Darius II (1989)
Super Darius (1993) Code Numbers:
In Sagaia:F407.
Relatives: Nil.
In the fifth (Earth) tier of Sagaia, if you choose to end up in the lower two levels, the stages aren't a blasted-out Earth, but a more peaceful frozen waste kind of thing. Both drag you through some generic Belser fortress underground, and one stays there while one pulls you out of it in the end. But no matter what, you always face Leadain at the end of both stages.
Tips: (Note:Leadain's attacks are identical in both games he appears in). With his tentacly arms and spines, you should get a vague idea of what Leadain plans to do to you at first. After some arm-waving, his (destructuble) tentacles slow down (but don't stiffen the way Drio Sawm did) and then all try and ram you. Ouch! The shield doesn't seem to help that much, either. The slowing-down should give you some idea of when to get out of the way. His tentacles take some shooting-up before they blow up. Whenever one blows up, Leadain begins to fire two spines at about ninety degrees fro where the tentacles have gone. He also fires some bulets from his core.
HA! His cover is blown.
When all his tentacles are gone, Leadain,s purple casing comes off and forms a particularaly nasty attack. While the nasty overcooked oatmeal that is the core of Leadain fires vague bullet circles, the casing hovers with malice aforethought above you. And when it slows down, it wil try and thmash you, so watch out! If you avoid it the first time or so, it will still hover madly, but not near you. Good thing, so that you can concentrate on shooting the core. After enough damage, the casing and most of the core blows up, to reveal core #2. Still more nasty oatmeal. Bother. These urchin-flavoured Quaker Oats movr around, with part of it coiled up as a circle while it fires biggie circular bullets and straight lasers. Watch out for it slowing down, because then the circle straightens out to RAM you again! Too much ramming for one boss. Once the arm is extender, it stays out in a wavy kind of way and keepss up the bullets and fires bits of itself! The RAM attack then repeats and so on. Keep at it, as the ram is the only thing to really worry about!
Rating:
Colour Scheme:
77%
Design:
85%
Attacks:
75%
Name:
73%
Real-Life Inspiration:The common sea-urchin (Echinus esculentus). Common, but their roe is traditional food in Japan! Called uni, it is considered to be an aphrodisiac . During the breeding season, the urchin's roe can account for up to 20% of its wet body weight! Hence the core attack (thanks to Skyknight for the info!).
On another note, sea-urchins were a plot device in Ian Fleming's Thunderball, where they allow James Bond to be the first man to make the book's heroine (if that's the right term) cry !