Darius Cozmic Collection Reviews
All three games available in Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade, in all of their included versions, are well worth playing for any fan of shoot 'em ups out there. Those are the best ports anyone could hope for, and there is nothing wrong with them in their own right. The fact that running them on a home arcade cabinet is practically impossible because of the multi-monitor nature of the first two games included, makes this collection very desirable indeed for the sake of preservation alone. The price of admission, however, is pretty steep if one considers that only three games are truly included - no matter how great they are, and that the first neither has aged particularly well, nor is comfortable to play on modern 16:9 displays. G-Darius and Dariusburst Another Chronicle are sorely missing from this compilation, to the point of being outrageous. A very good collection then, just not priced very sensibly.
If you’re a fan of classic arcade shoot-’em-ups, Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade is easily worth the price of admission. However, it’s worth noting that Darius and its two revisions are all but unplayable in handheld mode for those of us with mere mortal eyes, which means those with a Switch Lite likely won’t be able to enjoy a substantial chunk of this compilation.
Darius Cozmic Collection: Arcade revisits the series' first three games with extensive user interface extras. Being able to play so many different versions of these games is interesting, but the collection is still ultimately geared towards hardcore shoot-'em-up fans or fans of the Darius series.
While I was a pretty big arcade shooter fan in the arcades the Darius series is one I don't remember playing very much...
This bring us to both collections’ biggest issue. Darius as a series must be programmed with some kind of rare metal because they always seem to command a very high price for entry. I noted this back in the day when I reviewed Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours for the Vita. This issue will be the main reason people will avoid a purchase, especially with current circumstances in the world. The other notable issue is that these collections are not complete collections of the Darius series. This is nothing new with retro collections in general, but the oddest omission is that of the first Darius game on the Console Collection. The reason it’s a bit fishy is that this game was released on the Mega Drive Mini which was also developed by M2 and yet is strangely missing from this collection. There are also a variety of other titles and ports missing that enthusiasts of the series may be disappointed not to have. Both the Arcade Collection and Console Collection are brilliant. M2 has once again outdone themselves and proved they’re the best at retro gaming on modern systems. It’s a shame the price is so darn high though, especially since I really couldn’t see owning only one of these collections. If you do take the plunge you have a brilliant collection of one of the best schmup series from ye old days.
A couple of omissions grate and it's hardly cheap, but this is a sumptuous collection for the grandest of shmups.
M2 provides the necessary context to enjoy the experience without changing the actual game.