's not forget that the Saturn port of Darius II also has wobble mode, unless you want to burn your eyes out and not zoom the screen in at all.

Screw the pedigree, it doesn't make the game good. Here's a summary of why Darius R sucks.

Graphics? Not good even by GBA standards.
Gameplay? Where's my firepower, bombs, capture balls, super lazers, awesome bosses?
Sound? Meh, the GBA can do much better.
Replayability? no thanks.

It is playable, but I've better use for my time than playing "playable" games. I'd have to be pretty desperate to play Darius R over G-Darius or Darius Gaiden. Both light years better.

Darius-R is meant to be a port/remake of the original Darius. It's not meant to be like Darius Gaiden or G-Darius. I have no plans to get it since it's a toned down Darius Plus (which I do plan to get) with half the screen cut off, but I feel it's unfair comparing it to more modern games.

Graphics:
The game is a semi-port of Darius Plus and is meant to look like the original Darius. The graphics do what they set out to do. It's not meant to look good by GBA standards.

Gameplay:
Again, the game is based on the original Darius, so nothing from Gaiden or G-Darius should be expected. However, it sucks how the game is stuck in wobble mode with less stages than the original. The GBA can handle a full port of Darius.

Sound:
From what I heard of the music, the sound sounds oddly out of place in parts. They should have stuck with the original Darius tunes instead of remixing the music.

This said, I wish they went with a new Darius for GBA instead of a port. The wobble mode is a waste when they could have took advantage of the wide screen of the GBA. I'll stick with Sagaia GB for portable exclusive Darius. Less stages than the original, but the level layouts (not themes) are new and the game is very well done. No wobble mode either.

[dave4shmups]

I tried this out on a GBA emulator, and I love it. The music is below par for Darius games, but there's an option to shut it off; great handheld shmup.

[shinsage]

hah, what the hell is wrong with you Brian.

anyways
Darius R is horrible
very tragic the series ended on a note like this.

[BrianC]

hah, what the hell is wrong with you Brian.

anyways
Darius R is horrible
very tragic the series ended on a note like this.

Nothing is wrong with me. I said nothing that implies that I even like the game. Maybe I was late to the party, but the post I replied to hasn't been addressed. Darius R is not meant to be a sequel or an original game. It's nothing more than a toned down port of Darius Plus with changed and remixed music. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing to whether it sucks or not (though that video I saw on youtube has me wanting to stay away from it). I'm just saying that it's unfair to expect it to be like the later games in the series because it's based on Darius Plus.

[The Coop]

hah, what the hell is wrong with you Brian.

anyways
Darius R is horrible
very tragic the series ended on a note like this.

I enjoyed it. It's not the best entry in the series to be sure (better than the two SNES ones though), but you have to remember that it's a port of the original arcade game... or a port of a port if BrainC's correct. It's the same graphics, with some music replacements (which contain some decent versions of past Darius tunes from "Gaiden" and such). So really, going into it expecting anything else wouldn't make sense.

It looks and plays like a fewer-leveled version of Darius, and that's all it was ever meant to be.

[BrianC]

but you have to remember that it's a port of the original arcade game... or a port of a port if BrainC's correct.

From what I read at the Huge Darius Battleships site, it could actually be a port of a cell phone game named Darius Plus Lite (meaning it may be a port, of a port, of a port), but I couldn't find info on Darius Plus Lite. The boss roster seems to match more of Darius Plus than the arcade one. However, the game over font used in Darius R seems to more closely match the arcade version.