| |
Darius
was a massive success for Taito. So who could blame them for wanting
a sequel that would be even bigger?
Three years in production, Darius II
is a superb production: it presents even more dramatic backdrops,
larger spacecraft, and one of the most ridiculously overworked
soundtracks ever heard. The spectacular end-of-level bosses are
back en force, and almost the entire cast of the original game
make a quick cameo appearances here and there. It is a 'super
sequel' of sorts, and a massive effort from Taito
- who seemingly went all out with this one, granting it a massive
world wide release under the name 'Sagaia'. |
|
The
first Darius just wasn't very
widespread outside of Japan, so it was a great relief to see Darius
II and its dedicated two-screen cabinet pop up all around
Europe and the US.
Yet it didn't catch on as much as it could have. The game is,
like its predecessor, exceptionally hard - and to many, the double-screen
viewpoint made things even harder to deal with.
The fact that the first Darius
was pretty much unheard of might've hindered the game reaching
superstar status in the West; but nevertheless it did really well
at home, with top-job conversions on the Mega
Drive, Sega Master System,
and more recently still, the Sega
Saturn. |
|
| |
Darius
II Mega Drive (1990) |
| |
 ------
It
may be
missing a few bosses, yet the MD Darius II was
a stunning effort by 1990 standards. It presents
all 26 stages crammed into one of the first
8MBit cartridges ever released, and predictably
became one of the MD's best shooting game experiences,
with tons of material to get your teeth into.
A huge array of different cheats and tricks
(right) made it even more interesting.
Not for the faint at heart. |
|
|
Darius
II MD is choke full of secret codes - allowing
you to customise your game at will. Input any
of the following at the title screen for the
desired result. Note that only one code can
be entered at a time. |
PLAY
DATA
(???)
A
- B - C -
A - B - C
- A - B -
C - A - B
- C |
FREE
PLAY
(infinite continues)
B
- B - B -
C - A - A
- A - B -
B - C - C
- C |
ZONE
SELECT
(select starting point)
C
- A - C -
B - C - A
- B - A -
B - C - A
- C |
SPECIAL
MODE
(extra hard game?)
C
- C - C -
C - C - C
- C - C -
C - C - C
- C |
NO-HIT
(invincible)
A
- B - A -
C - B - C
- C - B -
C - A - B
- A |
SOUND
TEST
To get this you first need to earn yourself
a high score. Then, enter your initials as:
Z T T |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Game
Boy (1991) |
|
Interestingly,
the Game Boy version of 'Sagaia' doesn't have much to do
with Darius II - it is in fact a reworking of 8 stages of
the original Darius.
Nothing special; but not bad for a GB game. |
|
|
Master
System (1992) |
|
The
Master System 'Sagaia' never saw the light of day in Japan.
And tht is a shame: the stage count may have been reduced
to 12, but it plays like a dream. The finest shooting game
on the system. |
|
|
PC
Engine Super CD-Rom2 (1993) |
|
The
super-delayed PC Engine 'Super Darius II' does throw in
plenty of original material along with a snazzy CD soundtrack,
but it was all too little too late by the time it finally
arrived. |
|
|
|
