Having originated on the Taito F3 arcade board, Darius Gaiden looks and sounds impressive. You can expect plenty of visual effects at almost any given time (sprite scaling and rotation, parallax scrolling, alpha blending, etc.) This does cause some slowdown problems during a few points, most noticeably when a black hole bomb is activated. It's a rare occurance but still worth mentioning, and I'm sure it's due to poor programming rather than hardware limitations. The game is just as lavish in the sound department. Taito's Zuntata sound team really did a great job with the soundtrack. It's not something I'd put in my CD player mind you, but it's very distinct and works well with the atmosphere. And speaking of which, the soundtrack is red book audio. Darius Gaiden has 28 levels in total, 7 of which comprise an actual run through the game. At the end of each level you're given a choice between two routes. Depending on the routes you take the game changes in various ways. Some are more difficult than others and have more scoring oppurtunities, as well as determining the final boss. This layout adds quite a bit of replay value. After playing the game regularly for months trying to perfect a particular route, it still feels like I've only scratched the surface. Another way the game changes is through the rank system. Rank means that after certain conditions are met, the game becomes harder. In Darius Gaiden's case the more red powerups you collect the harder the bosses become (more life, more attacks, faster projectiles.) The upside to this is that you'll have more chances to exploit them for points. It's a relatively basic system but gives the game a little more depth.   Golden Ogre: Looks tough but he's a big wuss.. The 'Black Hole bomber' in action against the 'Ancient Dozer' boss. Very trippy.   Coelocanth-boss 'King Fossil' will be very familiar to long-term Darius fans   'Electric Fan's preferred method of dispatching the Silver Hawk is sucking you into its tentacles. Failing that chucking clown fish at you. Aside from the slowdown issue mentioned earlier, there's only one other flaw that deals with the game's autofire. I've seen a bunch of reviews where the game is docked pretty hard for having "too many enemies on the screen" or "not enough bombs." Well, there's a reason for this. The default firing rate is downright horrible. Luckily, this can be remedied with either an autofire controller or a code (hold B, press Y, right, left, X, Z, L,R at "Game Start" screen.) What's odd is that during the attract mode demo, there's an obvious increase in the firing rate from the default, so you have to wonder why they didn't change it for the actual game. Darius Gaiden on the Saturn is arguably the best home conversion of the game available to date. That's including the more recent Taito Memories Joukan version (PS2), which uses filtered and upscaled graphics, a big no-no in case you're wondering. Along with Layer Section, Darius Gaiden is one of the cheapest 2D shooters you can import. It's also one of the few shooters that got an American release (turns out there is something we can thank Acclaim for.) Which ever route you choose (sorry!) Darius Gaiden is sure not to disappoint. JoshF The aptly named 'Neon Light Illusion' causing the destruction of several million dollars worth of Silver Hawk.   The 'Prickly Angler'boss about to get nasty. Note the colour-warping in the background, in-game it's quite alarming.. Fighting alongside a 'captured' mini-boss - an idea further developed in sequel G-Darius   A later 'Jungle' level very similar in design to one seen in Irem's R-Type Leo I have to admit a great fondness for Darius Gaiden. It was the first Darius game I really enjoyed (never was a big fan of those enormous 2-screen arcade jobbies) and visually it's by far the best looking game of the series, even compared to the later polygon-ised sequel G-Darius (which ran on Taito's FX-1 Playstation-based arcade hardware). The mad, frankly almost psychotic Zuntata soundtrack adds heaps of atmosphere, and the F3-hardware was utilised to produce some astounding graphical effects (see Golden Ogre in action for a spectacular example of sprite-zooming) with an abundance of kaleidoscopic background warping and rotation (most notably with use of the insane 'Black Hole bomber' smart-bomb). There's a top-calibre design ethic running throughout the game with some beautifully realised bosses such as the infamous Titanic Lance and some varied and interesting stages set not just in space but also underwater, in deserts, jungles and caves. Plus with 28 stages it's a game you'll keep coming back to to check out the levels and bosses you missed first, second or third time through the game. One of the trippiest, daftest but most all-round entertaining of the Darius games it's well worth picking up. Mike 'Double Dealer'. A flounder. In Space.   'Odious Trident' is actually one of the prettier bosses in the game being an enormous mechanical sunfish. 'Hysteric Empress' is one of the seven final bosses in Darius Gaiden. If you hadn't noticed it's an enormous and rather unsociable spider crab.   And here's the ending for 'Zone Y' which has got to be one of the daftest shooter endings I've ever witnessed. Bet George Lucas won't be too happy either. Still, there's another six thrilling finales to get to see yet! Score out of Five: Arcade Flyer art: Click to enlarge