<s>
Players	O
control	O
a	O
starship	O
named	O
the	O
Silver	O
Hawk	O
in	O
its	O
mission	O
to	O
destroy	O
the	O
Belser	O
empire	O
before	O
they	O
wipe	O
out	O
the	O
planet	O
Darius	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
other	O
similar	O
games	O
,	O
which	O
feature	O
mechanical	O
or	O
insect-like	O
enemies	O
,	O
Darius	B-Application
uses	O
aquatic	O
creatures	O
like	O
fish	O
and	O
crabs	O
for	O
its	O
enemies	O
and	O
screen-filling	O
bosses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Darius	B-Application
is	O
a	O
two-dimensional	O
horizontally	O
scrolling	O
shoot	O
'	O
em	O
up	O
set	O
in	O
a	O
fictional	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
space	O
program	O
dedicated	O
to	O
this	O
premise	O
eventually	O
found	O
a	O
solar	O
system	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
Earthling	O
's	O
and	O
the	O
space	O
colonists	O
selected	O
a	O
habitable	O
planet	O
they	O
named	O
Darius	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
settling	O
on	O
Darius	B-Application
,	O
the	O
inhabitants	O
learned	O
to	O
start	O
a	O
new	O
life	O
and	O
thrive	O
in	O
both	O
society	O
and	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
their	O
peace	O
was	O
disturbed	O
by	O
an	O
armada	O
of	O
malevolent	O
maritime	O
shaped	O
space	O
craft	O
controlled	O
by	O
the	O
Belser	O
Army	O
,	O
a	O
race	O
of	O
humanoid	O
space	O
colony	O
based	O
warrior	O
people	O
who	O
have	O
selected	O
the	O
Darius	B-Application
colonists	O
as	O
their	O
next	O
combatants	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Darius	B-Application
inhabitants	O
 '	O
only	O
line	O
of	O
defense	O
were	O
the	O
Silver	O
Hawk	O
series	O
:	O
single-piloted	O
fighter	O
craft	O
designed	O
for	O
long	O
space	O
travel	O
with	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
wield	O
different	O
weapons	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
of	O
the	O
fleet	O
's	O
top	O
pilots	O
were	O
selected	O
to	O
defend	O
Darius	B-Application
:	O
Proco	O
and	O
Tiat	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Together	O
,	O
the	O
two	O
assigned	O
in	O
thwarting	O
Belser	O
's	O
attack	O
on	O
Darius	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Darius	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
by	O
Junji	O
Yarita	O
,	O
with	O
assistance	O
by	O
planner	O
Akira	O
Fujita	O
and	O
programmer	O
Toru	O
Sugawara	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Darius	B-Application
was	O
released	O
for	O
arcades	O
in	O
Japan	O
in	O
February	O
1987	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
in	O
April	O
1987	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Three	O
PC	B-General_Concept
Engine	I-General_Concept
ports	O
were	O
produced	O
by	O
NEC	O
Avenue	O
for	O
the	O
Japanese	O
market	O
in	O
1990	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Super	O
Darius	B-Application
was	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
CD-ROM²	O
System	O
add-on	O
on	O
March	O
16	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
Darius	B-Application
Plus	O
as	O
an	O
8-Megabit	O
HuCard	O
version	O
on	O
September	O
21	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Darius	B-Application
Plus	O
is	O
the	O
only	O
commercially	O
released	O
HuCard	O
that	O
has	O
enhanced	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
PC	B-General_Concept
Engine	I-General_Concept
SuperGrafx	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
third	O
version	O
,	O
Darius	B-Application
Alpha	I-Application
,	O
was	O
released	O
as	O
a	O
sweepstakes	O
giveaway	O
and	O
was	O
limited	O
to	O
only	O
800	O
copies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Darius	B-Application
Alpha	I-Application
is	O
an	O
alternate	O
version	O
of	O
Darius	B-Application
Plus	O
where	O
the	O
player	O
fights	O
only	O
the	O
bosses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
Darius	B-Application
Plus	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
enhanced	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
SuperGrafx	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
three	O
PC	B-General_Concept
Engine	I-General_Concept
versions	O
were	O
developed	O
by	O
Bits	O
Laboratory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
same	O
year	O
,	O
a	O
home	O
computer	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
titled	O
Darius+	O
(	O
unrelated	O
to	O
the	O
similarly	O
titled	O
PC	B-General_Concept
Engine	I-General_Concept
port	O
)	O
was	O
developed	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
The	O
Edge	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
,	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
and	O
ZX	B-Operating_System
Spectrum	I-Operating_System
in	O
Europe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2002	O
,	O
PCCW	O
ported	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
the	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Advance	I-Device
in	O
Japan	O
as	O
Darius	B-Application
R	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2016	O
the	O
original	O
arcade	O
version	O
was	O
re-released	O
for	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
4	I-Operating_System
in	O
Japan	O
and	O
other	O
Asian	O
PS-Stores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
port	O
was	O
made	O
by	O
Hamster	O
Corporation	O
and	O
is	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Arcade	B-Application
Archives	I-Application
on	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
4	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Darius	B-Application
R	O
,	O
a	O
remake	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
Darius	B-Application
game	O
with	O
some	O
different	O
tunes	O
and	O
a	O
fewer	O
number	O
of	O
stages	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Advance	I-Device
in	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
never	O
originally	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Sega	B-Operating_System
Genesis	I-Operating_System
,	O
a	O
port	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
by	O
M2	O
is	O
featured	O
on	O
the	O
Sega	B-Application
Genesis	I-Application
Mini	I-Application
microconsole	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
expanded	O
version	O
titled	O
Darius	B-Application
Extra	O
Version	O
was	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
Sega	B-Operating_System
Mega	I-Operating_System
Drive	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
1987	O
,	O
Game	O
Machine	O
listed	O
Darius''	O
as	O
being	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
upright	O
arcade	O
unit	O
in	O
Japan	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
third	O
highest-grossing	O
large	O
arcade	B-Application
game	I-Application
of	I-Application
1987	I-Application
in	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
