Dynamite Headdy

"Switch your head...for fun"

Dynamite Headdy huh. That brings back memories. It was only perhaps, 5 or 6 years ago that i desperatly wanted that game after having read a review in some magazine praising it. The ability to switch your head to whatever was required for the task seemed like a really cool idea for a video games. And sure as heck it was. I did eventually buy it but i didnt reliase it was a gem of a game till i came across the ROM on the internet and decided to have some fun from years back.

Graphics
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If cartoons are you thing then this will be a walk in heaven and even if they arnt there no real need to complain. The main character Headdy has a rather large head floating above his neck. The enemies although a little strange are smoothly animated and particularly good for a game that uses sprites. Some of the background details are great and even some characters that you cant even control look cool. The graphics for each of the heads are very different which adds to the greatness of the game although the hammer head looks more like a lump of rock.

Sound
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The music in Dynamite Headdy is extremley upbeat and generally fun. If your not careful youll end up walking down the street humming the tune to yourself. The cool sound you get when you go for a new head is trippy, it sound like someones just popped a champagne cork. There also a very small amount of speech in the game such as when that mysterious Heather who always steals the keys that the Keymasters (bosses) drop.

Gameplay
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Now this is definetley where Dynamite Headdy succeds. Just the thought of having to see all the heads again makes me want to play it once more. Your head is able to move in all 8 directions of the controller and you basically use your head for everything. You have to solve puzzles with it, kill enemies with it, collect needed items. Its a little refreshing instead of trying to blow up everything with a gun. In terms of difficulty its not really a big challenge until about the 7th or 8th level. After that level where you have to go up a castle which rotates and you have to jump from ledge to ledge it starts to get really difficult. The bosses are very unique and almost as crazy as the game is. For example Headdy's main enemy throughtout the game is a cat who goes into all sorts of cybernetic devices to try and thwart your quest.

Overall
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A very neat game for the Mega Drive which should be able to be picked up really cheap from some cheap games store. If you have a Genisis and your in a game store and they have Headdy then i suggest you pick it up as Genisis games arnt very expensive these days.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/00, Updated 11/13/00