Talking about Darius it means to speak of one iconic saga, from challenging bosses to the most frenetic battles. The series was launched with the very first title back in 1987, developed by the legendary TAITO Corporation and catapulted onto the arcade cabinets dedicated to dual displays. Thanks to Darius Cozmic Collection Console, which collects 6 titles (in 9 versions) of the series, we can take a nostalgic dip into the past and immerse ourselves in one of the most acclaimed worlds of Shoot 'em up genre. At a price of 54.99 € for his digital version - the collection was also released in physical format for the oriental market, which already boasts of the rich Darius 30th Anniversary Edition for PlayStation 4 - with Darius Cozmic Collection we therefore have the opportunity to play:
- Darius II (Mega Drive, GIA version)
- SAGAIA (Genesis, US version)
- SAGAIA (Master System, EU version)
- Darius twin (Super Famicom, GIA version)
- Darius twin (Super NES, US version)
- Darius Force (Super Famicom, GIA version)
- Super Nova (Super NES, US version)
- Darius Alpha (PC Engine, GIA version)
- Darius Plus (PC Engine, GIA version)
A feast of iconic Shoot 'em ups
It is clearly about porting, and all relatively well optimized with the Nintendo home console. Although - and this must be specified - they are not the exact same versions of the old arcade counterparts. In any case, in re-making one palatable and appreciable hardcore saga like that of Darius to the players of the new millennium, the work that has been done is certainly not indifferent: the console editions are undoubtedly excellent products, able to give chills and anxiety in the same way as the original versions. Maybe easier, maybe a little rough graphically, but these titles are all extremely fun to play.
If we wanted to tell the experience of Darius in a few words, just think in all the titles of the saga we are called to guide a spaceship through alien worlds to side scrolling, of the completely desolate lands and indeed, populated by alien creatures looking like giant fish. Scary creatures, therefore, but also very dangerous, so much so that those who do not like to die repeatedly over and over again risk finding these titles rather frustrating.
For Darius II, the title has even been smoothed out on the difficulty level, which certainly makes it more enjoyable even for players who feel less in tune with the series - but who still love challenges. The original title also included a cooperative mode, which in its Switch version has however been removed. SAGAIAinstead, it is a sort of “reduced version” of Darius II with fewer zones (it counts 16 instead of 28) that are also quicker to complete and arranged in a different order. This was obviously done to make the game faster and leaner, but also to refine it and make it look completely new. The two versions contained in the collection are distinguished by the areas and the bosses, both different.
If the iconic soundtracks of Darius twin they will definitely please the ears of fans of the series, too Darius Force offers players a refined and well-made audio sector. This title, then, allows you to take advantage of different types of ships, so as to be able to plow through the various levels in a more varied way and to be able to experiment on game tactics.
The Collection on Nintendo Switch
The collection then presents some interesting additions, with the ability to set display settings and screen resizing, so as to better optimize the gaming experience. It is very useful, in fact, to be able to adjust the difficulty, but also convenient additions are the elements of the user interface on the screen - which help to keep track, among other things, of the health of the boss, of the strength of the weapon - and the 6 quick save slot for each game. Just as it was nice to see the history and background of the various titles (which speak of what were the original versions) and the online world rankings, with all the replays of the matches.
Playing the Darius Cozmic Collection in docked or handled mode makes no difference, the overall experience is certainly positive and enjoyable. For some of the games contained in the package, you can take advantage of the two-player mode (in local co-op). Perhaps the only small flaw concerns the small screen size, a fact that in portable mode can be quite uncomfortable with some of the titles in the collection. After all, it is enough to think that these are game adaptations for which the arcades also used up to three monitors, so as to offer players a huge game area. Apart from this small detail, however, it is undoubtedly an excellent collection, well optimized with the console.
