Disputed Space (2017)
Genres:Adventure, Indie, Shooter, Arcade, Simulator
Themes:Action
Game modes:Single player, Co-operative, Multiplayer
Story:Experience epic space battles while piloting a small, fast fighter ship as part of a fleet that lashes out against enemy factions across stunning procedurally generated star systems in Disputed Space.
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Sim Theme ParkLike the previous title, Theme Park World tasks players with managing a series of amusement parks. To do this, the player must choose how to spend their available funds, finding a way to expand the number and scope of their parks while remaining profitable. Income from the park can be used to purchase new rides or attractions, hire staff to maintain the park, and other similar functions. Various elements can be controlled by the player, such as the name of the park, the price of admission, the layout of the roller-coaster tracks, and the quality of food in the park restaurants. An ant-like announcer by the name of Buzzy, voiced by Terry McGovern in the American-tailored Sim Theme Park and Lewis MacLeod in UK release Theme Park World, helps the player with advice during gameplay.Business
Darius PlusAmidst the clutter of arcade shooters in the late 1980s, companies needed to make their games stand out in some way. Simply flying a ship into outer space simply wasn't going to cut it anymore. Taito had an idea. Yes, there was still a spaceship. And yeah, that "outer space" part was still there too. But instead of the usual aliens, you fought fish.
Yes, fish.
Not even regular, aquatic fish, but robotic fish with lasers equipped to their fins, giant metal teeth and missiles firing from their gills. And not just fish either. There are squid, snails, and other undersea variations out for your blood as well.
The requisite plot is about the people of the planet Darius, who are being terrorized by said intergalatic fish. Only the heroic pilots Proco Jr and Tiat Young can save the day. The constant star of the Darius series is the Silver Hawk. Much like Gradius, it has a primary, forward firing weapon, along with bombs that can be used to attack vertically, and the usual shield.
The arcade game Darius games also used a unique system that attached three monitors together to create one massive horizontal playing field (also used in Taito's Ninja Warriors.) Naturally, this couldn't quite be replicated on the console system, so that nifty little gimmick is lost, but emulators can still replicate the dimensions of the screen, even if you end up looking at a tiny picture.
Looking to further set itself apart from the crowd, every Darius game has multiple levels, with several branching paths throughout the game. It adds tremendously to the replay value, especially since there are usual multiple endings, depending on which final zone you end up at.
Darius is a two-dimensional horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up set in a fictional future. Uniquely among shoot 'em ups, the game's screen was three times wider than conventional size, and the arcade cabinet used an arrangement of three screens to accommodate it. The player controls an ornate fighter spacecraft, named the Silver Hawk, and must navigate through scrolling terrain while battling a variety of fighter craft, ground vehicles, turrets, and other obstacles throughout the game's stages (referred to as zones in the game). The ship's arsenal consists of forward-firing missiles, aerial bombs and a protective force field, all of which can be upgraded by power-ups (in the form of large, colored orbs) that are dropped by specially-colored enemies throughout the game's zones. When the player reaches the end of a zone, a boss appears, which must be defeated to proceed. Once the boss of a zone is destroyed, the player is given a choice of which zone to play next via a branching path. While there are 28 zones in total, only seven can be played in a single run.
When various ports of it were made for different consoles, Taito (and others) were forced to shrink the playfield to fit on one screen.
It was released for the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, PC Engine, PC Engine (Super CD-ROM), Wii (Virtual Console), and ZX Spectrum.
The PC Engine saw three releases:
Darius Alpha (1990): A very rare beta release. This is one of the rarest Hu-Cards ever published. You could only get a copy of this hardcore shoot-em-up by buying Darius Plus and Super Darius and then mailing coupons to the publisher. 800 copies were made available, and names were drawn from those who mailed their info in. Some copies of the game were also given away as prizes by PC Engine Gekken and Marakatsu magazines.
Darius Plus (1990): The full game itself, again a PC Engine HuCard. The bosses that were removed in Alpha do not return here. Both Alpha and Plus were actually written for the PC Engine SuperGrafx and playing them on that console results in slightly improved graphics (less flicker and slowdown).
Super Darius (1990): A conversion of Darius for the PC Engine's Super CD-ROM, very close to the original arcade version other than being single-screen. Features new bosses, as well as a "boss rush" mode.Science fiction
Darius IIDarius II is a 1989 arcade video game developed by Taito. It is the direct sequel to the 1987 Darius. It was later released as Sagaia in Japan in 1991 for the Game Boy as well as non-Japanese ports. A remake was released for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM as Super Darius II in 1993.
A Mega Drive conversion was released in Japan in 1990; it was later released for the Genesis in the United States and Brazil in 1991, where it was renamed Sagaia. Changes include a boss rush mode (via a code) and various modifications to levels and mechanics, such as the boss Steel Spine being moved to another level and the boss Killer Higia being replaced with a similar creation called Nehonojia. This conversion does not support two players, so the ability to choose between Proco Jr. and Tiat Young was added; Proco plays like normal, while Tiat starts every life off with one power level to every weapon.
