Taito F3 cart. published 25 years ago:
Darius Gaiden - Silver Hawk (c) 1994 Taito Corporation.
In the game, the third in the sequel of Darius series; the player flies an ornate fighter craft called a Silver Hawk. The craft is equipped with two attack weapons: Missile (forward-firing standard gun) and Bomb (drops from the bottom of the ship). The Silver Hawk is also equipped with the 'Arm' (armor); a green energy shield that can absorb enemy attacks without harm to the ship. Some enemies leave panels behind that can be collected to power-up your shots, missiles or shield.
The graphics and sound are superior to those of the previous Darius games, and the game employs a lot of impressive visual effects; for example, the Silver Hawk warps into a stage dramatically in the fourth-tier stages, and begins to burn on re-entry at the start of the sixth-tier stages.
The bosses are huge and far more complex than those of the previous games, each employing several attack patterns and explode with powerful warping and twisting effects upon their defeat.
- TECHNICAL -
Runs on the "Taito F3 System" Hardware.
Prom Stickers: D87
Screen Orientation: Horizontal
Players: 2
Control: 8-Way Joystick
Buttons: 2
=> Missile, Bomb
- TRIVIA -
Darius Gaiden was released on September 19, 1994.
The title of this game translates from Japanese as 'Darius Side Story - Silver Hawk'.
The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed to 'AAA'.
Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Darius Gaiden - PCCB-00166) on November 18, 1994.
- UPDATES -
The US version has the "Recycle It, Don't Trash It!" screen.
There was an EXTRA version (on March 6, 1995) in this game and it was their official hack with increased rapid fire, and swapped bosses. In this EXTRA version, in a 1-player game, if you press 2P Start, you won't be able to select your path at the end of a level, and you'll have to complete the 28 levels to end the game. The same "trick" is available in a 2-player game if you press 2P Start first, then let Player 1 join in.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Items list:
- Red Shield: Appears when a red enemy is destroyed. Your shots are powered up by one level.
- Green Shield: Appears when a green enemy is destroyed. When three have been obtained, your surface bombs are powered up by one level.
- Blue Shield: Appears when a blue enemy is destroyed. When five have been obtained, your barrier is upgraded by one level.
- Violet Shield: This is hidden in the landscape and appears when it is hit by a bomb. Your Black Hole bomb supply is increased by one.
- Silver Shield: This is hidden in the landscape and appears when it is hit by a bomb. Awards a bonus score.
- Gold Shield: This is hidden in the landscape and appears when it is hit by a bomb. It will destroy all enemies on the screen.
- Extend Medallion: This is hidden in the landscape and appears when it is hit by a bomb. It will award you one extra life.
* Shoot the control ball to detach it from the mid-level boss. Then collect the ball to use the mid-level boss as a weapon.
- SERIES -
1. Darius (1987, Arcade)
2. Darius II (1989, Arcade)
3. Darius Twin [Model SHVC-DT] (1991, Super Famicom)
4. Darius Force [Model SHVC-DH] (1993, Super Famicom)
5. Darius Gaiden - Silver Hawk (1994, Arcade)
6. G-Darius (1997, Arcade)
7. G-Darius ver.2 (1997, Arcade)
8. Darius Burst (2009, Sony PSP)
9. Darius Burst - Another Chronicle (2010, Arcade)
10. Darius Burst - Another Chronicle EX (2011, Arcade)
- STAFF -
Producer: Hidehiro Fujihara
Game Designers: Hisakazu Kato, Akira Kurabayashi, Masami Kikuchi, Yutaka Nagayama, Naoto Omura, Hidetaka Harada, Rintaro Doi, Katsumi Kaneoka, Hisayoshi Ogura, Katsuhisa Ishikawa
Thanks: Kentaro Matsumura
Art Directors: Kat, Masami Kikuchi, Baw-Baw
Programmers: Kurabar, Yutaka Nagayama, Naoto Dmura, Hidetaka Harada
Hardware Engineer: Katsumi Kaneoka
Decorator: Rintaro Doi
Sound (Zuntata): Hisayoshi Ogura (OGR.), Katsuhisa Ishikawa
Bit Pattern: Makoto Fujita, Ucky Maeda, Tohru Kawaishi, Yuko Kajihara, Miwa Kamiya, Vap, A-Wave
Special Thanks: Hisao Shimizu, Ichiro Fujisue, Rie Amino, Takako Akitsu, Masahiro Tashito, Nakayama Jotohei, Nobuyuki Hayashi, Ryota Komai, Yasunobu Kosokabe, Mitsuru Fukumoto, Saori Hiratsuka, Ryota Sasaki, Naoto Yagishita, Takao Yoshiba, Nobuaki Kuroki, Yuichi Onogi, Makoto Osaka, Yoshihiro Mori, Naomitsu Abe, Masatoshi Tsuneoka, Yosuke Tsuda, Papara Kaito, Yoshinari Mitani, I,G Tatsunoko
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Sega Saturn (dec.15, 1995) "Darius Gaiden [Model T-1102G]"
[EU] Sega Saturn (1996) "Darius Gaiden [Model T-8123H-50]"
[US] Sega Saturn (1996) "Darius Gaiden [Model T-8123H]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (dec.13, 1996) "Darius Gaiden [Model SLPS-00574]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (jul.28, 2005) "Taito Memories Joukan [Model SLPM-66057]"
Sony PlayStation 2 [AU] (mar.30, 2006) "Taito Legends 2 [Model SLES-53852]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (mar.31, 2006) "Taito Legends 2"
[EU] Sony PS2 (mar.31, 2006) "Taito Legends 2 [Model SLES-53852]"
[US] Sony PS2 (may.16, 2007) "Taito Legends 2 [Model SLUS-21349]"
* COMPUTERS:
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (1998)
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (mar.31, 2006) "Taito Legends 2"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.10, 2007) "Taito Legends 2"
- CONTRIBUTE -
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