Darius Burst Chronicle Saviours [3000+ Stages]

This has been my most anticipated game for many years and is finally here with all its dual-screen glory. For those who have visited Japan you will feel at home with this. It's a magnificent port available on PC and also on PlayStation.



Here is an example of a solid dual-monitor setup you can do:







Recommended controller:



Real Arcade Pro. 4 Premium Vewlix (Taito Certified)






Release Trailer:







When I heard the news I actually thought it was going to be around $15 because most space ship shooters are around that price range, specially considering it is a digital release.



But now that I look at the actual $60 price tag it got me thinking why would they ask for more, and it does make sense now that I think what the game really is.



First I realized this is a top of the line space ship shooter from Japan, it is published by Taito, the ones that brought us Space Invaders and made it all happen for the video game industry.



Which definitely makes it not an indie game, since it comes from the biggest arcade corporation in history. it was released for the arcades exclusively and it was their flagship for their arcade centers.



It is a Taito Type X2 game, which means is along side with other top of the line arcade games such as Super Street Fighter IV, Dead Or Alive V, and The King Of Fighters XIII.



When you compare it to another rival shooter like Caladrius Blaze, it will cost you $60 to obtain a copy of that for your PS3, a physical copy , but still $60.



And as amazing as Caladrius Blaze is as a game, Darius has a much higher rank just by history alone. Darius came out in 1986 along side with other historic shooters like Gradius, a series that we have seen many times during different generations.



Darius II was probably my favorite, I think they ported it to the Genesis, while Darius Twin was on the SNES. G-Darius was on the PS1 while Darius Gaiden was highly acclaimed as the best shooter on the Saturn that also came out for the PS2.



Taito has threaded this series in the same way Street Fighter is threaded by Capcom, coming from Street Fighter IV to Ultra Street Fighter IV during many different development releases.



The Darius Burst version you are getting here is the one that evolved, and they even give you the option to choose between Another Chronicle and Chronicle Saviours, in a similar way to Super Street Fighter IV where you can choose between Arcade Edition and Ultra.



However after considering all those qualities along side of how beautiful it looks, performs, sounds, and plays, plus all the difficulty modes, it is still a digital release, and $60 may still sound high.



The game is $60, not $40, $40 is just a temporary deal they have going on, and even though this is top of the line, the highest you can get when it comes to quality in a space ship shooter, that still sounds like a lot when you hear it.



You could almost think they are trying to capitalize on the hopes and expectations of fans waiting for this game for so many years where almost not amount of money seems important as long as we can get the game, and that make sense from a business perspective.



But there is one more relevant thing to consider, most spaceship shooters do have 5 to 8 stages as a standard because they are designed for the arcades and they don't expect players to spend many hours in front of a cabinet.



Darius Burst Chronicle Saviours has over 3000 stages. A collection of 3000+ top of the line shmup stages. It is insanity, the gameplay is insanity, co-op for 4 players, dual-screen, etc..



So now it just clicks why it costs so much at launch. However for those who don't have a background in these kind of games or in Darius in particular, I guess some more waiting can still be done by them. I personally was not able to wait any longer, LOL!



Specially in this digital age where all of the sudden you can see a downloadable game disappear of the listings from night to day, so the promotional release deal of $20 off came good as well. Plus it is important to reward publishers when they bring you the good stuff by buying the game while is still at full price to encourage them to bring more good stuff in the future.



That aside, buying the game alone is $60, but if you want to have the full experience you have to consider that you may only have one TV, and you can play it that way and really enjoy it, but it is not the same as having both screens next to each other.



Or you may have a TV with a thick margin, in that case you will have to get 2 new monitors instead of one, and they don't come cheap. Each Sony 55" monitor with a skinny margin runs around $800 if you find a good deal, and that's just one monitor.



Now if you still want to buy a pro controller like the Taito Hori I mentioned with a Hayabusa joystick and Sanwa Denshi buttons, each one costs $300 a piece, and for a 4 players experience you are talking about $1200 just on controllers. I know that sounds like insanity but some people are doing just that, it is crazy.



However the PS4 version has the Dualshock 4 which is a beautiful controller in my opinion, specially the 20th anniversary edition, and that controller will be just fine to play this game on a single monitor. Plus if you really want that wide experience on a PS4 you can still use your projector and enjoy it that way instead.



But even with all those expenses you probably will spend just as much in bringing an actual Dariusburst arcade machine from Japan for your game room, and that is even cooler if you can do that.







Publisher: Taito

Developer: Pyramid

Platforms: Arcade, PC, PS4, PSVita

Release Date: December 2, 2015 (NA), December 8, 2015 (EU), January 16, 2016 (JP)

Genre: Shoot 'em Up

Cabinet: Taito Type X2