Dariusburst

The gameplay and flow maintains the consistency of previous Darius games: players fight the Belsar Army through several stages and can choose to fight in different zones along different paths, ultimately reaching a different final boss and ending. Players can upgrade the firepower of their Silver Hawk space fighter with power-ups that affect the ship's main firepower, secondary missiles and shield as well as additional power-ups that add to the player's score, extends or destroy every enemy on screen. The main differences include ship selection, the Burst System and the effect of weapons on enemy fire.

Players have three types of main firepower to upgrade, starting with Missile, Laser and ending in Wave Shot. As the ship receives further upgrades, the weapon placement will move up from Missile to Laser and Wave. Many enemies throughout the game use similar shots, and the player can destroy enemy shots depending on what they are. When using the Missile Shot, the Silver Hawk can destroy enemy missile shots and the same effect stands with Laser shots. The Wave shot is consistent throughout the Darius series in its ability to fire through solid foreground objects.

Dariusburst takes place a century after Darius II where the planet Darius is continually attacked by the Belser Army. The continuing battles show a possible end to the long wars on Darius, particularly with the development of the Burst System, a powerful new weapon equipped with the latest Silver Hawk fighters. Using this new weapon system are pilots Riga Pratica, test pilot of the Silver Hawk Burst series; and Ti2, a computer AI assuming the body of a young girl. Together, the pilots fight back against the Belser Army's fleets, factories, and even its previously inhabited fortresses.