Steven Pendleton Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I found this on BEEP's web store just now when I went to go preorder Cotton Reboot!. I didn't hear about this from anywhere else, so this is interesting. Unfortunately, it's a Columbus Circle release, so expect dumpster-tier cart quality. https://www.beep-shop.com/ec/products/detail/5587 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersaurus Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 It’s actually a revised version of the game from the Genesis Mini. Adds conversions of the other two arcade Darius revisions, redoes the audio, and tweaked the Tiat (easy) mode to account for a lack of save states. Columbus Circle’s about the only outfit doing this stuff in Japan do their involvement is to be expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 (edited) 19 hours ago, ubersaurus said: Columbus Circle’s about the only outfit doing this stuff in Japan do their involvement is to be expected. Please don't remind me... Anyway, I just got an email from Strictly Limited Games. They are producing it for those humans who do not live in Japan/want to buy it from Japan. Hopefully this one won't be made with trash parts like Columbus Circle's carts are/will be. DragonBox is making the carts, but all I know about them is that they are in Germany (I think) and that they have the Retrode in stock sometimes and that I haven't ordered it from them yet despite having an account there. I think I made an account there, anyway... https://store.strictlylimitedgames.com/collections/darius Edited October 22, 2020 by Steven Pendleton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 I preordered it from BEEP just now. The US and PAL versions release in August, but the Japanese version releases on the 21st of February. Japanese version is more expensive before shipping than the US or PAL versions are after shipping from wherever in Europe Strictly Limited Games is located (how the hell is this fair?), but as I prefer Japanese versions of Japanese games and I'll get BEEP's preorder bonus, I'll put up with the lower cart quality and get the game 7 months before the US/PAL versions ship. Stock of US and PAL versions is low now and the Japanese version has been sold out on Amazon for some time, so if you want this, don't wait... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 I preordered mine through SLG on Saturday during the first initial batch run of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 3 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said: I preordered mine through SLG on Saturday during the first initial batch run of them. Yeah, I am questioning getting the Japanese version for a few reasons aside from the price. Of course, Columbus Circle makes terrible carts, but the other reason is that the Japanese version won't fit in the Nomad, which is my primary Genesis/MD. The SLG cart will fit in the Nomad, but I'll probably end up buying a Retrode and dumping the cart anyway. I have little interest in collecting US carts, as I much prefer Japanese carts, so at that point I'd be basically satisfied. I suppose I should probably dump Mad Stalker, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersaurus Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I usually just plop them in a game genie to run on a US system. I recognize that is deeply awkward for a Nomad, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 In my case my 32x allows just enough clearance for JPN MD game carts to fit. If the games happen to have region lock then I flip the switch on the side as needed. But None of these newer releases thus far have actually been region locked as I haven't had to switch out from US mode in I don't know how long. Even original JPN MD games that I own seem to work just fine without the region switch being used. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedropoole Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 The Dariius ROM is free and works perfectly with Everdrives and emulators....https://archive.org/details/darius_201911 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 I got it just now. The cart is typical Columbus Circle PCB quality, as expected. Time to play it and see how it is. On 12/11/2020 at 12:38 AM, cedropoole said: The Dariius ROM is free and works perfectly with Everdrives and emulators.... Uh... that's not exactly what I'd call free and it's different from this release. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 Well, it seems does fit in the Nomad... barely. The other Columbus Circle games that I have also barely fit. Probably not a good idea, but it works. Biggest complaint about this is that it seems that Columbus Circle was too damn cheap to put EEPROM in here, so unlike the Genesis Mini/MD Mini Darius, this cart doesn't save your high scores. Otherwise, excellent game is excellent and highly recommended. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted December 15, 2021 Share Posted December 15, 2021 Just wanted to update this thread as I received my shipping notification this morning for my Darius extra for the Genesis/MD over a year later. So, they are coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 You wanted an extra one? Seems nice to have vs just having it on the mini though. I've got the mini but it would be nice to have it for Nomad usage, though I do have it (and Tetris) on an everdrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Pendleton Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Tanooki said: You wanted an extra one? Seems nice to have vs just having it on the mini though. I've got the mini but it would be nice to have it for Nomad usage, though I do have it (and Tetris) on an everdrive. Darius Extra Version is superior to the Mini version in most ways. Mini version's only advantage is that it saves high scores but Extra Version doesn't. