Darius Force
Title screen
| Developer: | Taito |
|---|---|
| Release date: | JP: September 23rd, 1993 NA: December 1993 |
| Previous game: | Darius Twin (Release and Chronology) |
| Next game: | Darius Gaiden (Release) |
Contents
Darius Force
Darius Force is a side-scrolling shoot-em-up developed by Taito and Act Japan and released in 1993 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in North America as Super Nova. While this game is similar to its predecessors in many ways, it also makes some massive changes; notably, 0 bosses in Darius Force are returning bosses from previous games (with Thunderbolt Fans and Great Force being mutilated versions of previous bosses), with many not being sea life at all, and none of them would ever reappear in another Darius Game. Additionally, in a series first, Darius Force allows the player to play as 3 different playable ships. It also has a massively revamped Zone map, completely different from any other Darius game.
Gameplay Overview
Darius Force is notably slower-paced than other Darius games, likely to balance out the small aspect ratio and high stage difficulty. It still has the basic concepts of collecting powerups to gain firepower, although it should be noted that ALL powerups are completely lost on death, and the primary Shot and secondary Bomb cannot be used at the same time unless you meet a certain level of firepower, in which case using both at once will result in the Shot being weakened drastically.
Controls
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Weapons
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Armor
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Rank
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Scoring
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Zones
Darius Force's stage progression is possibly the most unique out of any game in the Darius series. Instead of zones being organized in a sound wave, they are now organized in a parallelogram, with the player starting in the bottom left corner (Zone A) and finishing when they reach any stage on the right edge of the parallelogram (Zone L, N or O).
A list of stages and their respective zones can be found below, as well as an image of the Zone map.
Zone Map
Bottom Row
- Zone A: A strange asteroid-filled nebula. Boss is Bio Hazard.
- Zone C: A large enemy space station that rotates during gameplay. Boss is Mudy Crystal.
- Zone F: A blue-tinted enemy base. Boss is Spiral Snail.
- Zone I: An enemy-controlled cave. Boss is Devil Fish.
- Zone L: A secret underground enemy lab. Final boss is Zandick II.
Middle Row
- Zone B: Similar to Zone I. Boss is Mudy Crystal.
- Zone E: An enemy-controlled forest giving way to a large cave. Boss is Thunderbolt Fans.
- Zone H: Similar to Zone A. Boss is Peace Destroyer, a colossal multi-stage battleship raid-style fight and a possible predecessor to Titanic Lance from Darius Gaiden.
- Zone K: Similar to Zone F. Boss is Stealther, one of the few non-sea life bosses in the Darius series, instead being based on a chameleon.
- Zone N: An area of space near an unknown planet's atmosphere. Final boss is Megalopros, also being one of the few non-sea life bosses in the Darius series, instead being based on a pteranodon.
Top Row
- Zone D: Similar to Zones F and K. Boss is Spiral Snail.
- Zone G: Similar to Zones A and H. Boss is Devil Fish.
- Zone J: Similar to Zone C. Boss is Stealther.
- Zone M: A massive enemy-controlled cave. Boss is Great Force.
- Zone O: Presumably the enemy headquarters. Final boss is Galst Vic, the only boss in the series to be based on Homo Sapiens.
Story
The game takes place an unknown amount of time after Dariusburst, at which point the Belsar are long-gone and the legendary Proco and Tiat are forgotten. A new enemy (likely related to the Belsar) has arisen, and the player must fight through their defense zones to bring an end to the invasion.
Below is a list of endings.
- Ending 1 (Zone L): The enemy has been repelled for now and humanity is eager to continue the fight. Shows a man assisting with the takeoff of a Silver Hawk.
- Ending 2 (Zone N): An unknown narrator states that "peace is not inevitable", but that every human heart yearns for it. Shows a strange white hawk flying over the horizon.
- Ending 3 (Zone O): The narrator delivers a short speech about how humanity has always fought back against threats (similar to the one given in the game’s intro), then instructs the player to continue the fight and states that “peace will return again”. Shows the player flying in space away from a series of large explosions, presumably the destroyed enemy headquarters.
