Dynamite Headdy (Genesis/Mega Drive)

The 1990s were teeming with mascot platformers who tried to pull in players with supposedly cool main characters, many developers trying to get the same slice of cake Sonic the Hedgehog had managed to cut out of the market. Amidst a tide of unusual characters like Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel and the duck Socket who spread the belief these mascot platformers were low quality though, a game like Dynamite Headdy really didn’t look like much of an improvement. While those characters were at least identifiable animals, Headdy’s design was a bit harder to make sense of, with him still not being the best looking character even when you learn he’s meant to be a puppet. However, Dynamite Headdy is no mere trend chaser, Treasure’s 1994 platforming title teeming with creative ideas and challenging gameplay.

Headdy’s adventure takes place in Puppet World, a world styled in the manner of a stage play. This isn’t just some coat of paint that’s mentioned from time to time though, as your platforming journey constantly makes use of this setup for some fun background details as well as integrated gameplay mechanics. A level may involve something simple like hopping across the stage lighting or something more creative like the backdrops swapping mid-level to completely change the enemy themes and how the level is approached. The commitment to the style often means you can see the edge of the stage or the areas behind a backdrop, and at times you can even see the stagehands working in the back to keep things moving. Headdy’s adventure is even advertised within the game itself, and plenty of the bosses play into the idea of this being an elaborate puppet show, some of them being direct references to the situation with a marionette boss and a wooden puppet one as well, but all of them contain wind-up keys for their roles as Keymasters. Dark Demon uses these individuals as part of his plans to conquer all puppetkind, this being the game’s unusually traditional fantasy villain, but this also plays into the way the puppet show is being performed in-universe. We may see all the behind the scenes activities and props for what they are here, but they all do their roles well. A sky backdrop will mean that level is treated as an aerial escapade, so even if Dynamite Headdy hadn’t so heavily embraced its stage play style, he would still be going on quite the adventure, and a varied one to boot.

 

While there are plenty of gimmicks tied to things being presented as a puppet show, Dynamite Headdy shakes up the traditional platforming level style by constantly playing around with new gimmicks and playing with off the wall ideas. There are a few levels where Headdy is constantly running and trying to take down a boss running alongside him, some where he climbs up huge vertical towers, levels where you fly in a plane, and even a stage where you swap the gravity to walk on the ceiling. These aren’t too uncommon as platforming game shakeups, but things get more interesting in levels like the one where you seem to be walking across a fairly simple bridge of boxes… only for the bridge to tip to the side and reveal it has an entire third dimension to deal with, Headdy needing to move along it when its dangerously trying to drop him so he can attack enemies or grab items. There are other moments of faux 3D as well like going around the edges of a cylindrical tower or a boss that requires you to fight him either in the foreground or background based on how he rotates the stage. Even more traditional platforming layouts usually have some new platform or enemy that ensures that no matter where you are in the game, you’re facing something new, and perhaps the best expression of this is the boss Trouble Bruin. This strange cat-like bear is at first pretty much just a floppy stuffed animal who serves as the introductory boss, but over the course of the game he becomes Headdy’s rival, constantly appearing with new bodies in the hopes he’ll finally defeat the puppet who keeps beating him at every turn. Whether he’s in a flying machine tearing chunks out of a tower you’re climbing, chasing after you in a spider-mech he then needs to outrun when it goes haywire, or getting crammed into a huge dog puppet’s gut, the weird bear’s head gets attached to plenty of new boss ideas that are enhanced from interesting concepts into a running joke about this puppet’s persistence. Even bosses without that Trouble Bruin connection can still be a bit of absurd fun like a giant mechanical baby head that opens up like a matyroshka doll to grow into an older and older man as you get deeper into the battle.

