* As mentioned already on the main page, nearly every boss in the game is modeled after a sea creature.
* ''Super Darius'' and ''Darius Extra Version'' (Mega Drive) have the most bosses of any 7-stage ''Darius'' game, at 26. ''Darius Gaiden'' has the second highest, at 20.
* ''Darius Gaiden Extra'' has the most number of complete Zones (that is, the main body of the stage followed by a boss) in a single playthrough of any ''Darius'' game, at 28 if the player starts a game on the Player 2 side. The second highest is ''Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX+'', which features 13 Zones in the "6th Interplanteary Conquest" event map.
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* AscendedFanon: The 2019 Genesis port of ''Darius'' was originally conceived as a fanmade ROM before being officially adopted for the Genesis Mini.
* BadExportForYou:
** "AC Mode" in ''Chronicle Saviours'' is completely translated in English, but for some reason, the loading screen tips are left untranslated. This was later remedied in ''Another Chronicle EX+''.
** The digital edition of the ''Darius Odyssey'' guidebook, which was released as DownloadableContent for ''Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours'', is only available in Japanese, despite the game being translated in multiple languages. An updated version of the guidebook would later be fully translated in English for the Western release of ''Darius Cozmic Revelation'', but as part of the collector's edition.
* DevelopmentGag: The "Cozmic" in ''Darius Cozmic Collection'' and ''Darius Cozmic Revelation'' looks like a strange typo to make it sound cool, but it's actually a reference to one (of several) WorkingTitle for the first game, ''Cozmo'', before Taito set up on the final name.
* ExecutiveMeddling: The brutal difficulty of ''Darius II'' was the result of this trope. According to [[https://shmuplations.com/dariusii/ an interview]] with the development team, the Easy difficulty was originally the default Normal difficulty during development, but since players were already becoming more familiar with horizontal shmups at the time, the developers were forced to increase the game's difficulty by arcade operators at the last minute.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
** ''Super Darius'', ''Super Darius II'', the PSP ''Dariusburst'', and the original ''Dariusburst Another Chronicle'' have all not seen rereleases on more modern platforms. Notably, most of the other games in the series have seen rereleases on modern platforms, usually as part of compilations; this includes console reformulations of the arcade ''Darius'' and ''Darius II''. Somewhat justified for ''Super Darius'' since ''Darius Extra Version'' on Mega Drive is quite similar to it, also being a 4:3 adaptation of the original ''Darius'' with 26 bosses. Justified in the case of ''DBAC'' as its expanded rerelease ''Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX'' is available for sale in rereleases. ''Super Darius'' was later re-released in 2020 as part of the PC Engine Mini.
** Excluding the home console ports, the original three-screen version of ''Darius II'' was never ported to any other console. Most of its home ports are based on its updated dual-screen version because of its brutal difficulty. It finally got a release in 2023 for Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4 as part of Hamster's ''Arcade Archives'' lineup.
* LateExportForYou:
** The Genesis/MD version of ''Darius II'' was released in Japan and North America, but not in Europe, where they instead received a region-exclusive Sega Master System version of the game. Europe would not get the Gensis version until the ''Cozmic Collection'' CompilationRerelease a little under 30 years later. Conversely, North American and [[ShortRunInPeru Japanese]] players would not get the SMS version until that same compilation's release.
** The ''Cozmic Collection'' version of ''Sagaia'' (Game Boy) was packaged with preorders of the Japanese versions, but not the international versions. Perhaps to make up for this, it is included in physical Western copies of ''Darius Cozmic Revelation''.
** For that matter, ''Sagaia'' itself was originally a Japan-exclusive, and would not see an overseas release until the ''Cozmic Revelation'' package, 20 years later.
** ''G-Darius HD'' and ''Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX+'' (as well as their compilation physical release, ''Darius Cozmic Revelation'') were released in the West some months after their Japanese versions, with the Western versions not even getting release dates until some time after said Japanese versions' releases. History would repeat with ''G-Darius HD Ver.2'', which was pushed out for Japanese [=PS4=] and Switch players on March 31, 2022, as well as the launch version of the Steam port which was released the same day, while Western Switch and [=PS4=] players had to wait until June 1 of the same year.[[note]]This seems to be a common practice with Strictly Limited Games and their parent company, United Games, as they also did the same with ''[[VideoGame/FantasticNightDreamsCotton Cotton Reboot!]]'' and ''Cotton Fantasy''.[[/note]]
* NoExportForYou:
** Of all the ports of the first game, ''Darius Plus'', ''Darius Alpha'', ''Super Darius'' and ''Darius R'' were never released outside of Japan. ''Darius Plus'' and ''Darius Alpha'' finally made its way worldwide with the ''Cozmic Collection''.
** ''Super Darius 2'' is Japan exclusive and the Saturn port of ''II'' was not released in North America.
** The original ''Dariusburst'' remained Japan exclusive for a few years until ''Second Prologue'' was released worldwide. The 2009 PSP game was planned to be released worldwide as well, as the game was rated in some European countries, but it never happened.
** While ''Chronicle Saviours'' is available digitally in all major reasons, the physical Vita release--the only physical version of the game--is Japan-only. Mercifully, like other Vita games, it has no region-lock, but you'll still have to pay a premium to import it if you live outside of Japan, and it doesn't have other language options.
