Darius

aka: Arcade Archives: Darius, Darius Plus, Darius Wide, Darius+, Sagaia, Super Darius
Moby ID: 22038
Buy on Game Boy
$119.25 used on eBay
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/23 7:54 PM )

Description official descriptions

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'.

Spellings

  • アーケードアーカイブス ダライアス - Japanese PS4 / Switch spelling
  • ダライアス - Japanese spelling
  • ダライアス・プラス - PC Engine Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (Arcade version)

42 People (33 developers, 9 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 72% (based on 21 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 23 ratings with 0 reviews)

Be the first to review this game!

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Darius appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

References to the game

Darius references can be found in several other Taito games. Rainbow Islands has a secret Darius level with a cutesy rendition of the soundtrack, and tunes from the game are also used in the arcade game Metro Soldier Isaac II.

Cancelled C64 port

The Edge announced a C64 version of the game and there even was a test of in ACE 1990/2, which is unlike was really about the C64 version of the game. Just because after payment troubles at the Edge several programmers left and the graphic developer Tahir Rashid only ever finished the graphics for level 1 and the development for that version was stopped (Source: gamesthatwerent.com).

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Darius Alpha
Released 1990 on TurboGrafx-16, SuperGrafx
G Darius
Released 1997 on Arcade, 1998 on PlayStation, 2000 on Windows...
Darius: Cozmic Collection
Released 2019 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, 2021 on Windows
Sagaia
Released 1990 on Genesis, 1992 on SEGA Master System, SEGA Saturn...
Darius: Cozmic Collection (Consumer Edition)
Released 2019 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Super Nova
Released 1993 on SNES
G-Darius HD
Released 2021 on PlayStation 4, 2021 on Nintendo Switch, 2022 on Windows
Darius: Extra Version
Released 2021 on Genesis, 2023 on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
Darius: Cozmic Revelation
Released 2021 on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 22038
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Игги Друге.

Arcade added by f1reball. PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto. BREW, J2ME, DoJa added by Kabushi. Wii added by gamewarrior. SuperGrafx added by Havoc Crow.

Additional contributors: MAT, Kabushi, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, Jo ST, FatherJack, FAM.

Game added April 19, 2006. Last modified February 2, 2024.