One of my all time favorite 2-D shooter series is Darius.  I have a lot of memories playing the games, and the first arcade title was three screens long!  It also has one of my favorite video game tunes of all time: the first stage’s Captain NEO.  There’s nothing really special about the series except the bosses are all giant robot fish.  But it just has a style about it that I like for some reason.  The latest in the series is Dariusburst, which believe it or not, actually started out as a mobile game!  Later it got ported to consoles and arcades, each time adding something to the name, which is why the title is so ridiculous now.  And now you can play the arcade version on your PS4 or Switch (reviewed on PS4 here).

Gameplay is simple, just shoot everything that moves.  Hold down the fire button to shoot, and collect colored orbs to power up your shots, missiles, and force fields.  There’s another button that releases a charged shot that obliterates everything in front of you, but you have a limited use of it before it has to charge up again.  Luckily it charges pretty quickly as you defeat enemies, and the game wants you to use it all the time as they throw out waves of enemies and bullets at you.  In fact, more than any other game in the series, Dariusburst feels like a ‘bullet hell’ shooter at times.  You can also turn around with the L and R buttons, which I didn’t know about at first.

When you see that famous WARNING sign, you know you’re about to battle a giant robot fish.  After defeating it, you can select branching stages and move on.  If you don’t have any force fields and get hit, you lose one of your lives and when you lose them all, it’s Game Over.  Luckily you can opt for infinite lives.  There are four modes of play, although each one just rearranges the order of stages and that seems to be it.  There is one “Mission Mode” where you select stages from a confusing map, and don’t get to pick branching paths.  You can also choose which ship to pilot, including a ‘classic’ one that doesn’t have the burst laser!  Up to four can play at the same time, so that’s cool.

I kind of wish this was the home console version instead of the arcade one, as the former version was more suited for at home play.  The arcade game here even has a screen after you quit that says, “Don’t forget to take your belongings and watch your head!”  There’s no reason why they couldn’t have included both versions, though, as Dariusburst has been around since the PS3 days!  The arcade game hearkened back to the original with one big long screen, so here it’s condensed in the middle with 2/3 of your TV having nothing but black space.  And since arcade games are optimized for short, quick bursts of play, here you mostly play three stages before the endings.  But even so, I was lucky enough to play the arcade version once, and I’m glad to have it at home now, too.  By the way, you can also order a physical version of this game that also has G-Darius HD on it, which is what I did.  It’s called Darius Cozmic Revelation.  Dariusburst isn’t one of my favorite games in the series, but G-Darius sure is!

Kid Factor:

Darisuburst Another Chronicle EX+ is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence.  You blow up robot fish and spaceships, and that’s about it.  Reading skill isn’t needed to play, and while it is a difficult game, infinite lives and four player support lets everyone enjoy it.

Tags: Game Reviews