Golden Ogre

Appears as a boss in:

Darius Gaiden (1993)


Relatives: Storm Causer


Without sounding snotty or elitist, I can say that Golden Ogre is all bark and no bite. He does, however, cut quite a figure in the intro (cut me some slack, I haven't had a chance to capture it). We see this bloke annihilating a goodly number of Silver Hawks with his Shocking Pink-Purple Halitosis Laser Beam (more on that later) -and then some- at one shot, and when you meet him in zone A, he does know how to make an entrance:




From left to right:Golden Ogre's attack pattern loop, more or less.


Tips: In vintage Darius tradition, Golden Ogre's weak point is his mouth. But it's a bit hard to always get at if your weapons aren't powered up (i.e. don't miss any of the red orbs!), since his most attackable patterns include him sweeping you to the edge of the screen. He also does this in-between attacks. But he still is peanuts, believe me.

His first attack, after sweeping you back (don't tail him!)is to fire his scales at you. Since these are destructible, don't bother dodging them too seriously; however, since you're being pushed back at the same time, getting a shot in at his mouth is tricky. He will then move back to the right and his mouth will 'charge up', so to speak. You can bomb his mouth from above now and when he is firing his laser, but the latter is not recommended since the laser makes it hard to get in the right position. He then sweeps you across the screen again (WATCH OUT FOR THAT TAIL!) and fires some desultory bullets, nothing too fast or seeking. This is another good time to let him have it. Tail sweep, repeat pattern. Keep at it long enough and:



I just love the way he falls apart into segments. Darius Gaiden has some of my fave eye-candy, indeed.

Rating:

Colour Scheme:	91%
Design:	96%
Attacks:	79%
Name:	93%

Real-Life Inspiration:The ogrefish (Anoplogaster cornuta).

Also called the fangtooth, the ogrefish is one of several deep-sea beauties Taito have used to pretty good effect for bosses. Chiefly surviving on crustaceans and anything else, the ogrefish is also, believe it or not, food for other fishes! Oscar Wilde would be proud. I wonder what kind of pilots managed to get knocked out by him in the Gaiden intro.

(Source:FishBase and this episode of NOVA).



Home | Darius Games | Main Boss List | Links | Contact