The History of Dynamite Headdy

Development started in August 1993, led by Koichi Kimura, who after five years of working on other people's properties wanted an original project of his own, and designed Headdy to be commercially viable: a character who attacks with a part of his body, a puppet who throws his head, supported by characters in every stage so he would not be a stereotypical lone hero. Treasure president Maegawa served as head programmer. Kimura's stated visual sources were Western animation and the films of Terry Gilliam, a Tier 1, on record influence from the designer.

The Western version is not just translated. Sega of America asked Maegawa to make the game more difficult so rental players could not finish it too easily; he happily obliged, and the North American release is about twice as difficult as the Japanese one. Most dialogue was removed, and several character and boss sprites were changed. Japan released August 5, 1994; North America followed September 28, 1994, Europe October 28. Ports reached Game Gear the same year and, unusually, the Master System in Brazil only in 1995; a planned 32X conversion was canceled.

Headdy's head is weapon, grapple, and toolbox: 17 power-up heads change its function, from spinning fireballs to invincibility to healing. Health is a stage spotlight in the corner that changes color, a theatre joke that fits a puppet show world ruled by the evil King Dark Demon. The score team ran to five credited composers, including Katsuhiko Suzuki, Aki Hata, and Norio Hanzawa.

Reviews were strong: Computer and Video Games 92, Mean Machines Sega 93, Game Players 96 percent, Next Generation 4 of 5. Famitsu's Genesis panel gave straight 7s, 28/40. The praise centered on originality and technical showmanship; the dissent, from GamesMaster's Tim Tucker among others, found the whole somewhat disjointed and patchy, and overwhelming on the eyes. Retrospective reviewers rank it among the best Genesis platformers while noting it never reached the legendary status of Gunstar Heroes or the shooters.