Heads up! Here comes Dyanmite Headdy!
Ok, you remember Headdy? From 1994? The guy with the game on Genesis? Odds are, most people won’t know who he is. He was cast aside in ’94 due to the more popular games, and since Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were out during that same year, poor Headdy never stood a chance. It’s sad… most missed out on a tremendous classic. I was so lucky to find this game as I only got it recently! This is one of the greatest games of all time! Anyone who says this game is horrible should really check twice. Underneath its rather weird exterior lies a great game just waiting to be played.
I love games with originality! And trust me, no game could probably match the originality of this game and succeed! Headdy is actually a puppet who resides in the puppet world. No, not like the Muppets. These guys don’t have hands up their hind-ends. Anyways, one day an evil guy by the name of Dark Demon came and started to take control of Puppet World. Headdy, unfortunately, was captured, but was quickly rejected from the fleet. BIG MISTAKE!!! Now Headdy takes it on himself to destroy Dark Demon. The story goes more in-depth for a 2D platform game, which kind of surprised me. You do need to read the manual if you want to fully understand what in the world is going on.
The gameplay for this game is just unbelievable. Many claim the game lacks gameplay since Headdy only attacks with his head. For me, I say… it’s a GOOD thing. This way people don’t have to memorize 50 or so different attacks. Plus, it is pretty nice for Headdy to headbutt all those bad guys without getting a stiff neck. What also makes the game more interesting is the fact that you have a total of 18 different heads to use. Most power Headdy up, while some just don’t give you the kind of day. These heads don’t really need to be collected to progress through the game. They’re there to make the game a little easier, since this game is rather challenging at first. If they were more random and if these heads were required to progress, this game would’ve just been more unbelievable! Plus, what keeps people coming back for more are the secret bonus points. By doing a specific action during the stage, you can get a secret bonus point! They’re there mostly for bragging rights. They don’t really do anything except boost your score.
The graphics… get ready for this… are actually impressive! They are colorful and vibrant but not so much that it makes the game look childish. The backgrounds are also very nicely done, and they rarely repeat themselves! The graphics will certainly not bore you at all. The bosses are beautifully portrayed and well-designed. Since this game is full of puppets, it makes sense for some bosses to look weird, and trust me, some are WEIRD! The only real confusing thing about the game’s graphics is Trouble Bruin aka the brown cat. He isn’t a cat, surprisingly. In the American version of the game, he’s called a bear. Odd, isn’t it?
Overall, this game just flat-out rocks. I definitely give this game at least a 9, if I want to be mean to it. It deserves so much credit yet people say the game is horrible. If Headdy is horrible, that’s saying Sonic the Hedgehog himself is horrible! I consider Headdy to rival Sonic, Toejam & Earl, and even Ristar! The game is very well done, and it performs very well with only two real glitches in the game that appear once in a blue moon. Most other games have several bugs and glitches hidden away. But not this game! And the fact that you want all 59 secret bonus points! C’mon, you know you want to get them all. The game is beautiful and I consider it one of my choices for a top game. Maybe a little more randomness with the head power-ups would’ve nudged me to give this game a perfect score. It isn’t perfect, but very close to it! And for the people who got this game in 1994 or so, LUCKY! They experienced this magnificent game much earlier than I did. Moral of this review: unpopular games of yesteryear may actually be one of the greatest games ever! This game has taught me that. I’d recommend playing this game, at least once, even if it doesn’t appeal to you. Trust me, you’ll love it! So, what’re you waiting for? You think you have the head for Dynamite Headdy?