Which Darius games do you like in the series?

[TransatlanticFoe]

Darius 2 is great fun, although once you get a silver shield and a few power-ups you're basically unstoppable

Are you referring to the ports? I ask this because IMO the arcade version (or Saturn/PS2) is as hard as Darius Gaiden, if not more.
Home ports, however, had their difficulty severely toned down - then I'll agree with you about the "unstoppable" bit.

I'm talking the Saturn version on regular difficulty (the only other port I've played is the SMS, where you're only at risk of being hit by a bullet which has vanished in the flicker). Once your main gun is firing white plasma, you've got a few levels on your laser and your bombs have rolling ability (i.e. you've done about three levels), a silver shield gives you enough resistence against any mistakes. Once your shield goes gold you have to really mess things up to die.

This is of course assuming that you've memorised the route you're taking, because if you've not then there are plenty of relatively cheap sections if you're not expecting them.

[Despatche]

take darius alpha off the poll please

[Randorama]

Both G.Darius and Darius Gaiden are beautiful games, but G. Darius has the most sophisticated scoring system of the two. Darius II will hold a special spot in my heart if only because of "Muse Valley".

[Klatrymadon]

Yeah, beautiful stuff. My favourite's always been "Cynthia" - rousing and militaristic, but also mournful. I was dismayed when I heard the Super version of that one. Killed it stone dead.

[originalz]

Who cares if Alpha is on the poll? Not like anyone is going to vote for it, or maybe they really like boss rush games.

[tinotormed]

Who cares if Alpha is on the poll? Not like anyone is going to vote for it, or maybe they really like boss rush games.

Removed it. No one cares about it anyway.

[Klatrymadon]

Could be worth adding the GameBoy Sagaia in its stead, mate. (I like it, anyway!)

[Limbrooke]

Why do they care so much about what other people think of their playing ability?

I have seen no autofire player telling default fire how to play the game, have you? All I see is a small minority of people saying that it is cheating to play auto-fire despite the fact that is a explicitly agreed upon rule by the vast majority.

As a prolific user of auto-fire I can say that a feeling of "unfairness" has crept into mind but only before I began using auto-fire. This specifically relates to Raiden DX which while quite doable without, is not as hard on the hands/arms with auto-fire. I used to have a certain amount of pride in not using it but at the same time my arms were taking a beating each run. I eventually decided to bypass being authentic and went for the rapid and ease. At times I have some regret still since this auto-fire aspect means I'll not be able to submit to MARP but it's not a one way street.

As for the Darius games, auto-fire seems to be pretty key and personally for Gaiden I could never justify a run through without it. Having said that I voted for it, G.Darius, and Super Nova/Darius Force. SN/DF has auto-fire built so no faults there and had I enjoyed my time with Darius 2 more I might have voted that instead otherwise SN/DF is a worthy 3rd selection I'd say, especially given it's a console only game.

[Subterranean Sun]

"My e-penis is bigger than yours!"

[Klatrymadon]

Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever played Gaiden with anything less expedient than the standard 'slow' autofire. Can you actually turn it off in any of the home ports? I've never noticed the option...

[Despatche]

Who cares if Alpha is on the poll? Not like anyone is going to vote for it, or maybe they really like boss rush games.

the issue is that it's a boss rush version of a port (darius plus) of a port-that-has-a-similarly-made-boss-rush (super darius, developed alongside plus) of a game that's already on the list (darius), when we don't even have ports here.

speaking of which, i picked ii and gaiden. not so much a fan of the original. i don't care too much about the snes games, though i think some of what darius force did needs to be expanded upon (dbac seems to have done some similar cool things). i have yet to play g or burst, unfortunately.

[toaplan_shmupfan]

Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever played Gaiden with anything less expedient than the standard 'slow' autofire. Can you actually turn it off in any of the home ports? I've never noticed the option...

It's not available on Taito Legends 2 for the PS2, that's for sure. There is the option to set another fire button so one can rapidly alternate tapping buttons. So it's the default continuous fire rate which I won't really call rapid fire since I can fire faster than that just hammering on one button and I can fire much faster than that alternating between two fire buttons.

What I just recently realized is that the black hole bomb gives complete and total invincibility for the entire length of the black hole sucking in everything plus about 1 additional second after the lightning that completes the black hole bomb explosion. That's a lot of time to get right on top of the boss and drill it by firing as fast as possible (or for those using a rapid fire controller or rapid fire code, to hold down the button and let the rapid fire do its damage), then get out of there.

One other thing I like about the Darius Gaiden in Taito Legends 2 PS2 is the additional ability to set each stage difficulty between 0 and 15.

