48 - Thursday, September 24, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 0 45 - Thursday, September 24, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 'DARIUS GAIDEN' (1994), ARCADE When side scrollers were king By JACK PORTER Daily Arts Writer Even when video arcades were in decline in the United States in the 1990s, Japanese developers con- tinued to innovate and produce excellentcoin-operat- ed games. By the mid-'90s, fighting games came into their own and began captivating hardcore gamers. Scrolling shooters (aka "shmups") had already gone through a golden age with hits like "Gradius" and "R-Type," and the genre still had life left in it. At the time, developers favored vertical-scrolling shmups with faster action and more projectiles on screen, leading to an arms race which would later come to a head with games like the manic "DoDonPachi." Even so, in an age of vertical-scrolling dominance, the "Darius" series maintained a slower pace and stuck to the less popular horizontal-scrolling style. The original "Darius" was like an overly eager younger brother to "Gradius," with solid but unre- markable gameplay. It tried to set itself apart with its three-screen-wide display and enemies inspired by all manners of marine life. Unfortunately, both of these elements were nothing more than gim- micks. Eventually Taito, the development team, ditched the three-screen format and took the series more seriously. "Darius Gaiden" elevated the fran- chise from curiosity to classic with its unforgettable atmospheres and bosses. As in any game where the player controls a space ship that bad things constantly try to destroy, the objective of "Darius Gaiden" is to not get constantly killed. Past the first level, non-expert players will be hard-pressed to not die over and over again. Not only do enemies come from all sides, but their unpredictable behavior and kamikaze tendencies ensure the player never gets too comfortable. The only way to deal with some foes is to use the ship's diagonally firing missiles, adding a unique wrinkle to the gameplay. And as with any shmup, players are granted a limited number of bombs that wipe out everything on screen. In this case, the bomb creates a black hole which sucks in all nearby enemies and projectiles. If anything sticks after a run-through of "Darius Gaiden," it's the bizarre music. The soundtrack is hard to describe, drawing influence from electron- ica, new age, jazz and opera. Yes, opera. One of the game's recurring themes is a female vocalist belting out incoherent stanzas in an operatic manner. The other vocal-driven song features more conventional singing, though sounding like Bjork isn't exactly conventional either. Add delicate piano, buzzing synths, discord and heavy reverb into the mix, and the result is a soundtrack oozing with mystery. Like the soundtrack, the visuals are quirky and demand the player's attention. The game doesn't shy away from using gaudy, clashing colors. The programmers of "Darius Gaiden" pulled out all the stops, using multiple background layers, sprite scal- ing and rotation for pseudo-3-D perspective tricks If you go back to 1994 to play shmups, make this your first choice. and even transparency effects. Much of the action takes place in outer space or underwater, but occa- sional acid-trip moments (especially during boss fights) break up any monotony in the scenery. More remarkable, though, are the designs of the enemies themselves - those gleaming, multi- segmented, snaggle-toothed, death-dealing robotic fish. They look appropriately organic, yet sinister. Best of all are the game's boss monsters, including the multi-screen-filling, transforming orange squid named "Titanic Lance," or the pink and blue, cyclo- pean, tentacle-launching jellyfish dubbed "Curious Chandelier." The sprites are lovingly detailed works of art in themselves. It's no small wonder that "Darius Gaiden" man- aged to stand out in an overcrowded, formulaic genre. Taito, in producing this classic, showed that even the most simple, action-driven games can ben- efit from clever aesthetic choices. 0 0 0 Nas performed at EMU in February toa crowd of around 4,000 people. Entrepreneurs in action "Parkour! Parkour!' The pathos that stemmed from his THE OFFICE inability to relate to other people From Page 3B gave the show emotional heft, Michael in season six, however, is presented less like a real per- marks a departure from "The son and more like a stereotypical Office" formula. His cartoony "wacky" sitcomboss. The showhas behavior, while amusing, stands shifted from a mockumentary that in jarring contrast to the quiet, actually felt like a documentary to observation-based sensibility a sitcom masquerading as reality. shared by the other members of While it's not horrible, the show the cast. Michael Scott has under- has definitely been declawed. gone a similar transformation: Interestingly, "The Office" SOCIAL STUDYZ From Page 1B "We kind of get ahead ourselves a little bit," hecon- fessed. "We see the opportunity. So the opportunity was there and we kind of realized pretty early on in the process that, shit, this is a pretty big undertaking, but we managed to cope with it pretty well." Social Studyz LLC has proven to be more useful than Lynn and Javer expected. Both agree that their group has helped them to apply what they're being taught in class to real world situations. Lynn even spent his summer