* NoPortForYou: Most of the games, even their console ports, have since made their way to rereleases on modern consoles, so the ones that don't stand out more:
** ''Super Darius'' and ''Super Darius II'' remain exclusive to the PC Engine CD-ROM[[superscript:2]].
** ''Darius Gaiden Extra'' has never been ported to a home platform.
** ''Darius R'' remains a Game Boy Advance exclusive.
** The original ''Dariusburst'' is PSP-only, and while ''Dariusburst Second Prologue'' on smartphones is mostly a port of it, it has somewhat different mechanics (slide controls let you move much faster and Burst Counters don't have to be timed).
* PreorderBonus: If you ordered the Japanese arcade or full versions of ''Darius Cozmic Collection'' within a particular 36-hour window on Amazon, you would get ''Sagaia'' (Game Boy) as a bonus game. This wasn't the case for the overseas versions, however Game Boy ''Sagaia'' would [[LateExportForYou later]] be a bonus title for the physical overseas edition of ''Darius Cozmic Revelation''. It would later receive a standalone digital release on October 2022.
* RecycledSet: Although ''Darius'' initially came in a dedicated two-monitor cabinet, Taito later released a kit for converting original ''Darius'' cabinets to ''Darius II'', allowing operators to save money and players to enjoy ''Darius II'' with three screens.
* ReferencedBy: The series' iconic [[BossWarningSiren huge battleship warning]] is often a source of AffectionateParody in other games:
** One of the alternate {{Final Boss}}es in ''VideoGame/AeroFighters 3'' is preceded with this message:
---> WARNING! A HUGE BATTLESHIP "SOH-TAKEKO" IS APPROACHING FAST
** In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', one of the randomly-picked subtitles for the title screen is "Warning! A huge battleship 'STEVE' is approaching fast!"
** ''VideoGame/{{Psyvariar}}'', another shmup, pays homage to ''Darius''[='=]s boss warning screen.
---> WARNING \\
THE AREA TARGET \\
''(boss name)'' \\
IS APPROACHING FAST
** This game shows up briefly on a TV screen in the action film, ''Film/BlackMask''. Specifically, the titular hero's LoveInterest is shown playing the Golden Ogre stage.
* RefittedForSequel: The original ''Darius'' was originally planned to have 28 bosses but this was later reduced to 11 bosses. Some of these bosses would be instead used in ''Darius II''.
* ScheduleSlip: M2 originally planned to release the ''Ver.2'' patch for ''G Darius HD'' during Summer 2021, but they went out of their way to not only port and update the arcade revision, but also the Playstation port as well, causing the patch and the PC port to be delayed to March 2022.
* ShortRunInPeru: The Master System version of ''Darius II'' was originally released in Europe and Brazil in 1992 to cash in on the console's enduring popularity in both regions (meanwhile, Japan and North America would get the Genesis/MD port instead), and would not see a release in Japan until 2019 when it was included in the console port and special editions of ''Darius Cozmic Collection'', 27 years later.
* SimilarlyNamedWorks: "G ZERO", the title of ''G-Darius''[='=]s Zone α theme, is also the name of the zero-calorie variant of Gatorade sports drinks.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Years prior to the Genesis Mini port, an official port of the first game was planned to be released for the original Genesis during its lifetime, but it was quietly cancelled for unknown reasons.
** The first game was going to have a unique boss for every Zone, but the list was later cut down to 11 (one for each tier of Zones and five {{Final Boss}}es). ''Darius II'' would then [[RefittedForSequel adapt some of these bosses]], while ''Super Darius'' brings all 26 together.
** An arcade installment titled ''Darius III'' ([[https://tcrf.net/images/a/a4/SagaiaArcDariusIII.png teased]] [[note]]The text translates to "Darius III next year."[[/note]] in Zone X's ending in ''Darius II'' if the player [[NoDamageRun hadn't lost a life throughout the game]]) was in development for an early 90's release, but wound up being cancelled as a result of CreativeDifferences over what screen set-up to employ. It is [[PopCultureUrbanLegends frequently assumed]] that ''VideoGame/MetalBlack'' was born from this cancelled game, [[https://twitter.com/VGDensetsu/status/1339157232185962496 although the real story]] is a bit more complicated. Additionally, the jellyfish seen in the Zone X ending was intended to be the boss of the Zone in question, but was ultimately scrapped according to the second interview on [[http://shmuplations.com/dariusii/ this page]].
** There were two bosses in ''Darius Gaiden'' that never got past the concept stage. The first is "Oogarei", a flatfish battleship with a ruined city on its back that would have camouflage abilities and "Shield Octopus", an octopus pot boss.
** Crusty Hammer was originally planned to be the first boss in ''Darius Gaiden'', but since the game was already too easy, they moved him to later stages, tweaked his difficulty and made him harder to make a no-miss run impossible to achieve. This idea was reused in ''Darius Gaiden Extra'' where he's the first boss instead of Golden Ogre, but thankfully he's much easier to deal with due to the player starting with [[DynamicDifficulty a low rank]].
** A Xbox 360 port of ''Dariusburst Another Chronicle'' was in the works, and it would introduce the Silver Hawk Formula pilot Ivry Hadd as the game's main protagonist. The port never got off the ground, but Ivry would later show up in ''Alice Gear Aegis'' alongside Ti-2.
* WordOfDante: The gag boss in ''Akkanvader'' known as My Home Daddy's Girl got her name on a fan site.
* WordOfGod: According to an interview with the developers by ''Gamest'' magazine (translation [[https://shmuplations.com/dariusgaiden/ here]]), the reason ''Darius Gaiden'' (the third arcade game) isn't called ''Darius III'' is because unlike the first two games, it only uses a single screen; the developers did not consider it a "proper" ''Darius'' game due to not using multiple monitors, so they considered it a [[GaidenGame spinoff]].