POSTED 3/12/15


DARIUSBURST: CHRONICLE SAVIOURS

Taito/Degica

Oh fishy, fishy, fishy, fish...

Thanks for destroying us yet again. Stupid mecha-fish!

It’s time to welcome back 1980s super-shmup Darius – and the best news is that you don’t need three monitors to play it in its full-on arcade glory. But if you’re one of those peculiar types who gets all shitty because every pixel of your screen isn’t being used, you’re not gonna like it.

Any sane shmup-lover will adore it though.

While this is most definitely a 21st century iteration, all the basics are in keeping with tradition. Side-scrolling (mostly, sometimes you get vertical), with various ships featuring various power-uppable weapons being assaulted by wave after wave of deadly sea creatures... erm, and shuttlecocks. After staving off numerous gnat-like annoyances, you’ll face a rather large robo-creature of aquatic origins. Or, perhaps, alien aquatic robot factory origins.

If you’re expecting a soft old arcader that won’t hurt much then you’d be wrong, for DariusBurst is one tough mothe- shut your mouth! But we’re typing about shmup...

Anyway, the arcade ‘AC’ mode is here in wondrous widescreen, giving (often welcome) unlimited lives and complete with a nice little reminder not to bump our bonces when alighting the machine. It also houses ‘Chronicle’ mode with some 3,000 levels to be unlocked with a kind of internet hive mind thing going on and can be played by four people simultaneously. But it isn’t necessarily the main attraction.

That distinction belongs to the titular ‘CS’ mode. This one goes more traditional R-Type and such by taking up the whole screen. It maintains the frenetic pace, adds various missions, a little bit of story and uses a traditional lives system. Don’t expect to get too far too soon.

Add incredible music and a gorgeous digital art book and we’re loving this fiercely frenetic and totally bonkers shmup. But beware the price, for that’s even more bonkers...

CLICK THIS!



CLICK THIS!