Darius Twin
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Title screen
| Developer: | Taito |
|---|---|
| Music: | Norihiro Furukawa, Pochi |
| Program: | Yasutaka Minami, Mituo Ogura, Junichiro Noguchi |
| Art: | Keisuke Miyanaga, Tōru Kawaishi, Shin Saitō, Yoshihiro Wakita |
| Release date: | November 1991 |
| Previous game: | Darius II (Release) Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours (Chronology) |
| Next game: | Darius Force (Release and Chronology) |
Darius Twin is a horizontal-scrolling shoot-em-up by Taito released for the Super Nintendo/Famicom in November 1991. It is the first home Darius game to feature an original scenario, rather than be a port of one of the existing arcade games. It was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2010, and again in the Darius Cozmic Collection (Console) release by M2 in 2019 for Switch and PS4.
For replay videos, visit the Video Index.
Contents
Gameplay Overview
Controls
- X: Shot
- A: Subweapon
Stages
Much like other past and future games in the Darius series, Darius Twin allows the player to select which levels or "zones" to play; however, this system is heavily neutered in Darius Twin for two major reasons.
- The final zone is always the same and does not determine the ending.
- The map is not structured like other Darius games and instead only gives multiple options at certain points. Specifically, 2 to pick from after the first stage, only 1 option after the second, 2 after the third, 2 from a pool of 3 after the fourth, 1 from a pool of 2 after the fifth (if you take the middle option for Stage 5 you may pick between either of the sixth stages), and only 1 option for the final stage after the sixth stage.
Additionally, each zone is now assigned to a fictional planet in the Rakia galaxy, although this is purely decorative and has no actual effects on the level itself.
A list of stages and some info about them can be found below.
Stage 1
- Zone A: Planet Rilair. Takes place in a coastal area. Boss is Killer Higia.
Stage 2
- Zone B: Planet Danto. Takes place in outer space.
- Zone C: Planet Koloba. Very similar to Danto.
For every Stage 2 Zone, the boss is a double boss battle with Emperor Fossil and Queen Fossil.
Stage 3
- Zone D: Planet Lankus. Takes place in a large grey base. Boss is Demon Sword.
Stage 4
- Zone E: Planet Padi. Takes place in a mountainous area, similar to those found in some stages of the original Darius.
- Zone F: Planet Rear. Similar to Zone E but with a different colour scheme.
For every Stage 4 Zone, the boss is Dual Shears SP.
Stage 5
- Zone G: Planet Narukini. Takes place in a mass of thick stormy clouds, similar to those found in some stages of Darius II. Boss is Dark Coronatus.
- Zone H: Planet Sabia. Takes place underwater in a coral reef. Boss is Red Mist.
- Zone I: Planet Karudo. Similar to Zone G but with a different colour scheme. Boss is also Dark Coronatus.
If the player previously played Zone E, they will get to choose between Narukini and Sabia. If they previously played through Zone F, they will get to choose between Sabia and Karudo.
Stage 6
- Zone J: Planet Noeru. Takes place in a massive enemy base the player must navigate through to reach Darius. Boss is Full Metal Shell.
- Zone K: Planet Horolain. Similar to Zone J, but scrolls upwards rather than downwards. Boss is Hyper Great Thing.
Noeru will be the only option if the player chose Narukini for Stage 5. Likewise, Horolain will be the only option if the player chose Karudo for Stage 5. If the player chose Sabia, they will get to choose between Noeru and Horolain.
Stage 7
- Zone L: Planet Darius. This is the only option for the final zone. Takes place in outer space, similar to the Stage 2 zones but significantly more difficult to compensate for the player's power.
The final boss is a double boss battle with Super Alloy Lantern and Great Tusk. However, instead of fighting the two at once, the battle is split up into two "halves". Super Alloy Lantern is the first half, once it is destroyed the player flies in and fights Great Tusk during the second half. Once Great Tusk is destroyed, the zone is over and the game is complete.
Story
Taking place thousands of years after the events of the original Darius, Darius Twin sees the Belsar Army stage an assault on the planet Olga. The Silver Hawks are launched to put a stop to the invasion and drive back the Belsar forces.
Unlike most other Darius games, Darius Twin always ends with Zone L and always ends with the player destroying Super Alloy Lantern, then flying inside it to destroy the final boss Great Tusk.
There are 5 known endings for the game; how to get them is not precisely recorded, so we can only use our intuition.
- Ending 1 (Fake Ending): The game simply congratulates the player for clearing every level, then tells them to pull themself together and go for a better ending. This is likely "achieved" by running out of time during a bossfight.
- Ending 2 (Bad Ending): Darius is reclaimed, but the player/s are forced to return home to Olga instead of resettling on their mother planet as they were informed of the enemy fleet approaching Olga.
- Ending 3 (Neutral Ending): Darius is reclaimed, and the player/s go to rest after the long battle.
- Ending 4 (Good Ending): Darius is reclaimed, and the galaxy's allied forces establish bases on both Darius and Olga to secure power and maintain peace and order throughout the galaxy.
- Ending 5 (True Ending): Darius is reclaimed. In addition, the player/s are able to retrieve important information concerning the Belsar armies, which enables the allied forces to launch a full-scale assault on the Belsar home planet and end the war once and for all. This is achieved by clearing the game without deaths, and without running out of time during a bossfight.
Version Differences
The European and North American releases feature stereo audio, compared to the Japanese version's mono output.
References & Contributors
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