Darius (video game)

Darius
Japanese arcade flyer
Developer(s)	Taito
Publisher(s)	Taito
Composer(s)	Hisayoshi Ogura[1]
Series	Darius
Platform(s)	Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, Game Boy, TurboGrafx-16, TurboGrafx CD, ZX Spectrum, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	1986 [2]
Genre(s)	Scrolling shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, Co-op
Cabinet	Upright
CPU	2x Motorola MC68000 @ 8 MHz
Sound	2x ZiLOG Z80 @ 4 MHz 2x Yamaha YM2203 1x MSM5205
Display	Raster, horizontal orientation

Darius (ダライアス, Daraiasu^?) is a shoot 'em up arcade game released by Taito in 1986. It is the first game in the Darius series. It is known for using a unique three-screen arcade cabinet setup, non-linear level design and multiple endings.^[3]

Gameplay

Darius is a two-dimensional horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up set in a fictional future. Uniquely among shoot 'em ups, the game's screen is three times wider than conventional size, and the arcade cabinet uses an arrangement of three screens to accommodate it. The player controls an ornate fighter spacecraft, named the Silver Hawk, and must navigate through scrolling terrain while battling a variety of fighter craft, ground vehicles, turrets, and other obstacles throughout the game's stages (referred to as zones in the game.) The ship's arsenal consists of forward-firing missiles, aerial bombs and a protective force field, all of which can be upgraded by power-ups (in the form of large, colored orbs) that are dropped by specially-colored enemies throughout the game's zones. 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. While there are 28 zones in total, only seven can be played in a single run.^[2][4][5][6]

Development and history

In order to seamlessly connect the three screens, the arcade cabinet uses a mirror to align the edges of the three monitors together.

The arcade game features raster graphics on three CRT monitors and amplified stereophonic sound.^[4] In order to seamlessly connect the three screens together, two of the monitors, which display the first and last thirds of the game's screen, respectively, are placed in the bottom of the cabinet facing upwards, with their visuals reflected into view via a one-way mirror. The third monitor, which displays the middle portion of the game's screen, is placed behind the mirror and is the only one actually facing the player. The reflection of the two bottom monitors partially overlaps the third monitor, giving the illusion of a seamless wide screen.^[4]

Music

The game's soundtrack was composed by Hisayoshi Ogura, the founding member of Taito's in-house music division Zuntata. Ogura composed the music with the concept of, "a large existence," that being the large bosses in the game and the expansiveness of the universe. The game's main theme, titled "Chaos", is notable for being one of the earliest examples of avant-garde in video game music.^[1] Ogura recalls,

“	...For its time it was extremely avant-garde music. I assigned this piece the role of Darius's main theme. I'll have them hear something no one's ever heard in a game before! With these kinds of thoughts in mind, I composed a piece with the expressive scale of the beginning of the universe.	”
—Hisayoshi Ogura, on composing the game's main theme "Chaos."[1]

The first stage's theme, called "Captain Neo", is a reworked version of a song from an earlier arcade game by Taito, Metal Soldier Isaac II.^[1] When a prototype of Darius was exhibited at a trade show, the song was used as a temporary placeholder. However, upon hearing the song at the trade show, Ogura liked it and decided to keep it. "I was surprised by its overwhelming power," said Ogura, "so much that I could feel it in my bones." ^[1]

The musical score saw its first commercial release on CD^[7], vinyl^[8] and cassette tape^[9] on June 25, 1987 by Alfa Records through their video game music-centric imprint G.M.O. Records.^[10]

Home conversions

Darius was ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, Game Boy, and ZX Spectrum platforms. An expanded port titled "Darius Plus" was released in Japan for the TurboGrafx-16 (also available was a "boss rush" cartridge titled "Darius Alpha"). The game was expanded again and released in Japan for the TurboGrafx CD as "Super Darius". The iOS, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 game Space Invaders Infinity Gene, also by Taito, includes an upgrade option to the same craft used in Darius, and has some of the same enemies. Darius R, a remake of the first Darius game with some different tunes and a fewer number of stages, was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Greening, Chris (April 2011). "Interview with Hisayoshi Ogura" (HTML). Square Enix Music Online. http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/hisayoshiogura.shtml. Retrieved 7 July 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Wolf, Mark (2007). The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to PlayStation and Beyond. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 97. ISBN 978-0313338687. 
3. ^ Kurt Kalata. "Darius". Hardcore Gaming 101. http://hg101.kontek.net/darius/darius.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-10. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Darius at the Killer List of Videogames
5. ^ Maughan, Teresa (September 1987). "Slots of Fun". Your Sinclair (Dennis Publishing) (21): 81. 
6. ^ Edgeley, Clare (March 1987). "Arcade Action". Computers and Video Games (65): 92. 
7. ^ (1987) Album notes for Darius - Taito Game Music Vol.2 by Zuntata, back cover [CD back cover]. Japan: Alfa Records (28XA-166).
8. ^ (1987) Album notes for Darius - Taito Game Music Vol.2 by Zuntata, back cover [Vinyl back cover]. Japan: Alfa Records (ALR-22912).
9. ^ (1987) Album notes for Darius - Taito Game Music Vol.2 by Zuntata, back cover [Cassette back cover]. Japan: Alfa Records (ALC-22912).
10. ^ "ZUNTATA OFFICIAL SITE "Z-Field" - アルバムラインアップ" (in Japanese). Taito. http://zuntata.jp/lineup/index.html. Retrieved 7 October 2011. 

External links

• Darius at KLOV
• Darius at MobyGames
• Hardcore Gaming 101 - Darius