Darius games PCE vs SNES

roflmao · 05/17/2011, 08:51 AM

I've never played any of the Darius games for the PCE and I wondered how they compared to the SNES game, Darius Twin. I have Darius Twin but its difficulty level (even on easy) is through the roof. Enough so that I just don't enjoy playing it. The ship seems to move so slow compatred to all of the enemy ships zipping all over the place and that shield (if that's what the green aura is - I don't have the manual for the game) is basically worthless.

Do the PC Engine versions play similarly? I know one of them is uber-rare (maybe I'm thinking of a US release) so I'm not as interested in that one. Are they considerably more challenging than other shmups for the system? Most shmups I've played for the PCE/TG16 I can at least get 4 or 5 levels in, if not to the final level without a whole lot of difficulty. Darius Twin for the SNES I'm lucky to make it to level 2. (Though I will fully admit I suck at shmups)

Anyway, I was just curious.

soop · 05/17/2011, 10:12 AM

I've not got any Darius games (and won't in the near future, as I have PC Denjin, Super Star Soldier and Final soldier to play), but the uber rare one is Darius Alpha, a "caravan" style game, comprising only of the bosses, and intended for competition.

roughly 1000 were produced, 800 given away to those that bought the CD AND Hucard versions of Darius(plus?), then filled in and sent away both forms, and a handful given away in magazine competitions.

PunkCryborg · 05/17/2011, 11:16 AM

I have Darius for both PCE and SNES, I haven't played either yet though but will check em out tonight and see how they compare. I can tell you this though, the Darius games have killer cover art and music for the PCE!

roflmao · 05/17/2011, 12:20 PM

Cool, thanks!

CrackTiger · 05/17/2011, 03:22 PM

I loved Super Darius, which was my first CD game. I rented the SNES Darius games but didn't like them. Super Darius is very difficult as it is a faithful port of the 3 screen arcade... Only you're now stuck in a single screen.

Suoer Darius II is based on the arcade, but has been reworked to play well on a single screen and has lots of new enemies with original graphics which look nicer than the arcade. The game is a cool tech demo for the PCE and really fun.

I'd recommend Super Darius II first, then Darius II/Sagaia for MD, then Super Darius, Darius Plus, Sagaia SMS... then Super Nova and lastly Darius Twin.

Darius Alpha is only a boss rush mode of Darius Plus. I haven't bothered to play it far enough to see if it includes the new bossrs added to Super Darius. Even if that would interest you, you'recstill better off playing Super Darius' boss rush mode which definitely contaibs all of it's bosses plus CD surround sound music.

moonwhistle · 05/17/2011, 08:46 PM

Quote from: guest on 05/17/2011, 03:22 PMI loved Super Darius, which was my first CD game. I rented the SNES Darius games but didn't like them. Super Darius is very difficult as it is a faithful port of the 3 screen arcade... Only you're now stuck in a single screen.

Suoer Darius II is based on the arcade, but has been reworked to play well on a single screen and has lots of new enemies with original graphics which look nicer than the arcade. The game is a cool tech demo for the PCE and really fun.

I'd recommend Super Darius II first, then Darius II/Sagaia for MD, then Super Darius, Darius Plus, Sagaia SMS... then Super Nova and lastly Darius Twin.

Darius Alpha is only a boss rush mode of Darius Plus. I haven't bothered to play it far enough to see if it includes the new bossrs added to Super Darius. Even if that would interest you, you'recstill better off playing Super Darius' boss rush mode which definitely contaibs all of it's bosses plus CD surround sound music.

Surely the Saturn version of Darius 2 is superior to the MD one?

CrackTiger · 05/17/2011, 09:53 PM

Quote from: moonwhistle on 05/17/2011, 08:46 PM
Quote from: CrackTiger on 05/17/2011, 03:22 PMI loved Super Darius, which was my first CD game. I rented the SNES Darius games but didn't like them. Super Darius is very difficult as it is a faithful port of the 3 screen arcade... Only you're now stuck in a single screen.

Suoer Darius II is based on the arcade, but has been reworked to play well on a single screen and has lots of new enemies with original graphics which look nicer than the arcade. The game is a cool tech demo for the PCE and really fun.

I'd recommend Super Darius II first, then Darius II/Sagaia for MD, then Super Darius, Darius Plus, Sagaia SMS... then Super Nova and lastly Darius Twin.

Darius Alpha is only a boss rush mode of Darius Plus. I haven't bothered to play it far enough to see if it includes the new bossrs added to Super Darius. Even if that would interest you, you'recstill better off playing Super Darius' boss rush mode which definitely contaibs all of it's bosses plus CD surround sound music.
Surely the Saturn version of Darius 2 is superior to the MD one?

On a technical level it is, but it is more powerful hardware emulating weaker hardware. I didn`t mention any other post 16-bit versions either. The MD version is probably better gameplay-wise since it was rebalanced for a single screen. For the Saturn version to play properly, the gameplay area has to be a thin stripe across the middle of your TV screen.

The Saturn version is missing some parallax and other elements from the arcade.

FraGMarE · 05/19/2011, 02:55 AM

The quick answer? Don't bother, they all suck. Seriously, the only Darius games that are worth playing are Darius Gaiden and G-Darius... both things of beauty. All the others were snore-tastic (arcade, home conversion, or otherwise)

Tatsujin · 05/19/2011, 04:04 AM

lol, Darius Gaiden and G-Darius are almost my least faves of the serie. gaiden uses too much pre-render for my taste, and the Gs 3D sucks today.
I think the PCE did a great job with the Darius, better than MD and SFC together. Still i like Darius II for MD very much, even its a huge downgrade from the arcade original.

Opethian · 05/19/2011, 04:38 PM

Darius Plus on an SGX has a bit less flicker

best way to play the original I think,

CrackTiger · 05/19/2011, 05:54 PM

Quote from: Opethian on 05/19/2011, 04:38 PMDarius Plus on an SGX has a bit less flicker

best way to play the original I think,

Only the bosses have noticeable flicker. Darius Plus still only has a handful of bosses and PSG music. Super Darius has a unique boss for each stage, CD soundtrack, full intro and endings and tricks.

Super Darius may only be single screen, but it has more content than any other version.

nat · 05/19/2011, 09:46 PM

I also prefer Darius Plus for the SuperGrafx; I think the chiptune rendition of the soundtrack is more interesting/cooler than the redbook (just a 1:1 recording of the arcade music, if I understand correctly), but I'm probably in the minority on that opinion.

Darius Plus is probably my favorite Darius game altogether. Darius II is good, and while the soundtrack is good, it doesn't have nearly the same charm as the first game.

The last time I played Darius Twin for the SNES was back in 1996 or so... That's just too long ago to make any sort of meaningful comparison.

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Darius games PCE vs SNES