Dynamite Headdy (MD, 1994)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-8.5/8*
Level Design-8 Frustration-8/7.5* Fun-8 Originality-7
Overall Score-8
* JP version
+ Creative level/enemy design (different heads/forms that give you interesting abilites, the tank which you kill with its own bullets, 2.5D blue floor segment, ballet dancer boss, spinderella, the spinning cross-shaped platforms, roulette sun boss, gravity reverser bosses, team up with the princess/damsel for one of the boss fights, etc), varied levels and bosses (mixes shoot 'em up and platformer levels), quirky and unique atmosphere (puppet show theme), some impressive effects (Spinderella boss, multi part bosses), secret ending sequence (beat the bonus game four times to get a code), hidden items (points, health, 1-ups, secret bonus points (just for collecting/high score unfortunately)), mini-bosses, attack in eight directions (while in mid-air, otherwise seven), some alternate paths, high quality voice samples, unlockable 1-hit death mode,
+/- Sleep to heal as an alternative to the bananas (nice animation but it breaks flow a bit, you can cancel your head if you took it by accident though), fairly steep difficulty curve, the negative power up (immobilizes you, annoying to get by accident during boss fights), no overall time limit (but there is one for most of the heads and it keeps going during dialogue scenes), pits don't kill instantly, limited continues (2 at first but you can get up to 8), forms/heads are lost when moving between areas, no jump height control (generally not a problem),
- Some trial & error, tedious bonus rounds, unskippable scene at the end of each level, can't cancel the mini form (sometimes makes sense but not in open areas), some battles go on for too long (stair wars/tower cat, tunnel shooter segment cat, chase before the final boss), no health bars on mini-bosses, can't attack/use your head when too close to the edge of a platform (triggering an animation), invisible wall at one point during the 2.5D semi-rotating blue floor segment (inconsistent with the rest of the segment), so-so explosion sfx
Western ver: faster moving crane in the first shooter segment, better level names overall (movie puns), several bosses take more hits to kill (stair wars, geisha, twin freaks, etc.) making the game quite a bit harder, more tedious stair wars boss, female bosses were turned into robots, story was mostly removed and/or changed, some palette changes, harder to get continues after bosses
Level Design-8 Frustration-8/7.5* Fun-8 Originality-7
Overall Score-8
* JP version
+ Creative level/enemy design (different heads/forms that give you interesting abilites, the tank which you kill with its own bullets, 2.5D blue floor segment, ballet dancer boss, spinderella, the spinning cross-shaped platforms, roulette sun boss, gravity reverser bosses, team up with the princess/damsel for one of the boss fights, etc), varied levels and bosses (mixes shoot 'em up and platformer levels), quirky and unique atmosphere (puppet show theme), some impressive effects (Spinderella boss, multi part bosses), secret ending sequence (beat the bonus game four times to get a code), hidden items (points, health, 1-ups, secret bonus points (just for collecting/high score unfortunately)), mini-bosses, attack in eight directions (while in mid-air, otherwise seven), some alternate paths, high quality voice samples, unlockable 1-hit death mode,
+/- Sleep to heal as an alternative to the bananas (nice animation but it breaks flow a bit, you can cancel your head if you took it by accident though), fairly steep difficulty curve, the negative power up (immobilizes you, annoying to get by accident during boss fights), no overall time limit (but there is one for most of the heads and it keeps going during dialogue scenes), pits don't kill instantly, limited continues (2 at first but you can get up to 8), forms/heads are lost when moving between areas, no jump height control (generally not a problem),
- Some trial & error, tedious bonus rounds, unskippable scene at the end of each level, can't cancel the mini form (sometimes makes sense but not in open areas), some battles go on for too long (stair wars/tower cat, tunnel shooter segment cat, chase before the final boss), no health bars on mini-bosses, can't attack/use your head when too close to the edge of a platform (triggering an animation), invisible wall at one point during the 2.5D semi-rotating blue floor segment (inconsistent with the rest of the segment), so-so explosion sfx
Western ver: faster moving crane in the first shooter segment, better level names overall (movie puns), several bosses take more hits to kill (stair wars, geisha, twin freaks, etc.) making the game quite a bit harder, more tedious stair wars boss, female bosses were turned into robots, story was mostly removed and/or changed, some palette changes, harder to get continues after bosses
