Darius Alpha
Darius Alpha is a promotional version of Darius Plus released in 1990 for the PC Engine. It was a mail-order exclusive, obtainable by sending in a pair of coupons found in the manuals of Super Darius and Darius Plus. There were only 800 copies of the card produced, making it one of the rarest, and the absolute most expensive, PC Engine HuCard ever made. This version is only a Boss Rush, where the player faces against all Plus bosses one after another. Like Plus, Alpha features SuperGrafx support, which greatly reduces sprite flickering. Pressing Select on the title screen starts the game with a 4-minute time limit.
SCREENSHOTS
PHYSICAL
STORY
Darius, Year 201. Invasion!
The vicious Belsar have attacked the peaceful Darius system, which now faces absolute devastation at their abominable hands! Darius' defense fighters proved no match for the overwhelming firepower of the alien forces, which wiped out their entire fleet in one fell swoop!
With nothing left to protect them, the people could only sit and wait for the icy embrace of death as the satellite bombardments continued unopposed. The scent of despair hung thickly in the air, all hope of survival having been quashed.
But then, from out of the darkness of the mourning clouds came a single bright light in the sky.
"Silverhawk........."
Like a phoenix brought forth from the embers of a burning world, the bird shaped visage became a beacon of the planet's last fight for survival! Perhaps the end is not as nigh as it first appeared.
1CC RUNS
One-credit clears we point to as the benchmark for this game.