Dynamite Düx

Dynamite Düx is a side-scrolling 'beat 'em up' video game created by Sega AM2 and released by Sega in December in arcades in 1988. It uses the Sega System 16 arcade board, the same board used for Golden Axe and Altered Beast. It was ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Master System, and ZX Spectrum in the following year.

Dynamite Düx
Japanese arcade flyer
Developer(s)Sega AM2
Publisher(s)Sega
Producer(s)Yu Suzuki[1]
Composer(s)Hiroshi Kawaguchi
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Master System, ZX Spectrum
Release
  • JP: December 1988
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player, two-player
CabinetUpright
Arcade systemSega System 16
CPU1 × 68000 @ 10MHz
1 × Z80 @ 5 MHz
SoundYM2151 @ at 4MHz
UPD7759 @ 0.64MHz
DisplayRaster, 320 x 224, horizontal orientation

A girl named Lucy is kidnapped by the evil Sorcerer Achacha, and the player's mission is to rescue her.

Gameplay

The player controls one of two bow tie-wearing cartoon ducks named Bin (blue) and Pin (red). They are Lucy's pets, and must travel through six stages set in real locations, though everything else in the game is very cartoonish, reminiscent of Tex Avery. Two players can play at once, Bin is by default player one's character, Pin player two's. Each level ends with a boss battle. After stages 2 and 4 there is a bonus round where the two ducks box until time runs out, the player with the most health will win and receive 50,000 points.

Dynamite Düx uses only two buttons: the jump button (which is self-explanatory) and the attack button. The attack button allows the player(s) to use the Punch Glove or throw enemies in a manner like a cartoon. The attack button can also let him/her pick up and use numerous weapons including: rocks, bazookas and the game's signature weapon, bombs (hence the title). Unlike some of its contemporary side-scrollers, Dynamite Düx allows players to attack in all directions, including diagonally.

The game measures health unusually in that it uses a status bar located at the bottom of the screen. A player's status is made up of bars of health that are color-coded blue, yellow and red, which deplete when damage is taken. Along with a varied set of enemies (all oddball cartoonlike characters) each level has a number of other obstacles that can inflict damage on the player(s).

There are three types of power-ups: Food (replenishes health), weapons (all weapons will eventually 'expire' when their ammo depletes) and treasure chests (give the player(s) extra points or weapons).

Ports

The game was released for the Master System in 1989. The sprites are smaller and different, with many of the characters having noticeably fewer frames of animation. Many of the enemies' unique dying animations were cut or altered. There are fewer weapons and power-ups per level as well as fewer enemies per level. The story has also been altered. Instead of being her pet, Bin (Pin does not appear) is Mickael, Lucy's boyfriend. Mickael has been transformed into Bin the duck by Achacha (similar to Toki).

The Amiga and Atari ST versions include an alternate, intentionally offensive version of the opening cutscene. It is not in the game proper, but can only be accessed by editing game data with a hex editor.[2][3]

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Dynamite Düx on their February 15, 1989 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the year.[4] Sinclair User reviewed the arcade game in its November 1988 issue and gave it a rating of 9 out of 10, describing it as an entertaining pseudo-3D scroller with "a surreal sense of the ridiculous."[5] The January 1989 issue of Sinclair User gave it the 1988 award for Most Original Game of the Year.[6]

Legacy

Bean the Dynamite was created by Sega AM2 for Sonic the Fighters, a Sonic the Hedgehog fighting game, released initially for arcades in 1996 (it was given a limited US release as Sonic Championship) and finally ported to home consoles in 2005 as part of Sega's Sonic Gems Collection compilation; Bean is based solely on the characters Bin and Pin from Dynamite Düx (though he wears a neckerchief instead of a bow tie and Sonic's shoes instead of regular sneakers).

Bean also appeared in AM2's Sega Saturn fighting game Fighters Megamix as a bonus unlockable character (along with Bark the Polar Bear). He is unlocked by completing the fourth arcade mode 'Muscle' and fought against in the final arcade mode 'Bonus'. Its alternative costume is the original Bin from Dynamite Dux. He also appears as a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog comics from the Archie Comics company, which have made some allusions to Bin and Pin as being connected to him and a group of birds from the game Tails Adventure.

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References
  1. http://www.ysnet-inc.jp/#portfolio
  2. http://codetapper.com/amiga/comedy/dynamite-dux/
  3. The 30-Year-Old, SUPER OFFENSIVE Easter Egg The World Thought was FAKE!!! | Fact Hunt Special
  4. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 350. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 February 1989. p. 23.
  5. http://www.solvalou.com/subpage/arcade_reviews/110/116/dynamite_dux_review.html
  6. http://www.solvalou.com/subpage/arcade_reviews/112/116/dynamite_dux_review.html
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