Darius II



Darius II, also known as Sagaia in other regions, is a 2-player cooperative horizontal shoot-em-up developed and released by Taito in September 1989. Like the original Darius, the game features multiple screens for a wider viewing perspective. Depending on the cabinet, the game would either be 2 or 3 screens wide. The game itself would continue on the fish-based enemies and bosses seen in the original game, as well as the branching pathways and multiple endings. It is also somewhat known for the infamous "I always wanted a thing called tuna sasimi" line heard in the first stage. Darius II would be localized as Sagaia, which features less stages which are shorter. Chronologically, Darius II takes place between the events of Darius Gaiden and Dariusburst.

Gameplay Overview
Darius II uses two buttons, one to fire the main shot and lasers, and the other to fire bombs. The game consists on 7 stages with levels scrolling horizontally and also vertically in some sections. The power-up system was completely redesigned from the original, with every pickup providing a significant change in firepower. Replacing the Gold pickups are Nuclear Bunkers, which when shot while opened, will clear the screen of enemies. Zones will also have captains appear halfway during the stage, they consist of a smaller versions of the bosses in Darius. The ends of every zone consist of a boss fight, where the Silver Hawk will orient itself towards the boss should it happen to move to the other side of the screen.

Controls

 * A: Fire main shot and lasers (if the player has them.)
 * B: Fire bombs

Weapons
At the start of the game, the player starts with a single horizontal shot and a front facing bomb. In order to collect power-ups, an entire formation of a specific enemy must be destroyed for it to drop, which will drop the power-up or give 6000 points. Collecting power-ups will increase the power of the weapon with the corresponding color to a notable level. Upon death, all weapons are reset to minimum power except for Arm, which will reset at the base level of the current arm level.

Shot
Shot is a front facing weapon, and is the primary way of destroying enemies in the air. Up to four shots can be on screen at any time.
 * Level 1: Fires a singular, thin laser.
 * Level 2: Adds a second thin laser shot.
 * Level 3: Increases the size of the lasers.
 * Level 4: Adds two small projectiles that spread out from the laser shots
 * Level 5: Adds two more small projectiles that spread out further from the laser shots
 * Level 6: Replaces the laser shots with a large plasma ball.
 * Level 7: Increases the length of the plasma ball, allowing it to land two hits
 * Level 8: Increases the width of the plasma ball, which can hit up to three times.

Bomb
Bombs are a bottom firing weapon best used to take out ground targets. Only three bombs per side can be on screen at a time. Just like the original Darius, Bomb trajectory is based on the movement of the player ship.
 * Level 1: Fires a single bomb in front of the ship.
 * Level 2: Adds a second bomb behind the ship.
 * Level 3: Fires the bombs in a 45 degree angle quickly towards the ground
 * Level 4: The bombs slowly descend and slide quickly upon reaching the ground, similar to the missiles in Gradius
 * Level 5: Replaces the bombs with rolling mines, which can climb up walls. This can cause the bomb firing rate to drastically reduce if there's no ground targets.
 * Level 6: Adds two large bombs above the ship.

Laser
Lasers are super thin projectiles that can pierce through an unlimited amount of enemies and provides defense from above. Only one set of lasers can be on screen. Unlike other weapons, it must be acquired first by picking up a yellow power-up.
 * Level 1: No lasers fire from the ship
 * Level 2: Fires a laser from above and below the ship.
 * Level 3: Diverts the lasers to fire 45 degrees towards the front, creating a < pattern.
 * Level 4: Adds two 45 degree lasers behind the ship, making a X pattern.
 * Level 5: Adds back the vertical lasers used in Level 2.
 * Level 6: Makes the front two lasers turn directly forwards after fired. This will drastically reduce the firing rate of the lasers as they need to travel across the whole screen.
 * Level 7: Makes the vertical lasers turn directly forward after fired.

Armor
Arm is a defensive shield that functions identically to the original Darius. When collecting Armor without having any, the player will always receive 3 hits. If they do, Armor will be added by a small amount depending on the tier. Arm can be upgraded every 4 power-ups. Unlike future titles, there is no limit to how many hits Arm the take. However the Armor will not shrink when on it's last hit.
 * Arm Is the starting tier of Armor. Extra Arm power-ups will add one hit.
 * Super Arm Is the second tier. It can add 2 extra hits.
 * Hyper Arm Is the final tier. Hyper Arm also adds 2 extra hits, but can also protect the Silver Hawk from terrain collision.

