Darius Gaiden

...close your eyes...
...close your head...

UPDATE 2002.9.2: gameoverDude debuts and takes the lead.

RULES: Default difficulty, 1 credit only. Please conform all entries to the form below. Be sure to include your path and game format (SS, PSone, Taito F3, etc.) along with your score. Example:

sleeveboy - ABDHLQV - 5,000,000 (F3)

NOTE: Darius Gaiden does not save scores to the Saturn battery, so you must write out your score longhand before you turn the console off.

1. gameoverDude - ABDHLQV (Clear) - 8,347,240 (F3)
2. sleeveboy - ABDHLQV (Clear) - 6,187,950 (SS)
3. Contra - ABEINT - 2,582,790 - (PC)
4. cigsthecat - ABDHLQ - 2,338,560 (SS)
5. Kaneda - ABDHL - 2,142,610 (SS)
6. Geruto - ABDHL - 2,107,950 (SS)
7. Sqoon - ABDHL - 2,061,180 (SS)
8. hayato42 - ABDH - 1,541,560 (SS)
9.
10.

Please feel free to post any questions or propose any scoring strategies you might have. I've been told by several people that the path above is a pretty high-scoring one; anybody else have suggestions? I think it would be particularly nice to have a compendium of 1-up locations, score icons, that sort of thing.

ABDHLQV is a good route. Someone got 10,000,000 using this route (don't lose a ship if you can help it... capture as many Captains as possible, and somehow hold onto your Black Hole Bombers)

One extra ship I do know of offhand is at the end of the cave in stage D, near the ceiling.

In E, there'll be one someplace along the floor of the space station.

I'll get in on this one over the weekend and try to do screen grabs for extra ship locations while I'm at it.

Edit: New score. Well, I'm amazed I was able to double my score so quickly... Still second place though.

Sqoon - ABDHL - 2,061,180 (SS)

I think I'll enjoy this here second place for I'll undoubtedly be knocked far from it in the near future.

Geruto - ABDH - 1.537.940 - SS

Just getting into this one. It's all bout the weapon init. Default difficulty, that's normal I hope?
The squid boss is giving me trouble though, I usually lose myself in the bullet patterns. Practice, practice...

Kaneda - ABDHL - 2,074,940 (SS)

Horis always crush me...eh, back to the 'Pachi.

Geruto: Yes, default is normal difficulty.

Neon Light Illusion: sounds like the name of an '70s prog-rock cover band, doesn't it?

Anyway, the Zone H boss is tricky because he forces you to dodge an intense swarm of bullets in the left 1/3 of the screen. Highest priority is dodging the large star bullets that issue from the large tentacles on the top and bottom. My strategy is to lead the bullets to the top or bottom of the screen and slowly edge downwards or upwards, respectively. Once you've destroyed a few of the tentacles, things get less hairy.

2. Kaneda - ABDHL - 2,074,940 (SS)
3. Sqoon - ABDHL - 2,061,180 (SS)

Such a small score difference. Blegh...

The key to high scores seems to be how well you do against the bosses. Specifically, how many bombs you have in stock when you destroy a boss determines the boss's point value.

The base point value for each boss is 100,000, and that value presumably increases for each bomb you have in excess of 3. You receive approximately a 200,000 bonus if you have a bomb stock of 4. I don't know if the bonus increases if you have > 4, or if you just get another 200,000 tacked on, because I have yet to destroy a boss while having a bomb stock greater than 4.

Here's to killing Neon Light Illusion without dying.

For those bonus point emblems, what's the key to maximizing its point value? I've gotten upwards of 50,000 for collecting one, but then at a later try, I'd get an insulting 50 points. I figure it has to do with what point it's at in its rotation cycle, but I can't figure out when equals what...

I think it's completely random.

There might be some kind of cumulative bonus for picking them up, but I haven't found any regular indication of what that bonus might be.