"Taito has done a marvelous job of bringing their Darius series into the world of polygonal gaming, as it is easy on the eyes and ears, and is an intense blast of fun to play."

Platform: Playstation

Genre: Shooter

Publisher: THQ

Developer: Taito

ESRB: E (Everyone)

Released: 1998

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G Darius

Taito and their huge, mechanical battle fish, is there anything they can’t do? Probably not, and there Darius games have always wowed the masses too. G Darius takes the series to the Playstation and gives it a shiny new polygonal facelift for good measure. With plenty of insane, screen-filled combat, as well as great control, and the ability to capture enemy ships and use them as wingmen, G Darius provides plenty of fast, exciting fun.

Things pick up fast as the sheer amount of enemy ships that get thrown at the player, and the amazing amount of firepower being blasted is positively intense. Players will be ducking diving, and jiving and juking like crazy in order to pass the levels. In latter stages the intensity is even higher as it seems like there’s practically a wall of things capable of blowing up your ship. This incredible level of action necessitates capturing enemy ships just to be able to have the added firepower in order to have a hope of surviving the levels. The only downside to all of this is that G Darius suffers from slowdown when things get particularly frantic. With so much action taking place solid controls are a must, and thankfully Taito has delivered on this. The controls are very responsive, allowing players to glide through obstacles with relative ease.

All of this hectic action is displayed admirably as the visuals are nicely done. The design of the ships is fresh, and the bosses show just how many peculiar takes on giant-battle-sea-life Taito can take. The environments are displayed well, but aren’t non-stop, show stoppers as there are times when there are simply star fields in the background. However, with so much action taking place on the screen the sometimes bland backgrounds are not a big deal.

With its revival of arcade-styled shoot ‘em up space action, G Darius’ music and sound help to bring a nostalgic tinge to the experience. The music is that good ‘ol fashioned bouncy, moody, ambient hybrid that we’ve heard over the years in these types of games and is performed beautifully. The sound effects are a mix of new and old, as there are some very powerful, booming explosions and weapons sounds, as well as the mix of tinnier, pingy sounds like those found in classic shooters.

Taito has done a marvelous job of bringing their Darius series into the world of polygonal gaming, as it is easy on the eyes and ears, and is an intense blast of fun to play. Despite the slowdown, it is definitely a great update to a classic series.

- Mr. Nash