Playing the console versions of the Darius series back-to-back with their arcade counterparts was pretty fascinating and even enlightening, as was playing essentially the same title in a few cases on different historic hardware. Even outside of the often satisfying classic side-scrolling shmup play I think that’s the sort of perspective that makes collections like this worthwhile for fans of gaming who are interested in some of the history as well. Seeing how well (or, in some cases, maybe not so well) the limitations of different hardware were dealt with to maintain a consistent experience associated with the Darius franchise can be fascinating. In addition to seeing different iterations of the same roughly 6 titles spanning consoles including the Sega Master System, SNES, Genesis, and PC Engine you’re also able to see in many cases how the same basic title could sometimes have differences depending on the region it was released in. Of the two collections if you’re just generally a fan of shmups I’d consider the degree of difficulty in the console titles to be more approachable, even if visually some of these games obviously won’t have the same terrific art their arcade counterparts had. Whether your interest is in nostalgia or appreciating history though, this collection has plenty of gameplay to work through and enjoy.