Game Classification

Darius+ Taito Corporation (U.S.A.), Edge (U.S.A.), 1989  

Informations Analyses Serious Gaming
 

Classification

VIDEO GAME

Keywords

Action - Futuristic - Shooter

Market

This title is used by the following domains:
  • Entertainment

Audience

This title targets the following audience:
 Age : 12 to 16 years old / 17 to 25 years old
General Public

Gameplay

The gameplay of this title is Game-based
(designed with stated goals)

The core of gameplay is defined by the rules below:
AVOID : explanation of this brick MATCH : explanation of this brick DESTROY : explanation of this brick MOVE : explanation of this brick SHOOT : explanation of this brick
0 analysis

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Darius+ Darius was Taito's effort to compete in the arcades against the likes of R-Type and Gradius. Technically impressive, it featured three screens depicting the largest playfield seen in a game so far (the same system was employed for Ninja Warriors), with the player sitting atop a big set of loudspeakers. Visually and audibly, it was a league above Irem's and Konami's offerings.

When Taito (and others) ported the game to home machines, they were forced to shrink the playfield to fit in one single screen, and re-dubbed it Darius Plus.

The plot of Darius involves the two heroes Proco Jr. and Tiat Young fighting the menaces posed by galactic fish and other sea animals again their homeworld.

What sets Darius apart from other shoot'em-ups of the time is its way of letting the player choose his path with a certain amount of freedom. At the end of each area (level), you are able to choose between one of two worlds which the area branches into. This renders a higher replay value, since there are many paths to reach the end of the game by.Apart from this, the gameplay is on the simplistic side, both due to unimaginative attack waves and little interaction with the surroundings, but mainly due to the very basic powerup system, which is nowhere near the complexity of the aforementioned R-Type's and Gradius'. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : Amiga - Atari ST - Gameboy (GB) - PC-Engine / TurboGrafx-16 - TurboGrafx CD (Turbo CD) - Wii - ZX Spectrum

Links

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