Lost In Translation/Darius II

About The Game
Darius II is a horizontally scrolling shoot-em-up and, like it's predecessor, also used 3 screens.

The power-up system of Darius II was changed from that of its parent game, with players having to destroy complete waves of a particular enemy to earn a power-up. 2 new power-ups were also added; the 1st was a new weapon power-up that gave the player green, vertical lasers, the 2nd power-up was a rainbow-colored item that powered up all of the players weapons.

Another new feature of Darius II is the appearance of mini-bosses - large enemies that appear at the mid point of a level, possessing similar strength and abilities to those of the game's normal bosses (such as extravagant weapons, or the inability to be damaged without first exposing a vulnerable area). The mini-bosses in Darius II are in fact smaller versions of the bosses from Darius.

The game is set in the inner regions of the Solar system, and has the same branching level structure as Darius, allowing players to select their own route through the game.

Trivia
Released in September 1989.

This game is known in US as "Sagaia" (licensed to Romstar for distribution).

2 versions of this game were made : The more common 3-screen version (like the original "Darius"), and a harder to find 2-screen version (aspect ratio : 8/3)

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Darius II : G.S.M. Taito 4 - PCCB-00010-12) on 21/11/1989.

Zuntata Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Zuntata History L'ab-normal 1st - ZTTL-0038) on 01/04/1999.

Series

 * 1) Darius (1986)
 * 2) Darius II (1989)
 * 3) Darius Twin (1991, Nintendo Super Famicom)
 * 4) Darius Force (1993, Nintendo Super Famicom)
 * 5) Darius Gaiden - Silver Hawk (1994)
 * 6) G-Darius (1997)
 * 7) G-Darius ver.2 (1997)

Staff

 * Directed And Produced By:
 * Hidehiro Fujiwara


 * Game Designed By:
 * Hidehiro Fujiwara
 * Senba Takatsuna


 * Programmed By:
 * Akira Ohtsuki
 * Tatsuo Nakamura
 * Masashi Tsuzura
 * Shinji Soyano


 * Art Designed By:
 * Masami Kikuchi
 * Senba Takatsuna
 * Hisakazu Kato


 * Cabinet Designer:
 * Yoshinori Aiura


 * Hardware Designed By:
 * Toshiyuki Sanada


 * All Music Composed And Arranged By:
 * Hisayoshi Ogura (Team Zuntata)


 * Sound Editors:
 * Yasuhisa Watanabe
 * Norihiro Furukawa


 * Sound Software:
 * Naoto Yagishita

Ports

 * Consoles :
 * NEC PC-Engine CD ("Super Darius II")
 * Sega Mega Drive (1990)
 * Sega Master System (1992 "Sagaia")
 * Sega Saturn (1996)
 * Sony PlayStation 2 (2007, "Taito Memories II Vol. 1") (Japan only)