From milton@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu Sun Mar 24 02:37:32 1991
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Date: Sun, 24 Mar 91 02:37:13 -0600
From: milton@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Milton W. Kuo)
Message-Id: <9103240837.AA28321@minnie.cc.utexas.edu>
To: aa561@cleveland.freenet.edu
Subject: Review Of Darius II
Cc: rjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu
Status: RO

     After all of these wasteful posts concerning splitting this newsgroup,
I thought I'd put forth my contribution to polluting the net with my review
of Darius II for the Mega Drive - a HOME SYSTEM :-D.  Those of you who hate
home systems, warm up your flamethrowers and ready your barf bags....


Game Name  : Darius II
Game Maker : Taito
Game Type  : Shooting
Game Size  : 8 Mbits (1 MB)

     The name says it all - Taito's shooting extravaganza is finally avail-
able for the Sega Mega Drive.  Boasting 8 Mbits of code, Darius II features
all 26 stages and multiple endings - just like the arcade  version.  Unfor-
tunately, Taito's  adaptation of  Darius II  for the  Mega Drive just isn't
what an 8 Mbit game  should be - while the  game is big with its 26 stages,
the graphics and sound on Darius II are worse than many cartridges sporting
only 4 Mbits of ROM.  In brief, Darius II for the Mega Drive fails to  live
up to the high  standards of  graphics and sound set by it coin-op counter-
part.  Needless to say, this is probably the most disappointing cartridge I
have bought to date.  I should  emphasize  disappointing - Darius II is not
the worst game I have  ever bought, just the one that  least lived up to my
expectations.

     One of the  most  striking features  of Darius in the  arcades was the
sharp graphics displayed over three screens.  For its time, and even today,
Darius features some of the best graphics ever on a coin-op machine.  While
the Mega Drive's graphics are definitely not up to the coin-op's standards,
there is no  excuse  for the  poorly defined,  murky graphics found in this
cartridge.  Enemy ships are  small and ill-defined  while the big bosses do
move in any way other than the opening and closing of their mouths to shoot
lasers at you.  To  make  matters worse, Taito has  done  a terrible job in
color selection.  On  some levels, it is very  difficult to distinguish the
background from the various objects in the foreground.

     Another problem  with Darius II for the Mega Drive is Taito's poor job
in programming the sound.  Taito's  programmers failed to  recognize a need
for balancing the volume of the  shooting noises with the background music.
As a result, the  background  music is drowned out by the sound of shooting
for almost the entire  duration of the game.  Couple this and the fact that
some soundtracks seem to use only two channels of sound and you end up with
a game that quickly grates on your eardrums.  Again, a job that is at  best
mediocre is made worse by the fact that the  original Darius had one of the
best soundtracks ever.  The excellence of the coin-op soundtrack just makes
the Mega Drive version seem that much worse.

     Game play for Darius II is okay but nothing special - the typical  de-
stroy the enemy and retrieve the power up.  Nonetheless, the game is pretty
fun when you become fully powered up since you can really wreak havoc among
the enemy.  Furthermore, Darius II is a game that can stand up to  multiple
plays due to the fact that more than one path may be taken to reach one  of
the multiple endings.  After finishing the game once, the  game  can be re-
played,  new levels may be explored, and a different  ending can be reached
thus enhancing Darius II's play value.

     Overall though, Darius II is not a cartridge w orth buying.  Given the
fact that it is an 8 Mbit cartridge, Darius II is going to be expensive (it
has a list price of  8900 yen which is about $60).  For the money, you'd be
better off buying something else.

Ratings:
     Graphics  : 7 (good in some areas, horrible in others)
     Sound     : 6 (can't hear the music for the shooting noises!)
     Gameplay  : 7
     "Funness" : 7
     Overall   : 6 (this game wins my award for "Most Disappointing
                    Mega Drive Game Of 1990")

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hmmmm.  Let's see.  So  far Taito  has  released Final Blow (James "Buster"
Douglas Knockout Boxing) and  Darius II.  Makes me  wonder if I really want
to even bother with Ninja Warriors.

Milton W. Kuo
milton@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu


