My first console was a SEGA Genesis (Mega Drive), as I’m sure it was for a lot of people. Other than the ZX Spectrum 48k we had in the cellar, I hadn’t really had much gaming experience until I received my Genesis one Christmas. Sonic the Hedgehog was my first gaming love at the tender age of four. I remember mastering it pretty quickly, only to watch my Mum find it absolutely hilarious to die repeatedly at on the spike pits in Green Hill Zone Act 2. Of course, at that age, your games came from your parents and you had to wait patiently until you got another game or two to add to your collection.
Well, I remember having finished a series of my Genesis games and my Dad heading to town to trade-in my completed treasures (never Sonic) and pick me some new games. One day, he came home with two titles Vectorman and Dynamite Headdy. Vectorman is an awesome game and I urge you to check it out, but I wanted to wax lyrical about Dynamite Headdy, probably my favorite game of all time.
It’s perhaps a lesser known title, whenever I tell people that it is my favorite game I am often met with a “not heard of it”, this is despite it having had releases on the Genesis, the PS2, Wii virtual console, the PS3 and Xbox 360 in the SEGA Genesis Ultimate Collection (along with Vectorman).
So what’s it about? Well…
Headdy, the star puppet, arrives in North Town to find that the evil puppet King Dark Demon is in the midst of attacking the puppet town to select which of the peaceful toys should live and which should be converted into his evil minions. Headdy is captured and rejected by Dark Demon’s forces, and is dropped into the dust cargo to be thrown into the incinerator. However, Headdy escapes the clutches of Dark Demon’s minions and sets off to defeat the evil king. However, trouble is afoot. Not only is the puppet world filled with Dark Demon’s minions, but to reach the evil overlord’s castle, Headdy must defeat Dark Demon’s Keymasters who serve as the king’s elite guard. To make matters worse, Headdy is followed by Trouble Bruin, a puppet jealous of Headdy’s success.
The whole game is set up in a theatre-esque type guise, all the action is “on stage” and the puppets perform to the crowds. Each level begins with a curtain rising and some Headdy’s health is represented by a spotlight in the top left of the corner. All bosses are also represented in this manner, but you have to get through the enemies and mini-bosses first.
Trouble Bruin is a genius addition to the game and is on the same level of Deadpool in terms of 4th wall breaking. Trouble Bruin wants to be the star instead of Headdy, and will stop at nothing to get rid of him. In one of the best scenes in the game, Trouble Bruin pulls Headdy through some of the scenery and proceeds to engage in a boss encounter ‘behind the scenes’. I have added a YouTube video of that below to watch. Everything about the scene is just spot on for me, it’s tense and the music is spot on for the battle.
So what makes Dynamite Headdy stand out from the likes of Sonic and Mario? Well as you might have seen in the video, Headdy very aptly gets his name by being able throw his in order to defeat his enemies. He can collect power ups which change the design and function of his head. These power-ups range from increasing damaged, such as spinning fireballs around his head, to invincibility, health-restoring and speed-increasing. These add new elements of strategy to the game as it can determine what tactic you can take. Not all power ups are useful either.
By finding the Liberty Head, players can enter a Bonus Stage in which the player must shoot basketballs into the correct hoops. By getting a high score you are rewarded with a number. Collect enough the four numbers through the four bonus rounds you have one chance to unlock the final secret boss. This required you to remember all four numbers in the right order, then watch until the end of the credits and then enter the code correctly, getting it wrong meaning the game ends, entering it right means you get to take on the boss.
This boss is a fat business man in an office defended by two guards. Upon entering he says “Fantastic job Headdy! Your adventure has made us rich! We’ll have to get started on your next adventure, and it has to be bigger and more dangerous. We’ll really destroy Puppet Land this time and make even more money!” It is never specifically stated if this man represents Treasure, Sega, the video game industry as a whole or even capitalism itself. In order to make a sequel, Headdy and his world must be put in danger again. Horrified at the thought of all his hard work to acquire peace being undone by the cruel forces of capitalism, Headdy rebels against his boss or creators. They attack by throwing deadly money at you, and when they are defeated the game simply ends with Headdy disappearing back to his world.
The assumed success is perhaps why there was never a sequel – a perfect way to get out of doing one. Given that the game was so good and well received, a sequel may dilute that and rob us of the joys of this one-off unique IP. I would wholeheartedly ask that you do yourself a favor and give it a play. It’s a challenge and there’s some great unique bosses to fight with some clever jokes interspersed throughout. It is a game that had a lot more depth than it is probably given credit for.
I played it so much, but writing about it now, might just go load up that copy of the SEGA Genesis Ultimate Collection and save Puppet Land all over again.
