Darius Gaiden - Silver Hawk (Ver 2.5J 1994/09/19) - MAME machine

Taito F3 cart. published 31 years ago:

Darius Gaiden - Silver Hawk © 1994 Taito Corporation.

Darius Gaiden is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up in which one or two players pilot the Silver Hawk, a powerful fighter equipped with both a forward-firing weapon as well as bombs that constantly drop from the underside of the ship. The Hawk is also equipped with the 'Arm', a time-limited energy shield that absorbs enemy attacks without harm to the ship.

The Silver Hawk begins each game equipped with three Black Hole Bombs. These create a large, swirling vortex that pulls in nearby enemies and projectiles, followed by lightning strikes that inflict massive damage on any remaining enemies. The Hawk also has the ability to the capture mini-bosses that appear in the middle of most levels. This is accomplished by destroying the energy orb located on mini-boss's head and collecting it when it detaches. Captured mini-bosses ally with the player and fire their own weapons at enemies for a brief period of time, before self-destructing.

Collecting coloured emblems dropped by correspondingly-coloured enemies enables players to power-up the Silver Hawk's abilities. The game features a total of seven stages split over 28 zones, with players able to choose their own route through the game at the end of each stage.

TECHNICAL
Runs on the "Taito F3 System" Hardware.

Prom Stickers: D87

Screen Orientation: Horizontal

Players: 2
Control: 8-Way Joystick
Buttons: 2
→ Missile, Bomb

TRIVIA
Darius Gaiden was released on September 19, 1994.

The title of this game translates from Japanese as 'Darius Side Story - Silver Hawk'.

The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed to 'AAA'.

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Darius Gaiden - PCCB-00166) on November 18, 1994.

UPDATES
The US version has the "Recycle It, Don't Trash It!" screen.

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Items list:
• Red Shield: Appears when a red enemy is destroyed. Your shots are powered up by one level.
• Green Shield: Appears when a green enemy is destroyed. When three have been obtained, your surface bombs are powered up by one level.
• Blue Shield: Appears when a blue enemy is destroyed. When five have been obtained, your barrier is upgraded by one level.
• Violet Shield: This is hidden in the landscape and appears when it is hit by a bomb. Your Black Hole bomb supply is increased by one.
• Silver Shield: This is hidden in the landscape and appears when it is hit by a bomb. Awards a bonus score.
• Gold Shield: This is hidden in the landscape and appears when it is hit by a bomb. It will destroy all enemies on the screen.
• Extend Medallion: This is hidden in the landscape and appears when it is hit by a bomb. It will award you one extra life.
• Shoot the control ball to detach it from the mid-level boss. Then collect the ball to use the mid-level boss as a weapon.

SERIES

• Darius (1987, Arcade)
• Darius II (1989, Arcade)
• Darius Twin [Model SHVC-DT] (1991, Super Famicom)
• Darius Force [Model SHVC-DH] (1993, Super Famicom)
• Darius Gaiden - Silver Hawk (1994, Arcade)
• G-Darius (1997, Arcade)
• G-Darius ver.2 (1997, Arcade)
• Darius Burst (2009, Sony PSP)
• Darius Burst - Another Chronicle (2010, Arcade)
• Darius Burst - Another Chronicle EX (2011, Arcade)

STAFF
Producer: Hidehiro Fujihara
Game Designers: Hisakazu Kato, Akira Kurabayashi, Masami Kikuchi, Yutaka Nagayama, Naoto Omura, Hidetaka Harada, Rintaro Doi, Katsumi Kaneoka, Hisayoshi Ogura, Katsuhisa Ishikawa
Thanks: Kentaro Matsumura
Art Directors: Kat, Masami Kikuchi, Baw-Baw
Programmers: Kurabar, Yutaka Nagayama, Naoto Dmura, Hidetaka Harada
Hardware Engineer: Katsumi Kaneoka
Decorator: Rintaro Doi
Sound (Zuntata): Hisayoshi Ogura (OGR.), Katsuhisa Ishikawa
Bit Pattern: Makoto Fujita, Ucky Maeda, Tohru Kawaishi, Yuko Kajihara, Miwa Kamiya, Vap, A-Wave

Special Thanks: Hisao Shimizu, Ichiro Fujisue, Rie Amino, Takako Akitsu, Masahiro Tashito, Nakayama Jotohei, Nobuyuki Hayashi, Ryota Komai, Yasunobu Kosokabe, Mitsuru Fukumoto, Saori Hiratsuka, Ryota Sasaki, Naoto Yagishita, Takao Yoshiba, Nobuaki Kuroki, Yuichi Onogi, Makoto Osaka, Yoshihiro Mori, Naomitsu Abe, Masatoshi Tsuneoka, Yosuke Tsuda, Papara Kaito, Yoshinari Mitani, I,G Tatsunoko

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[JP] Sega Saturn (dec.15, 1995) "Darius Gaiden [Model T-1102G]"
[EU] Sega Saturn (1996) "Darius Gaiden [Model T-8123H-50]"
[US] Sega Saturn (1996) "Darius Gaiden [Model T-8123H]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (dec.13, 1996) "Darius Gaiden [Model SLPS-00574]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (jul.28, 2005) "Taito Memories Joukan [Model SLPM-66057]"
Sony PlayStation 2 [AU] (mar.30, 2006) "Taito Legends 2 [Model SLES-53852]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (mar.31, 2006) "Taito Legends 2"
[EU] Sony PS2 (mar.31, 2006) "Taito Legends 2 [Model SLES-53852]"
[US] Sony PS2 (may.16, 2007) "Taito Legends 2 [Model SLUS-21349]"

• COMPUTERS:

[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (1998)
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (mar.31, 2006) "Taito Legends 2"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.10, 2007) "Taito Legends 2"

CONTRIBUTE
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