G-Darius HD Steam version

While the game performs faithfully to the arcade original with accurate emulation, the game name is still misleading as the visuals are more or less the same with the player ship being updated and the edges no longer looking jaggy in HD Mode so it's basically G-Darius in upscaled high-res glory. The Steam version of G-Darius HD has on more game mode exclusive to it, G-Darius Exhibition, which is an experimental game mode offering ultrawide gameplay experience with the HUD and in-game UI re-positioned. That game mode puts Playstation emulators with widescreen feature to shame with more accurate emulation M2 has come up with so far.

Some of the SNES and Genesis emulators have the widescreen feature but the games were designed with original aspect ratio in mind so there may be issues with that emulation feature. To get a true widescreen experience for SNES/Genesis games on those emulators, the games will need to be modified with widescreen in mind with the modification saved as a patch for the roms. But in case of Darius 1 & II, why would you want to come up with a widescreen patch for Genesis version of them when you can experience the arcade version instead? Just buy the compilation game or something like Darius Cozmic Collection for instance.

Like the previous M2 Shot Trigger games, some of the game modes for G-Darius HD are exclusively new which included M2 modifying the games with their own feature additions and other stuffs. As G-Darius Exhibition is an experimental game mode on what it's like to have a dual-screen game just like the other Darius games in the arcades excluding Darius Gaiden, only the boss battle feature made the cut although not all bosses are present in that mode. It's an awesome addition but if only it includes the whole game.

There was even a campaign taking place at Tsukumo PC shop's second floor at Akibahara where the Steam version of the game was being demonstrated there in G-Darius Exhibition game mode, allowing people to experience the ultra-wide gaming with sub-woofer installed in the seats. Sub woofers installed in the player's seats of the arcade cabinet have been a thing ever since the original Darius hit the arcades. Darius Burst Another Chronicle is the latest to have the similar cabinet setup. Like Darius I, II and Darius Burst Another Chronicle (Part of Chronicle Saviors) PC versions, there will be support for multiple monitors for G-Darius Exhibition game mode for G-Darius HD.

Darius Cozmic Revelation - Mixed Impressions

Man, you call that HD when only the jagginess of the edges is gone without other enhancements in HD Mode of G-Darius in the compilation through upscaling? At least the other PS1 games that are ported to other modern platforms have remastered graphics whether they're standalone or part of the compilation. Even as an arcade shooter, the HD Mode should have REDONE graphics with true Hi-Res textures, various shaders and the explosion effects having Add/Screen type Alpha Blending. Raystorm HD already has remade graphics although something's off with the in-game aspect ratio and the remade graphics are not that great. The price is what turned many critics off the most as a result.

Recently, there was a PS1 emulation core in Retroarch that allows custom textures in PS1 games but until the recent time, having something like custom textures or hi-res textures on PS1 emulators is no easy feat due to the way the PS1 performs. The N64 emulators already allow that opportunity probably due to the fact that the N64 console has the RAM expansion stuff. Even the Dreamcast emulators have that same opportunity as well. The screenshots of the N64 and Dreamcast games on emulators I saw had the sharp looking textures with that mod. Perhaps, anyone can try having Hi-Res textures with the use of Beetle PSX HW core for Retroarch and there's even the Widescreen option in the emulators as well although not all games may look like that and there will or will not be inaccuracies depending on the setup. There are ways to make Hi-Res textures for Beetle PSX HW core.

I don't know if the HD port of G-Darius in the compilation is emulation-based or some sort but M2 surely specializes on the emulation quite well and especially for a 32-Bit console-era game like G-Darius which performs well in the compilation. The one in the compilation is based on the arcade version whether you choose HD Mode or Original Mode which is kind of like the Arcade Mode of various Cave arcade shooters on Xbox 360. The resolution is like extremely low, around 240p for those games but it's basically what the arcade version of those games is like originally.

Another game in the compilation is Darius Burst Another Chronicle EX+ which actually has its own additions like additional stages and additional music in Event Mode. It's the same repetitiveness as Chronicle Mode but Event Mode seems a little bit more reasonable like getting your score recorded for instance. The additional music that's exclusive to EX+ is what I anticipate the most upon hearing it from ZUNTATA's live stream of the compilation game and the music from the upcoming album CD being shown.