In these modern times, classic genres like shmups are somewhat overlooked. One of the founding series of these games though, that of Darius, refuses to walk out blindly into the night. With the release of the latest game imminent, I recently visited the developer of the game Pyramid and found out why Darius is such an enduring series.
Now I’ve played these games since the 80s and there are a few things that tend to define the Darius games; branching level paths, very long screens, raucous gameplay and the fact you have to destroy giant alien robot fish.
DariusBurst is the latest entry to the series and started out on the PSP and shifted over to the arcade as well as on smartphone. What makes DariusBurst: Chronicle Saviours so special is that it is probably the first major home console release in the series since G-Darius on the PSone back in 1998.
So if you are a fan of shmups, then Chronicle Saviours is a really big deal and I was very glad to see that the team also share that passion for these games.
While the team for the game is quite compact, I caught up with the director of the DariusBurst series and senior vice president of Pyramid Junichi Kashiwagi, producer James Wragg and the two mecha designers who have worked on the DariusBurst series; Takayuki Yanase and Kanetake Ebikawa.
Considering how big a release this is in the Darius series, I asked Kashiwagi on what had him most excited about Chronicle Saviours, “As you know this is a series, one using a fixed timeline that developed into many different stories. This one is the final version, so the concluding part I suppose. So in that sense the content is the richest in the series, so hopefully players will find that enjoyable. Normally in shoot-em-up games it's fairly straightforward, as you just shoot enemies. In this case though there is more going on. Due to the fact that we've already released iterations of DariusBurst on PSP, smartphone and in the arcades, Chronicle Saviours is very much a distillation of all that.”
“So the best part of development was definitely finishing the game, working with the team to get it all done. However, when I was working on the arcade versions doing the location tests was great. As you could directly see players having fun with the game, whereas with other games on consoles they go to the shops and you don't get see the reactions of players firsthand.”
However, porting the new game over to the PS Vita was not quite so easy as he explains further, “Getting the PS Vita version working was hard. The main programmer put a lot of work into optimizing it and obviously the PS4 and PC versions run okay, but the Vita is the Vita. Making sure that with the huge number of enemies on the screen the game was still playable was difficult. Compared to the PSP version, that maybe had 10 to 15 enemies on screen at once. In the arcade game and in CS there can be over a hundred. So it was a challenge and a lot of work to get it all working on the Vita.”
The big draw for this new game is that it finally includes the recent DariusBurst arcade content and it’s clear that they haven’t held back on this, as Kashiwagi says, “All the arcade content from Another Chronicle EX are included here. On top of that we also have a lot more new content, specifically the all-new CS game mode.”
As Wragg went on to clarify, “We've basically got two modes; AC which is the arcade version and CS which is all new. In the arcade version you have multiple modes, Original, Original EX with the traditional Darius level branching and then you have the eponymous Chronicle mode. This has 3000 plus stages and you could never clear them all yourself, so what we've done here on the console version is to create virtual cabinets in the cloud. You choose a cabinet and then you share all your data with people on that cabinet. So if we're playing together and I clear stage X1 and you clear X2, we switch data on the server and the next time we play our stages are available on either console. Online is really important here, though you can obviously play the game offline too. Though the whole point of the arcade game was that you had the local Original and the EX modes but you also had the Chronicle mode too. This was to get more people to come into the arcades and compete as well as co-operate within their local arcades as well as those located around the country.”
Like previous Darius games before, DariusBurst also boasted a huge screen for the arcade versions. This is always something that has been an issue when it came to porting the games in the past. Here though, Pyramid has ported the game very faithfully in that regard. Though this was by no means an easy process, as Kashiwagi goes on to explain, “When you think about Darius especially the first two games it's all about the long screen and that's never been ported properly before. We were really split about whether we should go with the full letterbox in AC mode for CS, or the semi-letterbox we eventually ended up with.”
“When we tried to emulate the arcade version we thought we needed an 80 inch screen, which is impossible. On the arcade version, it uses a dual monitor. So none of the consoles support that. What we've done here then is to letterbox the arcade version to fit on one screen. It would have been impossible to directly port the arcade version realistically without doing something like this with the resolution.”
