Darius hit like a bomb when it first appeared in 1986. Never before had such an effort been placed into presentation.
Presented inside a massive 3-screen cabinet, the game features dream-like environments and massive end-of-level sea creatures.
This extraordinary art direction is accompanied by an unforgettable soundtrack by Taito's Zuntata sound team, whose eerie and over-the-top arrangements really help build the atmosphere... The cabinet features a stereo headphone jack - and vibrating seat.
The gameplay itself is fundamentally basic: equipped with a shot and ground missile, the player must negotiate 7 out of a total of 25 stages, arranged into a pyramid-shaped map. It's the elongated screen that makes the gameplay tricky: missing a target can leave you wide open, since only 4 of your bullets can appear on screen at once and they take an age to reach the end of the screen.
It's a mean challenge too: everything can go horribly wrong very quickly - and if you want a shot at seeing the end, your only real chance is to not loose a single life.
Seriously: if you thought R-Type (1987) took the piss as the ultimate 'loose your kit and you might as well give up' game, then Darius was one step ahead. The only way to 'level up' your weapons is to save up not one, or two, but eight (8) icons of a certain colour, usually over the course of two levels or more. One mistake, and you're back down to the pea shooter for good.
You can cut the tension with a knife - especially during 2-player games, where power-ups are scarce and the two ships cannot fly through each other.
An undeniable masterpiece, whose name is firmly engraved as one of the greatest shooting games of all time.

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