''Darxide'' (stylized as ''DarXide'') is a

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...

for the 32X by

Frontier Developments Frontier Developments is a British video game developer founded by David Braben in January 1994 and based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. Frontier is known for developing amusement park Construction and management simulation ...

, released in January 1996 only in Europe. Designed by

David Braben David John Braben (born 2 January 1964) is a British video game developer and designer, founder and CEO of Frontier Developments, co-creator of the '' Elite'' series of space trading video games, first published in 1984. He is also a co-foun ...

, it was one of the last releases for the console. Gameplay is similar to that of ''

Asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

'' in three dimensions. Players must destroy a number of space rocks in order to complete each

level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *Canal pound or level *Regr ...

. Reception of ''Darxide'' was mixed. The game was followed in 2004 by ''Darxide EMP'', an expanded version released for

Pocket PC A Pocket PC (P/PC, PPC) is a class of personal digital assistant (PDA) that runs the Windows Mobile or Windows Embedded Compact operating system that has some of the abilities of modern desktop PCs. The name was introduced by Microsoft in 2000 ...

s and

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

Gameplay and development

''Darxide'' is a

game. Players control a space fighter, with a set of instrument panels as a

head-up display A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...

. There are 11

levels Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *Canal pound or level *Regr ...

in the game. The premise of the game involves a series of

asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

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. Players have an auto-targeting weapon, as well as

power-ups In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...

available later in the game. Levels are timed by the approach of a blue moon; failure to complete the level on time results in loss of a life. Elements of the game were influenced by designer

, who had previously worked on '' Frontier: Elite II.'' Unlike ''Elite II'', the gameplay was designed to be simpler with more focused objectives. The development team expressed the desire to include a voiced computer in-game, similar to those in science fiction movies. Development of the game was covered by Russian magazine ''Sega Pro''.

Reception and legacy

Reception to ''Darxide'' was mixed. Gus, one of the reviewers for ''

Mean Machines Sega ''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. Origins In the late 1980s ''Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generation of 8-bit computers li ...

'', stated that the gameplay improves and becomes more interesting later into the game, calling the game an homage to ''

''. Also writing for ''Mean Machines'', reviewer Marcus 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 The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan a ...

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

and

Nokia S60 The S60 Platform (formerly Series 60 User Interface) was a platform (computing), software platform for Mobile app, smartphones that runs on top of the Symbian operating system. It was created by Nokia based on the 'Pearl' user interface from S ...

mobile phones. ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...

''s Mike Bevan commented that ''Darxide'' looks impressive given the hardware, though it was made more difficult by the lack of a

crosshair A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscope, ...

on screen. Scott Reed, also of ''Retro Gamer'', commented that the game is "alright", but called the game a collector's item and stated "there's no need to pay nearly a grand for it, either."

References

External links

* {{MobyGames, /darxide 1996 video games Europe-exclusive video games Sega 32X games Shoot 'em ups Video games scored by Richard Jacques Video games developed in the United Kingdom Sega 32X-only games

Gameplay and development

Reception and legacy

See also

References

External links