It has been 11 years since Taito’s fantastic shooter series last lefts it mark on the industry. Now a reboot is in the works for the PSP entitled Darius Burst. The premiere trailer doesn’t seem to change much, with the giant robotic fish still tormenting the player at the end of each stage. The seizure-inducing boss announcement remains intact as well.
Darius began back in 1986 in the arcades, and came home in a variety of forms. The Genesis had a game titled Sagaia, although it was a Darius game in disguise. Why the name was changed considering Darius II had hit arcade a year earlier (in 1989) is anyone’s guess.
The same thing happened again with Super Nova, this time on the Super NES. Stranger yet, the console had an actual Darius title called Darius Twin in 1991, yet they renamed it to Super Nova in 1993.
A variety of obscure entries, including an insanely rare edition on the obscure Supergrafx called Darius Alpha, make a complete series collection nearly impossible to anyone not overloaded in cash. Thankfully, few games in the series are lackluster, with most maintaining the smooth, frantic pacing that makes the series memorable.
A personal favorite was the previously final game, G Darius on the PlayStation. Great visuals, for the first time at home in 3-D, have aged well (although that is nothing against some of the superb art in the 2-D installments). Darius Burst looks to maintain that same appeal. Hopefully someone picks it up for a US release.
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Wed, Oct 14, 2009
Gaming, Handheld, psp