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 15 hours ago, Tanooki said: You wanted an extra one? Seems nice to have vs just having it on the mini though. I've got the mini but it would be nice to have it for Nomad usage, though I do have it (and Tetris) on an everdrive. I wanted a physical version and as @Steven Pendleton stated, there are additional changes to the 'extra' version that were added after the mini's release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Mine shipped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 On 12/22/2021 at 9:31 PM, jgkspsx said: Mine shipped! Mine arrived this afternoon! So...yeah about a year it took on this one I think? Initial impressions of the cartridge itself are good. The edge is beveled and overall feels of good quality. Has a reversible slip cover. Mine arrived in the black grid style but has the blue European styling on the opposite side. Likely stick with the black grid style as it will blend in better with the rest of my collection of games that way. I haven't tried to play it yet but I'm not very good at shooters so I doubt I would survive long enough to really get that far in it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 It’s one of the hardest ports for sure, but it looks and sounds amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 So I finally got around the popping this into my Genesis last night and ended up playing it for about 3 hours straight! The game is known to be difficult, but switching to Tiat and using the Extra version of the game will get you through with ease. The Extra mode with Tiat means you don't loose your power ups when you lose a ship, and it gives you like 99 continues. I ended up playing through the game like 5 times last night choosing all the different paths etc. But I've only managed to see 3 different endings to the game. I suspect there is at least one more and I've just not found the correct path to take yet. Easiest path it seems is to just always take the bottom path while the most difficult route would be the top path after each boss. The music has some really good parts to it with nice stereo separation however, the sound effects seem to be a bit too loud and drown it all out on my AV setup. The PCM samples aren't that great either that are used such as when you take down a boss. But I was having a great time with this last night and I don't normally like shooters. On the physical cartridge side of things, I'm more impressed. Mine is beveled on both sides of the PCB although not quite as much as original games back in the day, but enough to not cause any issues when inserting that I could feel. The cart pops in easily but still still a nice firm feel and comes out easily as well like a regulator cart from back in the day. At least through my 32x since I always have that attached. The label used on the Strictly Limited release is gorgeous! I hadn't really paid attention to it until last night, but it uses a foil layer on it for the logo that looks nice, and there are strong ink/print lines outlining the graphics that you can see as a sort of relief on the label. Again, I hadn't noticed this at first but it is very nice. The cartridge shell is a generic European style with the notch on the left lower side as again is usual. There is no branding or anything on the back as it is a pretty bare bones shell. But it still feels solid and is using phillips/cross head screws in it instead of the security inverse star screws usually found on Genesis game cartridges. I've not opened it up yet but likely will at some point just to get a good look at the PCB. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoGamer Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 (edited) Not bad for $51.75 based on the current exchange rate. I had no idea this was releasing for the Genesis! So far, the people who received their copies have nothing but positive things to say about this release! As a fan of the Genesis/Megadrive and the shmup genre, this release seems right up my alley! Edited January 9, 2022 by ColecoGamer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 20 hours ago, ColecoGamer said: Not bad for $51.75 based on the current exchange rate. I had no idea this was releasing for the Genesis! So far, the people who received their copies have nothing but positive things to say about this release! As a fan of the Genesis/Megadrive and the shmup genre, this release seems right up my alley! I don't recall exactly what I paid for it as I ordered it well over a year ago from SLG. But I've no complaints at all about what I've received and again, I'm not a fan of shooters typically (I kinda suck at them honestly...). But I do like this one and can seem myself going back to it from time to time when I feel like taking out some enemy ships and bosses shaped like mechanized aquatic life. Not sure about that 'Electric Fan' boss though. Looks more like a sea anemone or something vs a fan in the traditional sense and would fit in better with the rest of the naming for the aquatic inspired bosses. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 Just beat it once on the top path. On the Nomad no less! Tiat + Extra mode makes it a very nice training-wheels shmup instead of the incredibly hard game it normally is. Crossbow already said most of what I had to say. It’s a really fancy PCB: With a glorious double bevel: But it does rattle around in the shell a bit much for my tastes. The shell is oddly plain. The label is gorgeous and dimensional: I’m very happy with the package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 Someone over at Seag16 stated theirs didn't have a beveled edge? Mine has the double bevel on it as well so I'm not sure if they got some strange one off or what the deal was. And yes that label on the cart is amazing and I've haven't really seen any pics that can do it justice. Interesting there is a spot for a battery. I'm guessing the high scores are saved via flash ram then. Unless they reset when you power off? I don't know that I've checked that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 TI think it’s flash or EEPROM. That is a stock open source board that can use a traditional battery or EEPROM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 By the way, has anybody else played this on a Nomad? Is it cut off for you? @Steven Pendletonperhaps? It doesn’t affect gameplay but it’s a little distracting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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