Darxide

Darxide is a shoot 'em up game. Players control a space fighter, with a set of instrument panels as a head-up display. There are 10 levels in the game. The premise of the game involves a series of asteroids being mined, with defenses protecting them.

The object of the game is to eliminate the defenses and destroy the asteroids. Innocent miners, released off the asteroids, also have to be rescued. The game's plot involves an alien race which wants the mining operations for themselves, and have hidden forces inside some hollowed-out asteroids. Destroying those asteroids releases the enemy forces.

Reception to Darxide was mixed. Mean Machines Sega stated that the gameplay improves and becomes more interesting later into the game, calling the game an homage to Asteroids. Mean Machines called the game "a strangely 'empty' experience that fails to excite." Video Games, a German magazine, praised the game's graphics and solid gameplay, but criticized the sound as being of a quality expected for a Mega Drive game. By contrast, German magazine Mega Fun praised the sound and quality of the graphics, but criticized the gameplay for being monotonous and lacking variety.

Darxide was one of the last games to be released for the 32X, and was only released in Europe. It was followed by a port, Darxide EMP, in 2003 for Pocket PC and Nokia S60 mobile phones. Retro Gamer' commented that Darxide looks impressive given the hardware, though it was made more difficult by the lack of a crosshair on screen. Retro Gamer commented that the game is "alright" and not worth the high prices its rarity garners.