[MathU]

One other thing I like about the Darius Gaiden in Taito Legends 2 PS2 is the additional ability to set each stage difficulty between 0 and 15.

That sounds pretty cool. I wish the PC version had that (and no Starforce DRM). I just play my Taito Legends 2 ROMs right through MAME.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I've always enjoyed playing the ol' G-Darius PCB...sure is a different beast compared to the PSX port of the same name.

Only if the latest Darius arcade game with it's 32:18 aspect ratio cab were to make a Stateside appearance, that'd be cool to try out.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Kobayashi]

My favorites: Darius 2 (aka Sagaia), Darius Gaiden and G-Darius.

[sunburstbasser]

Darius Force has some of the more interesting weapons in the Darius games. I would have liked to see them expanded upon in something like Gaiden or G. The red Silver Hawk's weaponry in particular is extremely fun to use and the swivel lasers are fairly unique.

Good boss fights too. Megalopros is a great fight.

[CIT]

Yeah, Darius Force is definitely a "real" Darius game, as opposed to Darius Twin, which really felt more like an alibi.

[R-Gray 1]

I guess Darius Force and Darius Gaiden are my favourites, great ambience and sountrack. I mentioned both games in the soundtrack topic.
I have always in my mind the darius Force Area B.
I played few times G Darius and I can say is not easy i died a lot. All the screen is full of many things i like it too
I played just 2 times Darius II, i would like to play it more to give a comment.

[DEL]

The original Darius in the original triple cabinet. I loved drawing crowds in the arcades around that machine, and the Zuntata soundtrack is awesome, especially the trippy space asteroids stage soundtrack towards the end of the game.
----------------------
Darius Burst - do I brave the radiation and see it....

[ZOM]

3 options not enough.

Darius, Darius II, Darius Gaiden, G Darius and Darius Force. That's 5. I love mecha fishies... and the music they're accompanied with.

[Klatrymadon]

especially the trippy space asteroids stage soundtrack towards the end of the game.

Absolutely! That one's called Chaos, and it's actually the game's main theme, even though Captain Neo and Cosmic Airway thoroughly steal its thunder.

Fantastic stuff. All of the boss themes are great, too.

[Randorama]

"Chaos" has to be the most innovative Videogame song ever, I'd guess.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

especially the trippy space asteroids stage soundtrack towards the end of the game.

Absolutely! That one's called Chaos, and it's actually the game's main theme, even though Captain Neo and Cosmic Airway thoroughly steal its thunder.

Fantastic stuff. All of the boss themes are great, too.

Even if Chaos wasn't the main theme, there's no way it'd be Captain Neo either because that's not even a Darius song to begin with; it's a Metal Soldier Issac one. /useless factoid

[Klatrymadon]

Aye, true, although I didn't mean to imply that the others were contenders, just that they're ace. It did come as quite a surprise to discover that Chaos was intended as a key theme at all, though, given that there's more accessible fare earlier in the game. I think Ogura said in an interview that it was the first Darius tune he wrote. It's one of my all-time favourites, for sure.

(Apropos of nothing, one of the better versions of Captain Neo is the one from Arkanoid DS. I'd kill for an XBLA version of Darius with music like that, heh.)

[burgerkingdiamond]

Is the arcade version of G Darius really slow? I have the Plastation port and it's agonizingly slow. When I use my PS2 to play it it seems a little better, but I don't know if I'm just imagining it.

[Klatrymadon]

I can't quite remember how it runs from the PCB, but the Playstation port is the most sluggish. I've never really found it that slow myself, but you might prefer the Taito Legends version, mate. There's no slowdown at all in that one.

[DEL]

Yes Darius Chaos. Awesome tune and it fitted perfectly with the space/asteroids stage. I put the whole Darius 1986 sountrack on a CD, for car use. Sounds pretty great with the system in the trunk.

[doctorx0079]

Is the arcade version of G Darius really slow? I have the Plastation port and it's agonizingly slow. When I use my PS2 to play it it seems a little better, but I don't know if I'm just imagining it.

I didn't think the Playstation port was slow until I played the PS2 version. The PS2 version is MUCH faster. The Playstation port is way too easy because of its slowness. Only the boss rush mode is really challenging. The PS2 version is like a whole different animal just because it's so much faster. It routinely kicks my ass. I think that's what the actual arcade game is like.

[BIL]

Is the arcade version of G Darius really slow?

Nope. The PS1 port doesn't slow down so much as it occasionally runs normally when there's nothing onscreen.

[doctorx0079]

Is the arcade version of G Darius really slow?

Nope. The PS1 port doesn't slow down so much as it occasionally runs normally when there's nothing onscreen.

tru dat, i used to 1cc it on maniac