If, like me, you spent far too long at the arcades in your youth, the Darius games will be well known to you. Some of the best side scrolling shooters to come from Taito’s stables with DariusBurst being one of the best examples of these.
DariusBurst Another Chronicle EX+ takes the thrills of the arcade original Another Chronicle EX and transplants them on to home consoles with a few extra bells and whistles. though not as many I was hoping for. The Original Mode includes as the first menu option gives you a straight up port, Chronicle Mode splits things up a bit but is mostly the same with added mission objectives. Original EX Mode gives you a harder difficulty and finally Event Mode gives you the ability to take individual parts of the game from both the original arcade version and the plus version in a sort of time attack variant. An F-burst option has also been added to aid you in trying to defeat the growing waves of enemies. It works in a similar way to the basic mobile turrets of games such as R-Type.
For those who haven’t played the game or the Darius series before, they’re all set in an aquatic style environment with the aliens based on fish designs. The 3D graphics are stunning to watch, as long as you can keep an eye on them while dodging the myriad projectiles that head towards you, that is. This is certainly the best looking game in the series and is just as easy to get into as any o f the others, with various difficulty options meaning that you should be able to get some sort of head start if you’re new to the genre (though none make it overly easy on you, it must be said).
This range of game mode options gives fans a huge selection to play around with and should help entice them enough to warrant buying the game but ININ games have also provided the ability to play with up to 4 players locally as well.
If you’re new to the genre then you should find something here to pique your interest but for the most part it will be those who are already fans of the series who get the most out of Dariusburst: Another Chronicle EX+. The extra modes and multiplayer make this one worth adding to your collection.
DariusBurst Another Chronicle EX+
Pros
- Best Darius game on Switch to date
- Plenty of game options to play around with
- Local multiplayer works well
Cons
- Not as many options as some other games
- More history on the game could have been included
