PSP World

Taito Announces Darius Burst for the PSP

The latest issue of Famitsu reveals some exciting news for arcade shmup fans: game publisher Taito is planning to release a new version of its popular side-scroller Darius on the PSP. The last time gamers got a taste of the innovative shooter it was on the Playstation One in the form of Darius-G.

That game featured gorgeous 3D polygon graphics, a branching level structure, and creative gameplay twists like the ability to capture enemy ships and force beam weapons back at bosses with your own "beta beam".

Accoridng to Famitsu, the latest entry in the Darius series will also feature horizontal sidescrolling action and 11 branching levels that can be tackled in a different order each time you play. Similarly to Sega's Outrun PSP, the branching paths will lead to one of four final levels of varying difficulty (ranging from insane to OMGWTFBBQ).

No word yet on whether this will be a download-only title or a UMD release. We are betting that it will be available on UMD in Japan but download-only in North America if it ever comes stateside. That's fine with us as long as we get to try the latest entry in this long-running franchise.

Darius-G featured some imaginative fish-like enemies.