Darius Twin
| Darius Twin | |
|---|---|
 Cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Taito |
| Publisher(s) | Taito |
| Series | Darius |
| Platform(s) | Super NES |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Horizontal scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Darius Twin (ダライアスツイン Daraiasu Tsuin) is a horizontal scrolling shooter for the Super NES, released in 1991 and is part of the Darius series. It was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on April 13, 2010 and in North America on December 13, 2010.
Gameplay
Though similar to the arcade Darius entries, Darius Twin featured slightly different gameplay features, most notably in the player's power-ups. Players collected weapon and shield power-ups from square shaped enemies that approached the player from the front and behind, but once players died after collecting a certain number of power-ups, the power-ups the player collected stayed with the ship post-destruction. Players 1 and 2 were allowed their own separate number of lives, but there were no continues in the game.
The game contains five color-coded classes of power-up. The pink item powers up the main weapon, green powers up the side weapons, blue regenerates and/or improves the force shield, orange gives one extra Silver Hawk, and yellow destroys all enemies on-screen. At two points in the game, the player can find a red power-up with a special purpose. It switches the main weapon shot style between that seen in Darius and Darius II.
Plot
Taking place sometime after Darius II, Proco and Tiat realized just how far Belser had reached into space and hurried back to Orga in hopes of warning the populace. The time they were gone was just enough time for Belser's allies to regroup and spread beyond Darius and begin their invasion of Orga. Once again, Proco and Tiat are quick to throw themselves into battle.
Darius Twin is the only Darius game (besides Sagaia for Sega Master System and Game Boy consoles) where there is only one final stage. As a result, Taito adopted a unique ending modality. There are five endings, each triggered by certain actions in-game. Four of these will never trigger unless Super Alloy Lantern is destroyed.