The New Classics #44: G-Darius HD

The Backstory: One of the (many) reasons I love the Switch is the abundance of Shoot’em ups in its library — at least compared to other portable consoles. An interesting pattern is emerging when it comes to the genre: a developer releases a remake of a beloved game in their flagship series, along with a new and exclusive entry. Success did it with Cotton, and so did Taito with Darius; we’re now dealing with G-Darius HD, the Switch remake of a 1997 arcade release. 

 

 

The Game: I’ll admit it: something felt weird during my first seconds with G-Darius HD. It was a feeling of foreignness of the controls, an uncanny valley of sorts in the graphics — at any rate, it nearly made me turn off my Switch on the spot. But I forged ahead, and the weirdness quickly dissipated.  

 

 

In its place came one of the most inventive and satisfying shoot’em ups I’ve played so far. First, I must rave about the scrolling, which is just my wildest dreams come true. To put it simply, the screen carries you around, at a speed that is just pitch-perfect — enough to be thrilling, yet not too challenging. With your movement taken care of, you’re free to shoot at stuff and gaze at the gorgeous vistas. The concept is brilliantly exploited in boss battles: bosses kindly present their vulnerable parts to your line of fire, in what can only be described as some splendid battle choreography.  

 

 

Talking about splendid, I must also rave about the game’s aesthetics. The marine theme comes completely out of left field in an aerial shoot’em up; and yet, it works beautifully. These mechanical fishes are a delight to look at — and just as much of a delight to shoot at. The pointy polygonal graphics immediately reminded me of the 3D phases in Sonic Rush — needless to say, that association put me in a very good mood and made me very partial towards G-Darius HD.

 

 

Then I discovered the game’s unique gameplay mechanics, and there was no turning back. Being able to capture enemy ships and use their firing abilities is just brilliant, and so is the game’s trademark laser. Then you have the branching paths, which add plenty of replay value, and the automatic saving at the beginning of each stage. And do you know what is even better, dear fellow gamers? Complimentary infinite lives. Yes, that’s right: should you want to, you can keep your life count filled up at all times — or not. 

 

 

The Verdict: There’s no suspense left here, I guess: I love that game, I wanna keep it, and I’m very much planning to purchase the newest exclusive Switch entry!