Developed By: Pyramid
Published By: ININ Games
Categories: Shoot 'em Up
Release Date: 07.27.21

DARIUSBURST Another Chronicle EX+

Lets get this out of the way immediately. I IMPLORE YOU to not play this in Handheld. Much like the first Darius, this game uses a ultra widescreen display. In Handheld, this means you get a wide playing field letterboxed. It makes everything terribly tiny. Play this either on a decent size display or if you can handle input delay, a projector.

DARIUSBURST and it’s ports and updates as of the time of writing is currently the last original game in the series. Consider this a celebration of the Darius series and it’s spinoffs as a whole. Play as the ships from previous games with their own unique beams and mechanics. For instance, play as the Gaiden Silverhawk and it nets you the ship from Darius Gaiden, which has the devastating Black Hole Bomb. Like always, the music is fantastic and worth playing for it alone.

Lots to do, Lots to Shoot

Still a fantastic game in the series, DARIUSBURST Another Chronicle EX+ is honestly my least favorite in the collection. With the ultrawide presentation, it leaves the game feeling a bit…empty? And when it’s not empty, it’s an overwhelming flood of enemies. It’s not a particularly exciting looking game outside of showcasing what the enhanced power and 3D can do. Bosses like always are a joy to watch and fight, a highlight of the game in my opinion. They are big and make the game into a light show.

I mentioned those Black Hole Bombs, but the majority of ships have an equally devastating Burst Cannon. You can either shoot out a large destructive beam towards enemies or a smaller laser you can plant. It’s more often better to do this, as you can have the Burst Cannon facing one direction and you the other. Considering the Burst Cannon recharges the more you kill enemies, it’s unstoppable when you’re swarmed.

Maybe too much….

You have Original Mode. This is more your standard arcade mode with branching paths and less insane challenges. There are less stages, with each path, Easy, Normal, and Hard only giving three stages, but I can’t find an issue with compact games. Of course, there’s a choice for using credits or free play, but in this console port, there’s no difference. Also available is Original EX, which is the choice if you thought Original was maybe too easy or standard.

The games’ namesake Chronicle Mode is possibly the showcase of DARIUSBURST Another Chronicle EX+ and it’s purpose. There’s many planets, each with their own challenges, waiting for you to liberate them. Hundreds, thousands of challenges. This is going to keep you busy. It won’t just keep you busy however, as plenty of these challenges even require more than one player, some even four.

Event Mode is finally bringing these old timed arcade exclusive challenges home. It’s a great sight to see. Hooray for preservation!

I am not the biggest fan of how overwhelming the entirety of DARIUSBURST feels. It, like the majority of the series is still a great shooter, but this is a bit of a lower point for the series to be ending, at least in terms of new games. I’m much more partial to playing games like Darius Gaiden or G DARIUS. More compact, tighter Darius games. But, this also means that there is near endless amount of content in this game, so it’s all on perspective.