Developer: Taito Publisher: Taito Release: 1993 Genre: Shooter
The Darius series is no stranger to name changes. When Darius II was ported to home systems it was renamed Sagaia. I do not know who or what a Sagaia is but I digress. Darius Force is an awesome exclusive entry in the series for the SNES, much better than Darius Twin. But most wouldn’t know that in the US at first because once again the game was renamed. Super Nova is its US title and one of the better shooters for the system.
One of the greatest weaknesses of the Darius series is its lacking weapon system. Let’s be honest, they offered the bare minimum which stacked the odds against you. Thankfully that has been overhauled. Now you have a choice of three Silverhawk ships, each with their own load out. Each ship comes with a primary weapon and two side weapons that can switched at any time. In addition your main weapon can be upgraded eight times, where it changes dramatically. It is a huge difference from prior games although there is a caveat. They aren’t all completely new. The Blue ship mirrors the Darius II weapon system while the Green Silverhawk is a duplicate of the original Darius. That leaves the red ship which actually does have new weapons.
Both your main weapon and bombs are handled differently in Super Nova. You upgrade both simultaneously, which is huge. Power-ups are not too common and you’ll desperately need them. You can use both at the same time but when doing so the primary weapon drops down a level. It is an odd design choice; its not like your weapons are so strong that they are game breaking. Switching weapons plays a big role in the later boss battles due to positioning and such, making them more interesting. The game also scrolls in every direction, making the weaker bombs more integral.
You don’t come to the Darius series for fast twitch action and Super Nova is no different. I have not played many shooters that move at this slow a pace. Yet in spite of that Super Nova is no less intense than even the twitchiest game. The game focuses on consistent enemy waves that spawn from any corner of the screen and tight placement. I will admit that it can be unfair at times; I am not a fan of “gotcha” tactics in games and this is full of it. Many of your deaths will come from sudden enemy spawns you won’t see coming. Not cool. The levels aren’t long and there are checkpoints so you aren’t penalized too heavily. But I think the game could do better in that regard.
I mentioned stage length, which is shorter than previous titles. But that is by no means a negative. The Darius games pride themselves on replay value by offering multiple paths to the end. Super Nova is no slouch in that regard. There are fifteen stages total, with a single run consisting of six or seven levels. Unlike Darius Twin the branching paths are not palette swaps either but completely new stages. They might share bosses but they still have unique attacks. There are multiple paths to the end, each with a different ending which gives the game huge replay value. But only for those that make it that far.
Even with more firepower than prior titles Super Nova is still a difficult game. On its face it shouldn’t be; you can clearly see hazards and enemies coming most of the time. Yet somehow the game gets you time and time again. Some of it is artificial. You need to kill enemy waves to drop power-ups but until you upgrade your weapons a few times you can’t destroy said waves. Enemies frequently spawn behind you which is nearly always instant death. The game tries to balance this by dropping shields more often. But it is not an exaggeration to say once your shield goes death is not far behind.
It is not all completely negative however. Super Nova is the first game in the series to offer checkpoints. You get one mid-level and another at the end level boss. This feature comes with an asterisk though. Once you die you lose all power-ups and in this game that is worse than in Gradius. To reach full power you will need to collect multiple power-ups through at least four stages. Trying to mount a come back after death is not impossible but I do not blame anyone for giving up at that point.
In Closing
Super Nova flies under the radar when it comes to SNES shooters but don’t let that stop you. It may lack the flashy graphics and action of its contemporaries but it is better than most of those titles by virtue of its tight design. This is a solid game and a great pick for action game fans.
