|
|
|
|
スーパーダライアスII
©1993 NEC Avenue, Ltd.
Release : 1993-12-23 (¥7800)
SuperCDRom² NAPR-1031
Shooter / Horizontal
|
Super Darius II is a horizontal shooter by Nec Avenue
and based on the arcade game Darius II originally released by
Taito in 1989. The Belzer empire was successfully defeated
at the battle on Darius, but the planet now lies in ruins, forcing
the survivors to abandon their dying world. Some find refuge on planet
Oruga, whereas others establish bases throughout our solar system.
One day, large war ships belonging to the belligerent Belzer empire
resurface, and this time they launch an attack against Earth. The
inhabitants of Darius decide to send both Proco Jr.
and Tiat Young, two of their most skilled pilots, to counter
the invasion. The player progress through seven stages, from the
surface of the Sun to the giant Jupiter where the head
of the enemy forces hides. However, and in the typical Darius
tradition, this progress is non-linear and the player is presented with
a choice of two stages to choose from at the end of each level. All
combined, the game features a total of twenty eight zones, and some
paths are obviously more difficult than others. The ship comes equipped
with three different types of weapons - front laser, side lasers
and ground bombs, as well as a force field shield. Each weapon can be
upgraded by collecting colored orbs left behind by specific formations of
enemy fighters - red for the forward laser (8 levels), yellow
for the side lasers (7 levels), green for the bombs (5 levels) and
blue for the shield (8 levels). Although the introduction sequence
clearly shows two ships, this version is single player only (the option
menu gives the player the opportunity to choose from Proco or
Tiat though).
|
The arcade game Darius II was originally released in 1989 (as pictured above). Although it
featured the same three-screen wide display of the first Darius, a
smaller two-screen version was also available. As for home conversions, things
got a bit complicated... For some strange reasons, the game is also known as
Sagaia, especially in the west. Darius 2 was ported to the
Sega Megadrive (1990) and renamed Sagaia in the US. Beside,
a Master System port also called Sagaia was exclusively released
in Europe in 1991. Finally, a Game Boy version was exclusively released in
Japan in 1991 and was also called Sagaia! However, strictly speaking, the
game is not a direct conversion but a sort of remixed version of the first two
games. Then, in 1993, an enhanced port called
Super Darius 2 was
released for the PC Engine Super CD system (version tested here).
Finally, an arcade perfect conversion was released for the Sega Saturn
in 1996, and this exclusively in Japan and Europe. See
Darius Plus (PCE)
for more information about the Darius series.
|
This PC Engine version of Darius II shows significant differences
with the original arcade game. Obviously, the screen is not as wide as the
original display, and is cropped and zoomed in (ships are fairly large on
screen for that matter). Then, another obvious change is the
soundtrack - T's Music (better known for their work on Winds of Thunder,
Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire or Dungeon Explorer II) rearranged
Zuntata's original tunes and filled them with enticing electric guitar
riffs and slinky synthesizers. The gameplay is fairly identical to the original game, however this
conversion offers three difficulty levels (easy, normal and hard)
and the easy mode allows the player to keep all his weaponry after losing a
life. The shield also feels less powerful and disappears after a few hits. But the
greatest difference lies in the bosses, and although three are directly borrowed
from Darius II - Killer Hijia (Zone C), Yamato (Zones K & M)
and Leadain (Zones L, N & O) - all of the others are exclusive to this
version! Super Darius II features a total of thirteen bosses (whereas the
original arcade game included eleven). Finally, the Warning sign displayed
right before each boss encounter shows a glaring spelling mistake - "A huge battle
ship is approached fast" (picture on the right) - this is rather unfortunate because
the original arcade game didn't commit any spelling mistakes.
|
Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
|
Nec Avenue, Ltd.
Produce
Toshio Tabeta
Information
Ritsuko Honmyo
|
|
Special Thanks
Kenichi Tsubokura
kenichi Nakada
Kuniyasu Saitou
Go Kuwahara
Takashi Ozama
Kaoru Murohoshi
Kenichi Yamashita
A Wave, Inc.
Main program
Mik.
Kazuhito Miyahara
|
|
Boss Program
Shoichi Horishita
Junji Takahashi
Haya
N.G.I
Tessy
Graphic
Shigeru Toda
Takeyuki Machida
Fumoi Koakutsu
Sabaschan
|
|
Director
Satoshi Uchida
Special Thanks
.......!
Music Arrange
T's Music
Presented by
NEC Avenue, Ltd.
|
|
G
O
O
D
I
E
S
|
|
Japanese Soundtrack
|
|
|
O
M
A
K
E
|
|
|
|
|
Click on picture to enlarge |
S
E
C
R
E
T
S
|
|
List of different endings:
Super Darius II features five different endings.
Two are "good" (1st and 2nd),
two are "bad" (3rd and 4th) and the last one wraps up with an "it was all a dream"
kind of coup de theatre...
First Ending - Zone Z
"proco Jr. and Tiat Young
who destoyed the center part
of the fortress of the enemy's
allied forces succeeded
in escaping.
The ambition of the enemy's
allied forces was collapsed,
everlasting peace has been
brought to Darius inhabitants."
Second Ending - Zone V and Zone Z'
"The war was over.
Proco Jr. and Tiat Young
returned to the planet 'Oruga'
after finishing their duties,
and they were decorated
by the darius king.
Blessing - Everlasting peace
for Darius inhabitants!"
Third Ending - Zone W and Zone V'
"The war was over
Proco Jr. and Tiat Young
returned to the planet 'Oruga'
after finishing their duties.
It has been, however, passed
several thousand years in
'Oruga' and no Darius inhabitants
remain living and
only the wide jungle was
desolated there
what a matter....
Darius inhabitants have
already ruined...."
|
|
Forth Ending - Zone X
"The war was over
Proco Jr. and Tiat Young
returnd to the planet 'Oruga'
after finishing their duties.
However,
The next war awaits them.
The enemy's allied forces will
force again a war
against Darius inhabitants."
Fifth Ending - Zone Y
"What a matter !!
Was the whole mortal combat a dream...."
Slow motion:
Pause at anytime during the game. If you press I or II
the game will play one image at the time allowing you to defeat
even the most dreadful of enemies.
|
|
|
|
LK
|
|
Add your Pov here !
|
P
O
V
s
|
|
As soon as you jump into the first level, you realize that Nec Avenue
has spent a significant amount of time polishing Super Darius 2, and this
conversion blows their previous Darius ports away (namely Darius Plus
and Super Darius). The gameplay is a lot more balanced too, and the weapon
system does not penalize the player as much as other Darius games (this was also
the case for the original Darius II arcade game though). Although you still lose
all your weapons when killed (except in easy mode), I feel that it is a lot easier to
upgrade your ship.
The exclusive bosses and their superlative design work
are also incredible - I can't stress how cool Revenge Shark or the amazing
Heat Arrow are. Finally, some players argue that the arranged tracks are
generic and don't fit the action, but I think that most of them sound great and
match the overall tone and feel of the game (granted, they don't have that epic
and unique feel that Zuntata's originals had, and the last zone sounds
too joyful to my taste). The only down point about
Super Darius II is its paltry difficulty level - the game only becomes a
real challenge on the hardest difficulty setting. The slow-motion mode (is it
a debug function that was just forgotten by the developments team ?) makes the
game way too easy. Well, you don't have to use it, but it is so tempting... All
in all, Super Darius II is a brilliant horizontal shooter, an outstanding
episode in the Darius series that offers bounteously memorable moments.
A must have !
|
|
|
|
