Untold Tales of The Arcade: Episode 3

[icycalm]

http://insomnia.ac/commentary/untold_tales/episode_3/

"We're in the age that the universe is no longer just a promised land"

I decide to hunt down a Dreamcast to play shooters the way I did when I was a kid, but at this point it's 2003. The Dreamcast is officially discontinued. I don't care. Border Down keeps me going. It's spring and a lovely sun is shining upon me as I write. I still feel the sweet call of my childhood summers and the Zuntata songs and Taito games, and playing "Upon the raid" in this lazy afternoon fills me with the past.

I am not ashamed to admit that this paragraph nearly brought me to tears.

On another note:

It has been almost twenty years since the first chapter. I don't want to write the same old rubbish about nonexistent golden ages of gaming or go on any rants that focus on personal senility. I would like, if this is not too audacious a goal, to write a serious and committed article on the Darius Saga.

This article was not about the Darius Saga. It was about the author's experience of discovering the essence of arcade gaming, then losing it and re-discovering it.

I mean... it almost covers the Darius Saga as well, as a secondary consideration, and with a bit of extra detail (the Darius II and Darius Gaiden segments being the main culprits here) it would have done a perfect job of intertwining these two themes -- the author's journey and the story of Darius -- while giving equal weight to both of them.

It is anyway indicative of the sorry state of game writing that this is still the best Darius article I've ever read (lol), and anyway, who knows, perhaps Rando will see fit to add to it in the future. A couple of paragraphs here and there is all it'd take...

[icycalm]

On yet another note, if anyone comes across a scan of the Border Down arcade flyer, let me know. No one seems to have it... Did Sega/G.rev even make one? They surely must have.

[JoshF]

Another great article. What I like best about your writing Rando is that you put a focus on scoring systems and show just how intricate these games are, even with a game like Chack 'n Pop. Compare this to most retro game journalism which unfortunately concentrates on things like nostalgia, charm, and "for it's time," and it's easy to see why these are the best English language writings for their respective games yet.

[zinger]

I often wonder why Westerners for the most part seem obsessed with two other series -- R-Type and Gradius. Because of this it is difficult to find people that are familiar with the series. Why is this so?

It must be related to accessibility. I've never ever heard of a Darius cabinet in Sweden for example, but more importantly, it didn't get good home console support (whereas R-Type was ported to loads of different computers, and got a seemingly solid SNES sequel, at least compared to Darius Twin and Darius Force). Sega had SMS owners covered with their port of the Irem's R-Type, just as Konami supplied NES owners with their Gradius conversion. Darius II was ported ofcourse, but was clumsily retitled as Sagaia.

[Randorama]

I mused a lot about the article while re-reading it.

I recently went to Tokyo and played Darius II, Darius Gaiden and G.Darius at HEY, completing all of them (yeah, 1-CCing). I was extremely tired but literally high on stress and caffeine (I was there after an incredibly dense month of work literally stretched over Oz, Boston and Tokyo) and at times had long lapses of deja-vus or false memories.

For instance, I played Gaiden and at some point had this quite vivid false memory of having KOF '94 on my right (there's G.Darius on Gaiden's right, at HEY), like in the original configuration of my Uncle's arcade's first floor. I also had a long moment of time traveling while listening to "Muse Valley" during my play, all of a sudden I was convinced that it was snowing outside, like on the first day I heard the song.

The only thing I need to do now is to find a Border Down cab in Tokyo and play the game on a lazy summer day. Then, write on the relation between Darius and my job (?).

Yes, I am still dicking around at work, trying to collect ideas and trying to write more than random disconnected sentences about my two days at HEY.

SPOILER!

The awesomeness of my Garegga run(s) charmed a few puzzled customers and the Taito personnel who asked how I could play well without napkins (or the serviettes they give you for serious sessions). They probaboly didn't notice that I constantly squeezed my fingers against my palms all the time...

[icycalm]

(or the serviettes they give you for serious sessions).

This is so amazing isn't it?

You need to talk about those serviettes at some point. The world needs to learn about that.