“Naturally, the arcade players are looking for the full experience. When we brought the game to the arcades originally the bosses were built for a big screen, so we wanted to maintain that for people who have played the arcade version as well as those that haven't. So letterboxing the arcade version was the only way here. The good thing is that it gives a kind of cinematic feel to it. When you've got it on a really big screen the impact is pretty great.”
While the game does include a full port of the arcade version, there is also an all-new mode, which is what the game takes its name from. However, due to the fact it’s meant for home consoles the screen ratio was done to fit that, as Wragg clarifies, “For CS mode, when we ported the game over to PS4 and Vita there was the choice whether to letterbox the same as the AC mode or use more of the screen. So CS mode is more widescreen with a bit of letterboxing, though the latter was to avoid HUD clutter as we can position that out of the play area.”
It’s here when the game was fired up and I got to see what CS mode is all about, as Kashiwagi went onto clarify, “CS mode is different. It moves away from the traditional branching from the older games. It's more like Chronicle except you've got one big map for all the levels. Because Chronicle mode was meant for the arcade, it meant there wasn't much story involved. CS mode actually goes over the story from the PSP, arcade versions onwards, so it puts all the stories together. This means you have different areas of the map that represent different timelines in the story.”
“Naturally the AC mode contains the entire arcade story, whereas CS is not so much an omnibus but actually looking at the same story from a slightly different viewpoint. CS stands for Chronicle Saviours and it's about this special forces unit which is fighting against the Belsar and their actions run parallel to events in the other versions.”
CS mode also has new content, especially in regard to bosses. However, some of these designs have actually been around for a while and it’s only now that we’re getting to see them used in game. Kashiwagi went on to talk about one in particular, “We've also had to re-do a lot of the bosses as well. For instance when we were doing the PSP, a crab boss was one of the designs we were given. For various reasons we didn't manage to get it in and it's been languishing since then.”
“As a lot of the bosses are normally fish based, in previous versions the crab boss has been sideview. This time though, as the game is in 3D, viewing it from the side really wouldn't work visually. So we took a lot of time getting the crab right, with the top view and obviously making it work as a boss as well. It's not just about making the animation work but it's got to work functionally.”
These designs are something that has also helped DariusBurst to stand out compared to the other games in the series. Penned by both Takayuki Yanase and Kanetake Ebikawa, they’ve helped to modernize the series as well as make it look really rather cool.
Kashiwagi initially talked about the visual design origins for the series and why it then shifted over to this new aesthetic, “Originally all the boss designs were done by Tatsunoko Productions for the older games and it worked at the time. When we were rethinking Darius for a modern audience, Taito made the decision to get some more modern mecha designers involved to revamp the image of the series. That's why we ended up working with Takayuki Yanase and Kanetake Ebikawa.”
Both Yanase and Ebikawa have a sizable repertoire behind them but normally they are known for more humanoid type mecha designs but that’s only a small part of their skill set, as Yanase went onto say, “While a lot of our work that gets noticed is humanoid type mecha, but when doing animation work we often have to design other vehicles and battleships as well.”
Ebikawa was quick to concur, “Again, people think we only do mecha but we can design anything really. So I've done a lot of battleship type designs too. In terms of the process, it doesn't really differ too much between humanoid type mecha and ships. In this instance we got a lot of requests to design oceanic type creatures but it wasn't too difficult, as the briefing was really clear.”
Both Yanase and Ebikawa also have a habit of working together, as they went on to explain, “From the time we worked on Gundam 00 there was a lot of crossover in our mecha design workload, so we had to work closely to make sure it all made sense. We got on well, so after that it made sense to do more work together. Kunio Okawara is also someone we both admire, when we were kids he was the main guy really. Especially his work on Time Bokan.”
Yanase has designed all manner of mecha over the years but he’s also had to work within the restrictions of famous gaming crossover series as well, “With Super Robot Wars I did some of the OG mecha and as it's a big crossover series, I tried to make sure it fit with the rest of the mecha in the game. As for Another Century's Episode, the focus of the story was on the original mecha and so I tried to make something that didn't mingle too much with the other crossover mecha. So when you saw it, I wanted to make sure it stood out.”
