Maybe I'm mistaking here... but weren't the two SNES Darius games developped by a company other than Taito ? I recall someone mentionning that over here...
Also, that theory would explain the absence of Zuntata's feel & sound... And to me personally, a Darius game needs OGR on music duty... It's simply not the same without him =/
I've played both games, but I just don't really see them being as great as Gaiden or G, or even the other Arcade Darius games... Then again, it's probably just me.... I'm all about the music, and a game published by Taito(as these seem to be) not sporting Zuntata's creative music just doesn't cut it...
I'm pretty sure both SNES Darius games were done by Taito, no other company is credited in their development. The music in Darius Twin was done by Wiz-Master of Zuntata...you will see if you beat the game and watch the end credits. I'm not sure who did the music for Darius Force...though the instruments/style sound very similar to Twin so I imagine it was also done by Zuntata. And liking a game based on whether or not the music was done by Zuntata(when the music actually WAS done by Zuntata) is ridiculous, how about you actually listen to the music instead, and give your opinion on it based on that.
You're in the minority, among shmup fans and among Darius fans.
I'm in the minority opinion on many things. It doesn't bother me one bit. Besides, if a "Darius fan" is somebody that thinks every Darius game sucks except the last two, then you can exclude me from that group completely.
God, I didn't think I'd ever read such things. How can one possibly dismiss a shmup for being an eye candy !? It's not like we're talking about some football managing simulation. Jaw-dropping effects are part of the genre. On top of that, usually the "eye candy" criticism is always there to finally underline how shallow the rest of the game actually is. G Darius is by no means an impressive but shallow game like, say, Project X or X2 are. Many ships or pods amongs those you may capture are considerably useful and allow an exceptionally high number of strategies. With the Alpha beam, you have loads of chaining opportunities. The ranking result is determined by something like 7 or 8 elements.
The fact that I think G-Darius is a graphics showcase isn't even the main gripe I have about it, it's the fact that the music is terrible. In the first few Darius games, the music was upbeat and stylish, and made the game relaxing and enjoyable. In Darius Force, they made the music more creepy and atmospheric, making the game more intense. In G-Darius, the music is just awful, it has no rhythm, no beat, no direction, its like just a bunch of notes banged out. I can't listen to that nervewracking crap and enjoy the gameplay. Every last member of Zuntate must have been high on pot the day that they made that soundtrack. They've made much better before, G was disappointing.
Now, if G had a great music soundtrack and was unchanged otherwise, would I still not like it as much? Probably, as I also was displeased how they took an entirely 2D game series and tried to make it 3D. I hate it when they do that. While the levels look great, at the same time, I have to urge that the graphics argument is overrated. Some of the best games ever made don't have that great of graphics, and a game can have the best graphics in the world and still be a piece of shit.
One should also consider that the 3-D graphics used for G-Darius probably ALLOWED all those captures, and the bosses' attack strategies (I'm thinking in particular of the Fossils and Heavy Arms Shell), in the first place...
How does the capture orb rely on 3D polygons? I'm pretty sure they could have done it with 2D graphics. Darius Gaiden was 2D and had something half similar, so I really don't see how they couldn't have done it 2D.
My only concern with G: it's a bit on the short side (five stages, in lieu of seven). That was probably on account of the in-stage paths, though.
I believe you just answered your own question right there. The game doesn't have 5 stages, the game has 15 stages(divided into 30 sub-stages) played 5 at a time.
I need to get Sagaia for the Genesis. I heard good things about that one. For portable Darius I want to get Sagaia for GB. How does the SMS Sagaia work with the Master Gear adapter? (BTW, despite me repeating Sagaia, I know the GB one is different from the others and more of a remix of the first two Darius games rather than a port of Darius 2)
I have Sagaia for the Genesis. Overall, it's a pretty good port of the arcade game. The bosses are a bit smaller, and the sound isn't quite AS good as the arcade version, but then again what else is to be expected of the Genesis.
I also have Sagaia on Game Boy. It's a neat little game, kind of funny. You're probably looking at around $20-$30 for a loose copy though, so make sure you really want it first.
And finally, I also have the SMS Sagaia. It's also a decent port, suprisingly good for SMS, the graphics are almost on par with the parent Genesis version! I never had a Master Gear converter, so I don't know much about them, but as far as I know, it has no problem playing European SMS games, since they're all universally compatible to my knowledge.
Yeah. Every title in the Darius series does seem kinda short. But you can't forget all the different levels that allow you to choose different paths each time you play. This feature gives the Darius games a huge amount of replayability to this day, along with different endings, which make it one of the best shmup series ever
That's part of the reason why I think the Darius games are so great. Having the ability to choose your own path in the game is a very innovative gameplay feature, which keeps you coming back to it.
Ah well...what can I say, I think the two SNES Darius games were golden masterpieces, not only due to their creativity and ingenuity, style and personality, but also their killer music soundtracks that set the pace of gameplay. I don't really know why everybody thinks they're both pieces of crap, but I don't really care, I will always enjoy them and think of them as vastly superior games in their genre.