A Master System conversion, developed by Natsume, was released in Europe and Brazil in 1992, also titled Sagaia. It is somewhat based on the Mega Drive port, and while Tiat Young and her abilities are still present (though even more limited), many zones (and thus bosses) have been completely removed.
The Super CD-ROM version features an entirely new set of bosses, major changes to levels, and a fully arranged soundtrack including new songs.Science fiction
Half-Life 21998. HALF-LIFE sends a shock through the game industry with its combination of pounding action and continuous, immersive storytelling.
NOW. By taking the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original, and adding startling new realism and responsiveness, Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around them, from the physical environment to the behaviors even the emotions of both friends and enemies.Action Horror Science fiction
Darius GaidenDarius Gaiden is a two-dimensional shoot'em up. The player controls a space ship named the Silver Hawk and must guide it through scrolling stages, destroying enemies and avoiding obstacles along the way. The ship is armed with forward-firing missiles, aerial bombs and a protective force-field, all of which can be upgraded by various power-ups that are dropped by specially-colored enemies when they are destroyed by the player. New to the Silver Hawk's arsenal in Darius Gaiden is the 'black hole bomb.' When fired, the black hole bomb will create a large vortex in the center of the screen, which sucks in enemies and projectiles on the screen for a short moment, until it explodes into a powerful ball of lightning that inflicts massive damage onto every enemy on the screen.
Another feature introduced Darius Gaiden is the ability to capture minibosses, who appear in every stage. Each miniboss has a small, circular ball placed on them that, after receiving enough damage, will detach and float away, causing the miniboss to turn idle. If the player collects the ball, the miniboss will follow and aid the player. After a brief period of time, or the player loses a life, the miniboss will explode.
A few months following release, update to the arcade version was later released entitled "Darius Gaiden Extra Edition". This version of arcade game contains rearranged levels, as well as automatically-enabled auto fire, two extra weapon power levels (bigger wave shot and a bigger red wave shot as well) and an all-stage mode which can be accessed by starting the game in 2P side.Science fiction
Darius Cozmic RevelationA sequel to the Cozmic Collection, Darius Cozmic Revelation was released for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on February 25, 2021 in Japan, containing the games G-Darius HD and Dariusburst: Another Chronicle EX+. The western release will contain the Game Boy version of Sagaia as a bonus on the cartridge. A future update also adds G-Darius Ver. 2 to the compilation.Action Science fiction
Darius Cozmic Collection: Special EditionDarius Cozmic Collection is a compilation of various Darius titles. It was released in Japan for the Nintendo Switch on February 28, 2019, and on PlayStation 4 on March 5, 2020. A worldwide release on both platforms followed on June 16, 2020.
There are six editions of Darius Cozmic Collection:
- Arcade Edition (WW) (JP PS4 Digital) / Standard Edition (JP Switch)
- Console Edition (WW) / Consumer Edition (JP)
- International Edition (WW) / Special Edition (JP)
Almost all of the editions feature different games.Action Science fiction
Darius Cozmic Collection: Console EditionDarius Cozmic Collection is a compilation of various Darius titles. It was released in Japan for the Nintendo Switch on February 28, 2019, and on PlayStation 4 on March 5, 2020. A worldwide release on both platforms followed on June 16, 2020.
There are six editions of Darius Cozmic Collection:
- Arcade Edition (WW) (JP PS4 Digital) / Standard Edition (JP Switch)
- Console Edition (WW) / Consumer Edition (JP)
- International Edition (WW) / Special Edition (JP)
Almost all of the editions feature different games.Action Science fiction
DariusDarius is a two-dimensional horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up set in a fictional future. Uniquely among shoot 'em ups, the game's screen is three times wider than conventional size, and the arcade cabinet uses an arrangement of three screens to accommodate it. The player controls an ornate fighter spacecraft, named the Silver Hawk, and must navigate through scrolling terrain while battling a variety of fighter craft, ground vehicles, turrets, and other obstacles throughout the game's stages (referred to as zones in the game). The ship's arsenal consists of forward-firing missiles, aerial bombs and a protective force field, all of which can be upgraded by power-ups (in the form of large, colored orbs) that are dropped by specially-colored enemies throughout the game's zones. When the player reaches the end of a zone, a boss appears, which must be defeated to proceed. Once the boss of a zone is destroyed, the player is given a choice of which zone to play next via a branching path. While there are 28 zones in total, only seven can be played in a single run.
A Sega Mega Drive port was produced in 2019 that is pre-installed in the Mega Drive Mini as a bonus game.Action Science fiction
Darius AlphaDarius Alpha is a promotional version of Darius Plus released in 1990 for the PC Engine. It was a mail-order exclusive, obtainable by sending in a pair of coupons found in the manuals of Super Darius and Darius Plus. There were only 800 copies of the card produced, making it one of the rarest, and the absolute most expensive, PC Engine HuCard ever made. This version is only a Boss Rush, where the player faces against all Plus bosses one after another.
Like Plus, Alpha features SuperGrafx support, which greatly reduces sprite flickering.
Pressing Select on the title screen starts the game with a 4-minute time limit.Science fiction