Taito's horizontal sidescrolling shoot-em-up Darius Gaiden debuted in 1994 in arcades. The third chapter in the Darius series, Gaiden saw home console and PC ports for Windows, Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

In Darius Gaiden the player controls the Silver Hawk starship in battles against the Belser empire's bio-aquatic ships. In a first for the series, the Silver Hawk can neutralize minibosses such as the Deep-Sea Smelt, Slug Fish and Crested Bigscale, and capture those vessels to temporarily aid the player.


In 1997, Taito published ten-track cover album "Darius Gaiden: The Last Kiss." Arranged by Hideyuki "Daichi" Suzuki of Cubic Records with Koji Igarashi, the digital album is streaming on Apple Music. Twenty years later, Zuntata's "Darius 30th Anniversary Edition" box included the arcade soundtrack in the six-CD set. Excerpts from the collection are streaming on YouTube.

The arcade edition of Darius Gaiden is part of the Darius Cozmic Collection for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Composed by Zuntata, directed by Hisayoshi Ogura, the arcade soundtrack is streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.

YouTube Music - Darius Gaiden Original Soundtrack