Being able to make designs that blend in as well as stand out is obviously key in a shmup, as the designs have a functional purpose after all. Thankfully, both of these mecha designers are gamers too and Yanase went onto talk about his recent gaming purchases, “I played Star Wars Battlefront on the beta test and it was interesting. Though I actually thought I cancelled my order but it arrived anyway.”
Ebikawa was quick to chime in, “I actually play games a lot, probably too many. Splatoon is something I play a lot at the moment, as well as God Eater, Dragon Quest too.”
Yanase responded “I play Splatoon as well a bit but nowhere near as much as Ebikawa (laughs).”
In that it’s clear how both these mecha designers understand how their mecha will be used at least.
Due to the nautical theme of the Darius series, Ebikawa also has an interesting approach to these kinds of odd settings as he explained with his work on the anime series Full Metal Panic, “The whole story is set in the near future. In that sense it is based in close proximity to actual reality a lot of the time and yet somehow it isn't. So taking into account this design for realism, I wanted to retain that in the designs and yet when the AS mecha appear, it can be suddenly quite odd and not fit in. So I tool a lot of care in balancing those elements, in that it sits nicely in the environment but still doesn't kill off the sense that this is quite odd.”
It’s this oddness that is key, as ultimately the bosses in Darius are giant robotic fish a lot of the time. However, the choice of both Yanase and Ebikawa was a shrewd one. Yanase is known for his pragmatism when it comes to mecha and Ebikawa is more sleek and elegant. So the result of their combined efforts produces a kind of sleek pragmatism, whilst still retaining that sense of strangeness for the Belsar. So it’s clear their aesthetic has really helped to bring a fresh take on the world of Darius.
Back to CS mode it’s clear there is a lot more to this than just a repackaging of content, as Wragg went onto explain, “CS mode also has 200 plus stages, so while we are calling it a mode here it's actually a whole other game. In terms of timelines, you also have dates shown for the stages as well.”
It’s this timeline that is a key point, as Chronicle Saviours is meant to bookend the narrative. Something Wragg was kind enough to clarify, “G-Darius was a prequel to the whole series, as it featured the birth of the Belsar right at the end of the game. Chronicle Saviours though is the last point in the timeline and is the final one in terms of the overall narrative. In terms of DariusBurst's timeline, then this is the last game. The events in the game also span about 20 years worth of the story too.”
A new mode wouldn’t be without an all-new final boss and this one is meant to be the last of the Belsar too, a definitive battle if you will. Kashiwagi was quick to show this and explain the process behind its creation, “On the last boss in CS mode, I am the only one that can clear the whole thing. When one of the management came to play it, he couldn't and gave up.”
Wragg also went to talk on a bit about the production of the last boss as well, “We also had one of the previous team members who had worked on the previous DariusBurst games to help out with the last boss. The last boss though is a culmination of the programmer and Kashiwagi basically tuning it. I think it took about three months of tuning to get it where it is.”
“As the game develops, we added in a new ship and stuff like that and you end up finding that some of the bosses were weaker than you thought or a bit too strong in some parts. This time around we have the 8 ships that were in the arcade version, plus a new one for CS mode. So the last boss will be close to possible with all of them.”
Despite all this nearly endless content, Wragg went onto explain that the team for the game was actually very compact, “The core development team was basically 2 programmers, one artist, one planner and Kashiwagi, including myself obviously. In terms of art content, a lot of it came in from the previous games but we have 6 new bosses, several new backgrounds, the UI had to be re-done. It was a lot of work for just one artist, so we did have some internal help from people who had worked on other games in the series, who I actually couldn't stop helping in fact. I came in one morning and one of other artists in the studio was working on the new ship and I thought "did I ask him to do that...oh nevermind".”
The recent arcade lineage is something that Chronicle Saviours is happy to leverage, as Wragg talked about how important the arcade game’s community was in shaping the new game, “There also a lot of small features in here that came from feedback via the arcade community for the games. For instance, in the Darius series when you pick up the shield you can't see how many shields you have got left. In the options screen now, we have it so you can turn on that information and see how many hits your shield can take until it fails.”