working for a music agency, explor- ing a potential career. "It's showing us how to really operate a company," Lynn said. "I feel like we're taking a lot of what we're learning in school and it's great to apply them because a lot of times in school you're going to read from a textbook and you're going to learn, but you're not really able to apply those skills," Javer said. It seems as though Lynn and Javer have a talent for promoting and marketing, and they show no signs of slowing down. Social Studyz LLC has taken on more projects this year with at least two more local concerts in the works for this fall. One concert is scheduled to be at EMU. The other one, slated to be at the Michigan Theater, is planned for the week- end of the Ohio State game. Lynn and Javer aren't allowed to mention any specific artists they're look- ing to bring to town, but they expect to land more marquee hip-hop acts. As if their work with Social Studyz isn't reward- ing - and time-consuming - enough, Lynn and Javer now have a new partner (LSA senior Bennett Washa- baugh) and a new business endeavor to pour their efforts into: They recently established Go Blue Bev- erages, a business where students can order all sorts of drinks and have them delivered to their door at a discounted price. At face value, Lynn and Javer seem just like any other typical college kids. What sets them apart is their ingenuity, resolve and desireto create the social and music scene they wanted for themselves and Social Studyz brought Nas to campus, and they won't stop there. their campus. And their courage to tackle enormous undertakings with major names (and dollar figures) on the line doesn't hurt. Putting their fates into their own hands, the two created their own company, a time-consuming yet rewarding hobby that enabled them to put together stadiums filled with students screaming away at big-name music acts. If it seems impossible to get two dozen friends to show up at your house on a Friday nightto drink your beer, imagine getting aworld-renowned performer to put on a show in your town's backyard. And imagine getting thousands of students to pay to see it. That sounds impossible. And Adam.Lynn and Jason Javer did it. And they'll do it again. 0 has become big business: It's the cornerstone of NBC's Thursday night comedy lineup, sandwiched between its quasi-spinoff "Parks and Recreation" and the critically acclaimed "Community." It'll be interesting to see if the show can continue to hold its audience and draw viewers to the network's upstart shows, but the stagnant season premiere, while not awful, raises the question of how much life "The Office" has left. SMILOVITZ From Page 3B That's just the kind of outside- the-box thinking we can always expect from a small-town hockey mom. She doesn't follow your left- coast, elitist clocks or mainstream gotcha time zones. Besides, the governor's got a lot on her plate right now; those death panel lies aren't going to spread themselves. Finally, the Governor can refuse the dinner if "the winning bidder is not a suitable bidder based on her subjective standards of suitability, professionalism, background and other factors." "Suitability?" Just wait until she sees me in a navy-blue three- button. "Professionalism?" Since professions are pretty slim these days, I think I'm in the clear. "Background and other factors?" Jewish, leftist, atheist. Check, check and double check. Sarah, here I come! I imagine ambling into a redwood-adorned, cabin-themed restaurant to find the former Governor and First Dude waiting for me, both furiously tweeting away on their Blackberrys. The food arrives almost immediately, as do the children: Willow, and Piper carrying Trig in her arms. The governor grabs hold of the youngest and continuously rocks him throughout the nearly 12 minutes we would spend togeth- er. It's only then that I notice the phalanx of photographers lined up behind me, as a barrage of shutter clicks capture the former first family of Alaska in a beatific recreation of The Last Supper. Palin spends most of the dinner tending to the kids, batting away each question I ask with a "Well, gosh" or "You betcha." Todd does most of the talking, and most of the talking is about snow machines. As I snap out of what could only be described as a Palin-induced fever dream, I see that the final bid has been accepted and, drum roll please, dinner with Sarah Palin has been sold for $63,500. This is slightly less than a new 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class ($65,000) and significantly more than what an average American household makes in a year (around $50k). Suddenly, I can feel a tinge of regret for putting all of my heart, not to mention one much-missed kidney, so fully into a dream now lost. But, I suppose, that's what chasing down your dreams is all about: taking a risk and see- ing where it takes you. You can't know how things will turn out, the repercussions that may fol- low, what giving up everything you have for a chance at that brass ring will lead to and you definitely can't foresee how it all may effect the rest of your life. Just ask John McCain. Smilovitz is auctioning off a dinner date. Tell him what you want him to sign at zachis@umich.edu. 0 Students: Are you looking for "/- HEALTH INSURANCE? 2009-2010 University of Michigan Domestic Student Health Insurance Plan. 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