Darius is a legendary shoot’em up series that has been ongoing since the 80’s. The first two games went through multiple revisions but both had one thing in common, in that they used a triple monitor display to create a widescreen experience for the arcades. This was a groundbreaking at the time, but as the years went on, Taito needed something new to set their games apart. The result was a third entry that moved from a triple screen to single screen display and created one of the best shoot’em up experiences in gaming.
Darius Gaiden was just different from the first two games and this was for the best. The game used pre-rendered visuals, semi-transparent effects and parallax scrolling to create a truly memorable experience. The levels felt more alive than ever, and the visuals were like nothing else at the time, with stages that stood out far more than ever before in the series. Darius Gaiden didnt just move from three screens to single screen, but also went for a deeper experience technically speaking. The use of parallax scrolling allows you to see the bosses of many areas lurking in the background before the fight begins for instance, and helps build up to the fight more than ever. This was some of the best use of parallax scrolling in a shoot’em up and managed to surpass the games that came before.
But Darius Gaiden was not just a visual feast but also amazing on a gameplay level. The player was given more attack options here, and while you can just breeze through many areas with auto firing, you can also take time to engage the enemies for fun fights. This actually allows for some replay value to go back and experience areas in different ways using different strategies. You can also defeat mid-bosses and get them to fight alongside you until you lose a life or finish the area. You can still choose the path to take at the end of a stage, and the various levels have a nice amount content to keep you entertained.
Darius Gaiden is an intense game, but everything just felt like it was taken to greater heights here. This is one of the best arcade shooters ever made, but there was another version of the game that does not get as much attention. This was Darius Gaiden Extra, which revamped the levels for more challenge and merged the different branches, as well as changing the weapons slightly. The game was actually a rom hack of Darius Gaiden, but an official one from Taito. Darius Gaiden shined both in the arcades and on the Sega Saturn and is a must play game no matter where, although the modern collection on PS4 and Switch is a great place to experience the majesty of Darius Gaiden.
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