Red Crab





Appears as a boss in:

Darius II (1989)
Darius Plus(1990)
Darius Alpha(1990)
Super Darius(1990)
Sagaia (GB)(1993)

Code Numbers:

In Sagaia:BN80.

Relatives: Bald Crab, Crab Armer, Ancient Dozer


I like crab. I really do. I love their plate armour and evil-looking claws more than a lobster's. I love the way they scuttle in the ponds of water used to keep them fresh in the Ranch 99 market . I love working the joint that works the claw once I've eaten all of the meat from it. Of course, there's the whole cancer association to it, but Galen was probably being fanciful about it. Incidentally, did you know that Red Crab is a zombie? Live crabs aren't that colour, duh. You meet him in the third tier of Sagaia, either out in the open or inside some evil Belser hallways, as I did.


Funny...I like to eat crab the same way.


Tips: As Ancient Dozer and Electric Fan would a few years from now, Red Crab enjoys bouncing up and down the screen. His first move is to run towards you, jump up a bit and then open his 'mouth' to fire out a vague burst of bullets. OK, not vague, but it's neither the rigid arc or straight bullet you normally expect with Darius bosses. At this point, his claws become eminently destroyable. Let him have it! While this goes on, Red Crab ambles on crablike across the screen, firing bullets the same way. I never really gave him a chance to jump again, I guess. When all but one of his legs and all his claws have gone, Red Crab starts to get really hasty. He sprays out his bullets from the same place as before, but they come faster and more thickly. And on top of it, he fires these big (but not Image Fight big) green rings at you, first in a spiral and then a bit more randomly.



That's about it for attacks, but this last one can give you trouble, especially dodging the rings. However, when he's near to dying, he will start firing a four-bullet burst aimed at you. Again, nothing to really worry about. But by then there's not much left of him to worry about.



Darius Plus/Alpha/Super have a less lively Red Crab. He ambles along the bottom of the screen (with the occasional bounce, I admit), spitting out green-grey orbs in arcs aimed to the left and right, and only his big claws are destructible. Once this is gone, you can attack his weak spot, which is the same as the previous one's. But then he spits out a second attack of orbs as well- a more random one, and the orbs are rimmed with red (scary...). Since everything here is destructible and if you must have got here a bit powered-up (or at least have auto-fire switched on), he should be another one-hit lighter.




In the quaint Sagaia for the Game Boy, Red Crab does a lot more bouncing around than before. He also crowds you more often than before, which is the only really hairy thing about him. His claws are destructible as before, and his attacks consist of lobbing projectiles in a spiral (like the green rings in Sagaia) and homing missiles. His weak spot can be hit from the beginning, which is a good thing.


Rating:

Colour Scheme: 73%
Design: 78%
Attacks: 72%
Name: 63%


Real-Life Inspiration:Judging by the oversize left claw, my guess is a fiddler crab. You meet a relative of his in Eternal Daughter, to go off on a tangent



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