For me though, one of the best games in the series was G-Darius and DariusBurst shares a lot of mechanics with that game. I was curious as to why that came about and Kashiwagi was more than happy to explain, “As for why we have common functional elements between G-Darius and DariusBurst it is because as a feature of the Taito game there tends to be a common beam shooting mechanic. So we adopted that idea, as a result Metal Black and G-Darius had certain similarities and that carried over to DariusBurst.”
“There are two main elements, first the carry-over from Metal Black and G-Darius, which was the beam battle mechanic. However, back when G-Darius first came out in the arcades most games at the time didn't have auto-fire. So it wasn't down to timing but you'd clash the beams together and then hammer the fire button. Now most arcade games of this type have auto-fire systems, so that wouldn't work anymore. So now it's more down to timing and that's the direction we took the beam battle in.”
“Another feature of modern shooters is the danmaku or bullet hell but you can't really do that from a side scrolling view anyway. Rather than going that direction, we instead of doing bullet hell we ended up doing enemy hell. So you've got huge numbers of enemies that you use your beam to scythe through.”
“The Fixed Burst beam came from the PSP version, which had no multiplayer at that point. The feature itself was an early addition in development but the ability to move the beam, was actually quite a last minute thing. As late in development both Taito and we agreed that the game needed another gimmick. The Fixed Burst was already in place so we had it move around to be able to defend yourself a bit better. The Link Burst, which is the multiplayer beam from the arcade, was to counter the fact that there is often a degree of infighting in multiplayer so to remove that and have players co-operate we allowed players to link their beams.”
“Another element along this line of thinking was to have the power ups remain for a few seconds after one player picked them up. So all the other players can jump in and grab the same power up. Often with previous games, one player would take all the power ups and leave everyone else without anything. So with DariusBurst we worked hard to ensure that everyone would co-operate, in that there was more of a team spirit involved with playing the game.”
Following on from this I was curious as to what other Darius games the team liked, again everyone was more than happy to answer. With Kashiwagi going back to a classic, “Darius Gaiden is my favorite in the series, as it had so much content and was so fun to play.”
Wragg's choice was a slightly later entry in the series, “G-Darius because the bosses and the beam battles were so fantastic.”
The mecha designers shared the same choice and went back to the series origins, as Yanase said, “The first Darius game, I came across it in the arcade when I was a student. I kept on going back and playing it.”
Ebikawa happily concurred, “The first Darius game as well I think. The three-screen setup had a big impact. I also really liked the beam, impact and explosion effects a lot.”
Darius is not the only shmup series that has help to shape Chronicle Saviours and Kashiwagi was again very open about this, “Chronicle Saviours is a Taito game, so there are a lot of elements that have been brought in from other games. Either deliberately or subconsciously. The team and myself have played so many shoot-em-ups, that means there are a lot of elements in there from other games. Too many to mention really. For example, the Formula ship's main weapons have a short reach but they are a lot more powerful. That comes from a UPL game called Omega Fighter, which had a similar feature. Another example is that new ship in CS mode was inspired by Scramble Formation, which had a gimmick where you could press a button and it would change the formation of your option fighters.
Considering the long gap between Darius console releases, Kashiwagi had a good reason for this as well, “As for why we've waited until now with a console release for DariusBurst partly it was down to timing after the PSP but also because we wanted to support the arcade version. So we gave the arcade version about three years to help build up the community here.”
Wragg added more detail on supporting the arcade as well, “We were also still updating the arcade version which is still pretty popular as well. Also because the team is small and we have a bespoke engine, we can't just put anyone on the game. They need to know shoot-em-ups, they have to know the engine. This time around though we managed to get it done.”
Get it done they did, as from what I saw of the game it’s looking like the Darius I remember. They’ve even retained the excellent multiplayer setup from the arcade too. All in all I can’t wait to play this once it is out and finally destroy the Belsar once and for all. Well, until the next Darius game comes along.
DariusBurst: Chronicle Saviours is released digitally in the West on PS4, PS Vita and PC On November 30th.
Translation Note: Previously, the main enemy in the Darius series was translated as "Belser". Since the release of the original DariusBurst on the PSP, this has been instead been written in English as "Belsar". The latter is a more accurate translation of the Japanese and as such is used here.
Disclosure: I know members of the development team personally.
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Read my Forbes blog here.
