Review: G-Darius HD – Glorious Return of the Franchise

G-Darius HD Update

With tons of retro titles coming back as HD remasters or simple ports on modern consoles, we have been able to play a lot of titles from the 90s on our modern consoles. Taito is one of the developers that has been busy bringing back its titles for modern consoles and its Darius franchise is nearly completely out on modern consoles with their recent ports and remasters. The latest one is G-Darius HD which brings the 1997 release to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This is our review of G-Darius HD on the PS4 in which we capture some enemies and use them against gigantic battleships.

While the Darius franchise has tons of titles under its belt, what sets G-Darius apart from the rest is that G-Darius was the first game in the franchise to feature 3D visuals. This meant that back in 1997, this was a huge leap into modern visuals for the franchise. With the switch to 3D, the game also brought more ways to play the game since the developers had a whole new dimension to play around with and this is clearly visible in the game as well. This also makes it the most technologically advanced title in the franchise which not only looks good but also brings some really cool new tricks for you to exploit your enemies within the game.

Review: G-Darius HD

G-Darius features the franchise’s iconic Silver Hawk against the huge aquatic-themed battlecruisers and enemies. Staying true to side-scrolling action, this time around, you get to see an HD version of the entire game featuring better models of the Silver Hawk and the enemies. While the core gameplay still remains the same as that of previous titles, G-Darius brought the unique Capture system which allows you to throw a Capture Bomb and capture an enemy to attach them to your ship.

After attaching, depending on the enemy that you capture, you can use their weapons as their own. Some of the enemies will give you a spread shot while some will turn into two turrets that keep following you. Some of the enemies also find and shoot at enemies themselves. If you die, any enemies that you have captured in the game will also be destroyed. Each level has its own share of enemies and bosses. There are also some mini-bosses in certain levels, and you can try to capture them too. If you manage to capture a mini-boss, you get yourself a powerful ally in the game. As you complete a level, you can choose which path you can take by choosing between two sectors.

After choosing a sector, sometimes you will get another choice of choosing between two sectors while you are within a level by either moving to the top of the level or at the bottom of the level. However, despite having various paths, all are linked to the same ending and even if you choose a different path every time, you will get to the same ending. The only difference in the chosen paths are the enemies, bosses, and mini-bosses that you encounter. Some zones have the same mini-bosses as well however if you want to defeat all of the bosses in the game, you will need to play all of the zones in the game.

Like the previous releases, G-Darius HD comes with many modern features like saving and loading the Saved States. Different other features such as choosing custom controls and achievements are also present in the game. Like high score hunting, the game also gives you options for unlocking various trophies and has a Platinum Trophy as well. The trophies are not that easy to unlock however if you are a Platinum hunter, you will not need to spend a lot of time to unlock all of the trophies. Depending on the difficulty that you choose, a single playthrough of the game will take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. It is excellent for short gaming sessions, and you can adjust the game difficulty to casually stroll through the title or give yourself a challenging nightmare. The HD version also allows you have as many continues in the game giving you the option of keep playing even if you keep dying in the game.

Review: G-Darius HD

You will also find the Capture Gallery in this menu which is a good addition to the game as it keeps track of all the enemies that you capture in the game. This screen keeps a tab of the enemies along with useful information such as which regions they are found and how much health they have. Using this screen, you can keep a track of all the enemies that you have captured and which enemies you still need to capture in the game. There are trophies linked to this screen as well making it worth checking out. Since the information appears only after you have captured them once, filling the screen is a little tricky.

I have played all of the previous Darius, DariusBurst, and Cozmic Revelation bundles released on PS4 or Nintendo Switch and while G-Darius HD surely comes out on the top, it surprisingly comes with a little bit of problem as well. During certain sections of my playthroughs, when there was a lot of activity on the screen, the game dropped frames and at one point, the game slowed down so much that I felt like in the movie Matrix dodging bullets. This is even weird because I was playing the game on a PS4 Pro which is nearly capable of running 4K visuals so running a port of a 1997 game shouldn’t be a problem for the console.

Overall, G-Darius HD is so far my favorite Darius title brought to the modern consoles by Taito. For me, G-Darius is still the best title in the franchise and now we have its HD version available as well. If you are looking for a nostalgic trip, the game includes the original 1997 release as well and you can pick whether you want the HD version or the Classic version from 1997. The 3D shift certainly shows its colors and makes the title looks a lot better than any of the previous releases in the series. Hardcore fans of the franchise will certainly love the port and it is also accessible for new and casual players to jump in the game for experiencing an iconic side-scrolling shooter.

G-Darius HD - Official Trailer

Final Verdict:

While G-Darius HD is a great game and fans of the franchise will be delighted to see it return to the modern consoles, the frame drops need to go away. I was surprised to see the game dropping frames on a PS4. Apart from the dropping frames, G-Darius HD simply shines as the best title in the Darius franchise and now we can finally play it on modern consoles as well. The inclusion of the classic gamer and the HD version in the same package allows you to have a taste of both generations. This is again a great release for fans of classic SHMUPS and everyone who enjoys a challenging side-scrolling shooter. Must-play for Darius fans and if you want to play something really challenging that has that retro feel to it.

Final Score: 8.0/10

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About the Author: Umair Khalid

Founder of GamesHedge, Umair enjoys a wide variety of video games ranging from RPGs to racing games. Currently busy with The Crew Motorfest and Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance.

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