Darius Cozmic Collection Console

When the Darius Cozmic Collection was revealed to be split into separate arcade and console versions, I expected the coin-op games to overshadow the console ports in almost every way. After all, this is a series known for having monstrous, three-monitor cabinets that were designed to give you an ultra-wide view of the action. But now that I've played the console side of the collection, I find myself actually preferring the stripped-down ports found on 8- and 16-bit systems. These Genesis, Super NES and PC Engine games may not have the arcade looks and widescreen intensity, but with a more robust selection of titles and a number of cool rarities you won't find anywhere else, Darius Cozmic Collection Console is a shoot 'em up compilation worth getting.

Similar to its arcade counterpart, this console collection covers the early years of the Darius franchise, specifically from 1990 all the way up to around 1993. That may not sound like much, but what it gives us is a selection of five different games that span all of the biggest 16-bit consoles of the day, as well as one scaled down to fit on the 8-bit Master System. And while this collection has its fair share of arcade ports, I was excited to see that many of the Darius titles found here were made specifically for home consoles.

In case you're wondering, Darius Cozmic Collection Console skips right to the good stuff, with Darius II leading the charge. We get both the Japanese Mega Drive and American Genesis versions, which are practically identical save for a few cheat codes and a name change. This is a spectacular port that manages to fit the two-monitor arcade cabinet into a single screen by wisely redrawing the sprites. It may not look as good, but I found myself preferring this home port to the arcade version, if only because the single-screen take was better balanced and easier to play.

Although the Genesis and Mega Drive versions are almost identical, the same cannot be said about the Sega Master System port released in 1992. This version of Sagaia was never released in the United States or Japan and is understandably downsized for the more limited 8-bit hardware. It's not as flashy or fast as its 16-bit counterparts, but it was fun seeing all the big and small changes that were made to allow it fit on such a tiny cartridge. After seeing only slight changes on some of the variations in the arcade collection, it's refreshing playing something so different.

Speaking of which, this collection also offers Darius Twin and Darius Force (aka Super Nova), two sequels made specifically with the home market in mind. We get both the Super NES and Super Famicom versions of both games, though there aren't a lot of changes between them. Darius Twin was an early generation Super NES game that plucks elements out of the first two arcade games. Of the two releases, it's the one that definitely feels its age and doesn't live up to expectations.

The same cannot be said about Darius Force, or Super Nova, if you're like me and grew up in the United States. Not only is this one of the best Darius games in this entire collection, but it goes out of its way to break the norm in a number of intriguing ways. Not only do we get to pilot several different ships, but this installment also expands the boss selection beyond the usual underwater sea life and now includes everything from bacteria to dinosaurs. Unfortunately, it's also the most challenging (some might say frustrating) game in the collection, but I also found it to be one of the most satisfying.

The final two games in the Darius Cozmic Collection are both found on the PC Engine, the Japanese version of the TurboGrafx-16. Let's first talk about Darius Plus, which is a slightly downgraded HuCard version of Super Darius. While the original version of the game was released for the PC Engine CD-ROM2 with 26 different bosses, the version we get in this collection only has 16, as well as weaker music. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fun game and I'm glad it's included in this package, but where's the CD version? They give us three ports of Darius II (including a Master System version), but opted against offering the better version of Darius Plus? It's decisions like this that left me scratching my head.

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Thankfully, the other PC Engine game in the collection is a little more exciting. In fact, I would argue that it's one of the main reasons why Darius fans should pick up this compilation up. At its core, Darius Alpha is little more than a boss rush mode that brings the Silver Hawk face-to-face with most of the franchise's most iconic baddies. What's unique about this game is that instead of going the usual retail route, about 800 copies of Darius Alpha were given away to people who bought Darius Plus. Unless you're one of those 800 people who were lucky enough to get the collector's item, this is most likely the first time you've had a chance to buy the game. This is exactly the kind of thing I love to see in these types of game compilations, and the inclusion of Darius Alpha is one of the reasons why I strongly prefer this console collection to its arcade counterpart.

One thing that disappointed me about this package is that only a handful of the games get extra modes. While every game in the arcade collection had a bonus training mode, only the Mega Drive version of Darius II, Darius Force and Darius Alpha go that extra step. The good news is that the bonus modes are far better in this console collection. For example, Darius II has a score-based challenge mode and Darius Alpha has everything from a score attack to a time trial. These are cool additions, but it would have been nice to see all the games get similar treatment.

While I definitely prefer the games in this console collection over those in the arcade version, the two compilations share a lot of the same problems. Even with all these 8- and 16-bit games, the sixty-dollar asking price will drive off all but the most dedicated Darius fans. I also don't understand why they included certain games while simultaneously leaving others out. There are glaring holes that prevent this from being the definitive Darius compilation. That said, the breadth of titles and cool rarities make this more accessible console collection a lot easier to recommend.