Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade (REVIEW)

Getting into this playthrough I was promptly reminded how better graphics were at the arcades in comparison to the at home 8-bit console scene back in the day. Arcade games always seemed to be at least a couple of generations ahead, and this particular arcade collection proves that over, and over again. With "Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade" the gamer gets to experience the Darius trilogy as it were back in the late 80's, and early 90's. Complete with seven true to arcade versions of the original Darius, Darius II, and Darius Gaiden. The latter of which is a standalone addition to the series. Each game in the series keeping intact the screen format which ranged from a triple screen orientation to a two screen, and single screen format. Screen ratios that can be tweaked to the players preference into a fullscreen or widescreen presentation with traditional arcade banners to add to the arcade theme of the collection.

For those of you who have never played Darius it is basically a cyber-aquatic version of Gradius. In it you play with up to two players as both a named male (Procto), and female pilot (?). As you travel from planet to planet, and path to path you face the usual 2D side scrolling waves of enemy ships, and final bosses. Unique to this series is the choice of paths, and the bosses that are made to look like mechanical sea creatures. It also features a power-up system where collecting color coded badges or orbs after clearing individual waves of enemy craft or hitting secret sweet spots will build up your missiles, shots, arm, and shields respectively.

With the trio of Darius versions you get access to the original, new, and extra versions of the game. Each version in the set has upgraded mechanics, and visuals. The mechanics get gradually more gamer friendly with each iteration, and offer basically the same setup in regards to path choice. In this first entry in the Darius collection you'll face a set wave of enemies before a boss in each given path. After the boss is defeated you'll have to manually maneuver your ship to the high or low path changing the theme, and boss battle that you'll face next. You are given a limited stock of ships, and start off with a basic shot, bomb, and arm that can be upgraded as you clear waves of enemies and collect color matching orbs. You'll also collect orbs that grant shields, clear the screen of enemies, and increase your shot's power to include multi-directional missiles as well as more shots. All three versions of this first entry are of a three screen layout, but can be adjusted in size to pixel perfect, fit, or fullscreen.

In Darius II, SAGAIA ver.1, and SAGAIA ver.2 you get yet another trio of the same game. Darius II, and the two versions of SAGAIA feature dual screens. Screens that can be changed as with the first game. Much like the first game the power-up mechanics also remain mostly the same while the system of path choices is made into an alphabetical listing of choices that branch out into a sort of tree formation. Also with the path change options comes a image showcasing a snippit of the next paths, and their boss. That along with images of the two pilots, and sort of 3D grid matrix. With the path images letting the player choose which path is best for them. New bosses are also introduced along with returning bosses. Also new to the latter two entries are more powerful lazers, and a Yakuza targeting system that will track and attack you if you spend to long on a boss fight. The ship speed overall is also more fast paced than with Darius.

Coming in last Darius Gaiden, the one worth all the money, is a 1994 release of the arcade game in single screen format. By far the more gamer friendly, and refined experience. It comes complete with better graphics, increased and improved path choices, fast ships, screen clearing bombs, and the ability to cause mid-bosses to aid you in your fight after you shoot the crystal ball on their heads enough times, and collect said crystal ball. The mechanics are basically the same, but upon death you are rewarded a handful of power-ups. The inclusion of after death power-up drops, in particular, is something the other games lacked. Something that caused progression problems as you needed to be powered up to clear certain enemies better. All things considered Darius Gaiden is the game experience that most players will enjoy out of the set due to it's modernized player friendly setup. Also worth noting is Gaiden's impressive soundtrack. Unlike entries one, and two the vocal inclusive soundtrack in Gaiden is on a whole other level. It's like synthesized Japanese opera. Like opera mixed with trance. A truly beautiful mix, especially for the shmup genre.

Extras ...

Extras in this collection come in the form of screen format options, screen filters (smoothing & scanlines), border art toggles, and toggles for displayed gameplay information including bonus damage among other things. When it comes to screen size differences you'll find as you play the first Darius game that the triple screen format can really shrink things down. You can change this by altering screen ratio, and can even stretch it to fullscreen though it looks distorted when you do. The same goes for the dual screen Darius II, and SAGAIA. In regards to the single screen in Darius Gaiden you do still get borders, but they play into the mechanics showing the different power-up gauges so you can see what each level is at. Same as with Darius II & SAGAIA. There's also information tied to paths which include the features I mentioned before that showcase the next stage, and boss in each path choice.

The Verdict ...

This collection holds both a look into the series progressive past, and one game out of seven that really makes it all worth the asking price. Darius, and Darius II feature an evolution of mechanics, and features that get progressively better, but do not stave off the brutal difficulty, or flaws. By flaws, and brutal difficulty I mean unexplainable deaths, and slow ship speed. The fact that Darius II, and the two versions of SAGAIA did not fully remedy the issues regarding a gamer friendly approach makes them true to the arcade quarter munching era they hailed from. You'll find that in these earlier entries even the bullet hell, and enemy waves can feel cheap at times making the added continues at start a must when doing a playthrough. In Darius Gaiden, however, the evolution in design feels more perfected, and gamer friendly. It actually seems doable, and from experience I can tell you that it's definitely not as cheap in difficulty as the other two trio of games. You kind of feel overpowered flying the Silver Hawk in Gaiden. While some might be put off by the fact that a good portion of the collection is brutally difficult and less than gamer friendly Darius Gaiden does good to pick up the slack. It's a good game, and at the very least what is left is a hands-on trip down memory lane. With Darius II, and SAGAIA coming in at a close second place on the scale of worthiness. As far as verdict goes I'll leave that up to you. If you expect a full package of Awesomeness you may want to skip it. If, however, you are interested in a gem you can't get elsewhere Darius Gaiden has you covered.