Difference between revisions of "Darius Gaiden"

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Revision as of 04:25, 18 October 2015

n/a

DariusGaiden title.png

Darius Gaiden
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Acclaim, Taito (JP)
Developer:
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Darius Gaiden (ダライアス外伝) is the third main entry in Taito's Darius series of horizontal space shoot-'em-up games, first released in 1994 in arcades as a sequel to Darius II. During development it was known as Darius III. Why it was changed to a"gaiden" type of story (roughly meaning "side story"), is unknown. The game's soundtrack was composed by Taito's house band Zuntata.

Gaiden was ported to the Sega Saturn and released in late 1995, curiously arriving before the Saturn port of Darius II. It was the second of two Darius games to be brought to Sega systems - its arcade successor, G-Darius, which used polygonal graphics, skipped the Saturn in favour of the PlayStation in 1998.

Darius Gaiden follows the established formula closely, but dropped the multiple screen setup. Difficulty is considered to be lower than in part II. So called black hole bombs have been added, that damage enemies and neutralize projectiles, but also sucks in power ups. Not using any of these yeilds a special score bonus at the end of the game, but is tied to not using continues.

Stages are selectable in the usual branching path fashion after defeating a boss. Each path has it'S unique ending

Strangely autofire, a common feature in shooting game ports, is missing from options. It must be activated by a cheat code.

Trivia

  • The game upholds the series tradition of offering branching paths, with the "upper" routs being easier to clear. However, the upper routes also offer more scoring chances, which goes against the usual risk=reward design in arcade games. Scores are lumped together in a single table and not sorted by the path taken through the game but total score only.
  • The game has a dynamic difficulty level, depending on power ups collected, survival time etc.

Promotional Material

  • JP flyer

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
67 №15, p92/93
88 №51, p98/99
87 №172, p46/47[1]
60 №30, p70
40
76
79 №42, p76/77[2]
69 №43, p88[3]
90 №62, p94
35 №77, p52/53
80 №5, p72/73[4]
79 №16, p68/69
Sega Saturn
 71
Based on
12 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
CD Consoles (FR)
40
[5]
Consoles + (FR)
88
[6]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
87
[1]
Edge (UK)
60
[7]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
74
[8]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
83
[9]
Fun Generation (DE) PAL
40
[10]
GameFan (US)
94
[11]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
53
[12]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
78
[13]
GamePro (UK)
83
[14]
Joypad (FR) NTSC-J
85
[15]
MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-J
76
[16]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
61
[17]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-J
79
[2]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
69
[3]
Player One (FR) PAL
90
[18]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
81
[19]
Saturn+ (UK) PAL
84
[20]
Sega Magazin (DE) PAL
80
[21]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
35
[22]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC
69
[23]
Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL
80
[24]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
80
[25]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
89
[26]
Total Saturn (UK) PAL
46
[27]
Ultimate Future Games (UK) NTSC-J
79
[28]
Última Generación (ES)
68
[29]
Video Games (DE) NTSC-U
60
[30]
VideoGames (US)
70
[31]
Sega Saturn
 72
Based on
30 reviews

Darius Gaiden

Saturn, US
DariusGaiden Saturn US Box Back.jpgDariusGaiden Saturn US Box Front.jpg
Cover
DariusGaidenSaturnUSDisc.jpg
Disc
Dariusgaiden sat us manual.pdf
Manual
Saturn, EU
DariusGaiden Saturn EU Box.jpg
Cover
DariusGaiden Saturn EU Disc.jpg
Disc
Saturn, JP
DariusGaiden Saturn JP Box Back.jpgDariusGaiden Saturn JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
DariusGaiden Saturn JP Spinecard.jpg
Spinecard
DariusGaiden Saturn JP Disc.jpg
Disc
DariusGaidenSaturnJPManual.pdf
Manual
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 File:CVG UK 172.pdf, page 46 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 172.pdf_p46" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 File:MeanMachinesSega42UK.pdf, page 76 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega42UK.pdf_p76" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 File:MeanMachinesSega43UK.pdf, page 88 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega43UK.pdf_p88" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ File:SSM_UK_05.pdf, page 72
  5. ↑ CD Consoles, "Mars 1996" (FR; 1996-xx-xx), page 92
  6. ↑ Consoles +, "Février 1996" (FR; 1996-0x-xx), page 98
  7. ↑ Edge, "March 1996" (UK; 1996-02-09), page 70
  8. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "March 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 29
  9. ↑ Famitsu, "1995-12-22" (JP; 1995-12-08), page 1
  10. ↑ Fun Generation, "03/96" (DE; 1996-02-12), page 48
  11. ↑ GameFan, "Volume 4, Issue 2: February 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 18
  12. ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 9 No. 4 April 1996" (US; 1996-03-19), page 66
  13. ↑ GamePro, "April 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 82
  14. ↑ GamePro, "May 1996" (UK; 1996-04-xx), page 38
  15. ↑ Joypad, "Février 1996 (Joypad International supplement)" (FR; 1996-0x-xx), page 24
  16. ↑ MAN!AC, "02/96" (DE; 1996-01-10), page 41
  17. ↑ Mega Fun, "03/96" (DE; 1996-02-20), page 80
  18. ↑ Player One, "Mars 1996" (FR; 1996-0x-xx), page 94
  19. ↑ Saturn Fan, "1996 No. 4" (JP; 1996-02-02), page 62
  20. ↑ Saturn+, "Easter/April 1996" (UK; 1996-03-07), page 62
  21. ↑ Sega Magazin, "März 1996" (DE; 1996-02-14), page 68
  22. ↑ Sega Power, "April 1996" (UK; 1996-02-15), page 52
  23. ↑ Sega Pro, "March 1996" (UK; 1996-01-25), page 60
  24. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "March 1996" (UK; 1996-02-24), page 72
  25. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "1995-14 (1995-12-22)" (JP; 1995-12-08), page 202
  26. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "Readers rating final data" (JP; 2000-03), page 11
  27. ↑ Total Saturn, "Volume One Issue Four" (UK; 1996-12-29), page 20
  28. ↑ Ultimate Future Games, "March 1996" (UK; 1996-0x-xx), page 68
  29. ↑ Última Generación, "Febrero 1996" (ES; 1996-0x-xx), page 90
  30. ↑ Video Games, "2/96" (DE; 1996-01-24), page 83
  31. ↑ VideoGames, "May 1996" (US; 1996-04-23), page 63
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