Multicolor
Multicolor power-ups are a rare pickup that has a chance of appearing in place of an existing one when a player loses a life. When collected, it increases the Shot, Bomb, and Laser level by 1.

Stages
Just like the original Darius, Darius II features various branching "zones" which can be navigated and routed differently on each playthrough. There are 28 stages total.

Below is a list of stages and their respective zones

Stage 1 (Sun)
All Stage 1 zones have Hyper Sting as the boss.
 * Zone A: A field of combat taking place very close to the surface of the sun.

Stage 2 (Mercury)
All Stage 2 zones have Alloy Lantern as the first boss. After destroying Alloy Lantern, the player will fly inside its mouth and fight the second boss.
 * Zone B: The player traverses through a large cave on Mercury. Steel Spin is the second boss.
 * Zone C: Similar to Zone B. Killer Hijia is the second boss.

Stage 3 (Venus)
All Stage 3 zones have Driosawm as the boss.
 * Zone D: The player traverses through outer space.
 * Zone E: A battlefield amongst the clouds of Venus' atmosphere.
 * Zone F: A field of combat taking place in a volcanic area on the surface of Venus.

Stage 4 (Moon)
All Stage 4 zones have Red Crab as the boss.
 * Zone G: A field of combat taking place very close to the surface of the moon, where various ruins can be found.
 * Zone H: The player infiltrates an enemy base beneath the moon's surface.
 * Zone I: Similar to Zone G.
 * Zone J: Similar to Zone G.

Stage 5 (Earth)

 * Zone K: A ruined human city with an enemy base beneath the surface. Yamato is the boss.
 * Zone L: An arctic area with a large cave. Leadain is the boss.
 * Zone M: Similar to Zone K. Yamato is the boss.
 * Zone N: Takes place in an archipelago, similar to Zone A of Darius Twin. Leadain is the boss.
 * Zone O: A large undersea cave. Leadain is the boss.

Stage 6 (Mars)
All Stage 6 zones have Grand Octopus as the boss.
 * Zone P: A volcanic area on the surface of Mars with a base hidden beneath the surface.
 * Zone Q: The surface of Mars. Various ruins can be found.
 * Zone R: The surface of Mars.
 * Zone S: Similar to Zone P.
 * Zone T: An arctic region of Mars. Auroras can be seen in the background.
 * Zone U: Similar to Zone R, but with traps hiding inside some of the craters.

Stage 7 (Jupiter)

 * Zone Z': Most likely the north pole of Jupiter. The ground is similar to that of Zone A, although with a different colour. Mother Hawk is the final boss.
 * Zone V: Takes place amongst the clouds of Jupiter's atmosphere, much like Zone E from earlier. Bio Strong is the final boss.
 * Zone W: Takes place in the space around Jupiter. Little Stripes is the final boss.
 * Zone X: Similar to Zone V. Little Stripes is the final boss.
 * Zone Y: Takes place in outer space far from Jupiter. Little Stripes is the final boss.
 * Zone Z: Similar to Zone Z'. Bio Strong is the final boss.
 * Zone V': Similar to Zone V and X. Mother Hawk is the final boss.

Arcade Versions
There are two known versions of the original Darius II.
 * Three screen version: This version retains the exact same aspect ratio as the original Darius and has enhanced sound effects. Due to the larger screen space and the limited amount of shots on screen, this version is more difficult. Power-ups float upwards when they appear. This is apparently a bug.
 * Two screen version: The more common version of the game.

Sagaia
In order to make gameplay cycles unfold faster overseas, Sagaia makes very drastic changes to the game:
 * There are half as many Zones in the game. The player can only choose their path every two Zones cleared.
 * Zones themselves are significantly shorter, sometimes even being cut in half entirely.
 * Captains almost never appear normally until the final Zone is reached.
 * Bosses have been re-arranged, and have much less health, making some of them absolute pushovers.