G-Darius

G-Darius[lower-alpha 1] is a shoot'em up arcade game, released by Taito in 1997. It is the fourth arcade installment of the Darius series and the first in the series to feature three-dimensional polygonal graphics.

G-Darius
Promotional flyer
Developer(s)Taito
Publisher(s)Taito
SeriesDarius
Platform(s)Arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows
Release
  • JP: June 1997
  • NA: 1997
Genre(s)Horizontal-scrolling shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay
An example of 'beam-dueling' in G-Darius. The blue beam on the right is the player's beam

Much like previous installments in the Darius series, G-Darius is a horizontally scrolling shoot'em up. While the game features three-dimensional polygonal graphics, the gameplay remains two-dimensional. The player controls a spaceship named the Silver Hawk and must battle enemies and avoid obstacles throughout the game's stages (referred to as "zones" in the game). The ship is armed with forward-firing missiles, small aerial bombs and a protective force field. These can be upgraded by power-ups, in the form of large orbs, that are dropped by specially-colored enemies when they are destroyed. When the player reaches the end of a zone, a boss appears, which must be defeated to proceed. Once the boss of a zone is destroyed, the player is given a choice of which zone to play next via a branching path.[1][2]

Among the player's arsenal is the 'capture ball', which the player can launch to capture enemies. Once captured, the enemy will follow and aid the player's ship.[3] Each enemy contains a unique enhancement; some will act as extra turrets and others will act as shields. Additionally, the player can detonate their captured enemy as a bomb. The captured enemy will continue to follow the player until either they are destroyed after taking enough damage or the player's ship is destroyed.[1][2][3]

New to the series is the concept of beam-dueling. The player can absorb a captured enemy to fire a powerful laser beam over a short period of time, which will instantly destroy nearly every enemy it comes into contact with. This is primarily used during boss fights. Every major boss in the game has an equivalent laser beam. If the player and the boss fire their lasers simultaneously, a 'duel' between the two will initiate. The player must overwhelm the boss' laser by repeatedly tapping the fire button as quickly as possible. If successful, the boss' beam will eventually dissipate and the player's beam will multiply in size (as well as in power) and severely damage, if not kill, the boss.[1][3]

An upgraded version of the game, G-Darius Ver. 2, added a beginner mode in which the player's power-up level goes down only one rank upon death, and the game ends after completing only 3 zones.[4]

Plot

G-Darius is a prequel story that revolves around a conflict between the humanoids of Amnelia and cyborg/chimera biovessels known as the "Thiima" (meant to mean simply "deliverer of death"). The Thiima had been aroused by the Amnelian army's use of the weapon A.N. (All-Nothing) to annihilate the world Blazar, whom Amnelia had been at war with over jurisdiction over the moon Mahsah. Determined to protect their existence, and long ago programmed to protect the universe from just such threats as A.N., the Thiima swarmed on Amnelia. Although the armed forces were badly ravaged, Amnelian scientists and engineers were able to make use of both A.N. and reverse engineered Thiiman technology/life systems to create the Silver Hawk fighters. Ultimately, two pilots—Sameluck Raida and Lutia Feen—are chosen to perform a decisive attack on the main Thiima base: Kazumn, a satellite of the planet Darius.

Release

G-Darius was ported to the PlayStation as G Darius[1] and released in Japan on April 9, 1998 by Taito, and in Europe on September 11, 1998 and the United States on September 17, 1998[5] by THQ.[1] The original arcade version of G-Darius was later re-released on the PlayStation 2 port of Taito Legends 2, a compilation consisting of several arcade games by Taito.[6] The Windows 95 version, based on the PlayStation port, was published by CyberFront Corporation, MediaKite, and Sourcenext in 2000-2001.

A port for Nintendo Switch and Sony Playstation 4 will be released by Strictly Limited Games as part of Darius Cozmic Revelation.

Reception

The PlayStation port received favorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[7] Next Generation said that the game was "fun for those fogies who can stomach it, but the average gamer will be bored to death."[14] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 29 out of 40.[10] Also in Japan, Game Machine listed the arcade version in their August 15, 1997 issue as being the fourth most-successful arcade game of the year.[16] Five issues later (November 1), however, the magazine demoted it to being the tenth most-successful arcade game of the year.[17]

In a 2014 retrospective, Eurogamer called the game "one of the greatest shooting games ever realised".[18]

Notes
  1. Japanese: Gダライアス Hepburn: Jī-Daraiasu

References
  1. Bartholow, Peter (May 1, 1998). "G Darius Review [Import]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  2. Nelson, Randy (September 17, 1998). "G. Darius". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  3. "G Darius (Preview)". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 19. EMAP. May 1997. p. 94.
  4. Ken Ogasawara; Major Mike (January 1998). "The 1997 Amusement Machine Show: The Year of the Cobra". GamePro. No. 112. IDG. p. 50.
  5. IGN staff (September 16, 1998). "G. Darius [sic] Shoots Toward Stores". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  6. Miller, Greg (June 4, 2007). "Taito Legends 2 Review (PS2)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  7. "G Darius for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 29, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  8. Edge staff (June 1998). "G Darius (PS) [Import]". Edge. No. 59. Future Publishing. p. 97. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  9. EGM staff (October 1998). "G Darius". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 111. Ziff Davis.
  10. "Gダライアス [PS]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  11. McNamara, Andy; Storm, Jon; Reiner, Andrew (September 1998). "G. Darius [sic]". Game Informer. No. 65. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on October 1, 1999. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  12. Chau, Anthony "Dangohead"; Ngo, George "Eggo"; Higgins, Geoff "El Nino" (June 1998). "G-Darius [Import]". GameFan. Vol. 6 no. 6. Metropolis Media. p. 21. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  13. Major Mike (October 1998). "G. Darius [sic]". GamePro. No. 121. IDG Entertainment. p. 170. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  14. "G Darius". Next Generation. No. 46. Imagine Media. October 1998. p. 128. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  15. "G Darius". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 2 no. 1. Ziff Davis. October 1998.
  16. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - TVゲーム機ーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 547. Amusement Press, Inc. August 15, 1997. p. 21.
  17. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - TVゲーム機ーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 552. Amusement Press, Inc. November 1, 1997. p. 25.
  18. Higham, Rupert (March 30, 2014). "Darius retrospective". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
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