There are plenty of fun surprises that would be great to share but even better to experience in the moment, all of these creative and unusual ideas for a platforming game making the levels enjoyable to see, but there is a strong core to the gameplay besides just jumping around. Headdy’s main ability is to launch his head around, able to fire it in eight different directions as a mode of attack and as a way of snagging onto grappling points to launch himself to new areas. This addition to the core jumping and running already gives you a bit of flexibility in approaching problems and its openness allows for levels to place objects and enemies in more interesting and demanding locations, but there’s still another layer to Headdy’s heads, and that’s that he isn’t always stuck using the same one. Every now and then a little roulette will appear where you can grab a new temporary head replacement, there being quite a lot of variety to their uses. Some like a shrinking head can be used to navigate into extra areas or avoid certain deadly enemies, others like the hammer head are simple boosts to how much damage you deal. Some have more specialized uses like the vacuum head that can suck in useful pick-ups in the environment or swallow weak enemies, and the pig head gives the incredibly odd ability to fire homing stars from its snout. In the flying stages Headdy can swap between three heads with different firing types, and to get to the bonus levels to play basketball to unlock the secret final boss requires getting a Statue of Liberty crown from the roulette. Roulettes can contain traps though, some fights deliberately made more difficult by the inclusion of powers like the one that will render you slow and unable to attack, but the sleep power that could leave you vulnerable is also one of the few ways to heal so it can be a risk/reward assessment if you want to take the time for a quick mid-battle catnap. When absolutely vital these heads will be in plentiful supply, but otherwise these modify the play and missing your chance on a helpful head won’t doom you, although getting the wrong one can certainly make a hard situation much harder.

 

In fact, Dynamite Headdy’s only major problem might be its difficulty. While often kind with lives and even continues, some stages will not hold back on trying to kill you. In a cute touch your life is represented by a spotlight that turns to more alarming colors as you take damage, but rare heals means the often intricate levels can find many ways to wear you down to death, and boss fights can be even more aggressive with this. Luckily, falling off the stage into the void just leads to you being tossed back in with a bit of damage rather than instant death, but there are still one-hit kills like bosses who might squash you against scenery. Perhaps the most difficult boss of all is Twin Freaks, a giant mechanical head that you need to flip the gravity around on to damage his green side, but the red side is entirely invincible, he dominates most of a cramped screen, and the level he’s chasing you through is full of traps to wear you down or lead to those instant death crushes. Twin Freaks can burn through a lot of lives until you’ve learned the level, and the path to this late game boss has plenty of other tough foes and challenging levels. Headdy’s head launching takes a bit to complete too, so in stages that want fast use of it, a small flub can lead to a rough punishment. Pushing through a tough challenge can be incredibly satisfying though, but the game could learn to ramp up a fight’s difficulty to teach you what to expect rather than going in hard from the start so often.

THE VERDICT: Dynamite Headdy is a game teeming with creativity. Its puppet show setup is embraced both in enemy and level design while still providing a variety of locations and gimmicks that could work in a more traditional adventure. Even when it’s going for a more typical platforming challenge it cooks up some kooky setpieces and bosses that contribute to how enjoyable it is to make progress even when it starts getting a bit too punishing with its difficult moments. Whether its rematches with the ridiculous Trouble Bruin, the stage play elements, or more typical platform challenges, Dynamite Headdy is always thinking of new ways to mix things up so it remains fresh and silly throughout, and when the head launching and different head powers are added to it, it becomes a game that’s fun to play and fun to see unfold.

 

And so, I give Dynamite Headdy for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive…

A GREAT rating. Were it not for its somewhat sloppy approach to some of its late game difficulty, Dynamite Headdy wouldn’t leave a lot of room to complain. The head of our hero is quite versatile, already enhancing the approach to stages before it starts getting its stranger powers that can find use in both fights and problem solving. In fact, even the tutorial minigames meant to teach you the basics make excellent use of it! The real star of the game has to be the commitment to theme though. The whole adventure is part of one grand play, the game integrating both the elements of a puppet show with the scenarios the characters are trying to portray in their performance. Even when it’s delving into a more wild idea like the baby head boss, you can still see how the device would work in the context of a performance, and having level transitions work as shifting backdrops allows for the game to go wherever it feels like to chase its new ideas. This play creates a whimsical adventure that continues to delight as it chases whatever suits its fancy, but these ideas are integrated with the gameplay well to ensure they’re never half-baked. Had Dynamite Headdy had a bit more restraint with its difficulty curve though, it could have remained a game that was challenging yet approachable throughout.

 

In an era were many were putting their protagonist front and center to entice players, Headdy failed to do his job. Even in a wonderful game with plenty of fun ideas and style, Headdy is still a weak link, the character not really portraying his game world well with his odd design and lack of character. Headdy didn’t need to be someone amazing to be the star of a great game, but he may have put people off from giving this wild puppet show adventure a chance. There is definitely a lot to love in Dynamite Headdy, and while he never caught fire like other big names in gaming, his single game certainly deserves to be appreciated for its incredible creativity.