Aside from the one time I played Gunstar Heroes a few years ago, I have needed to "educate myself" on the Treasure catalog for a while. Having played the Japanese version of Dynamite Headdy via the Sega Genesis/Megadrive Classic Collection on Switch, I can say it's a solid, yet long 16-bit platformer.

Having looked into Dynamite Headdy a little, I decided to play the Japanese version due to a lighter difficulty, though it offers a lot more than that. Unfortunately, in the English localization of this game, the actual story of Dynamite Headdy is lost in translation. It's appreciated that SEGA's compilation cart for the Switch includes both NTSC and Japan releases, but it's still a shame that the text boxes exclusive to the Japanese version were not translated on the cartridge. Thankfully fans have already done that with plenty of ways to access a translated ROM, an option I may take for any future playthroughs.

Analyzing Dynamite Headdy to any extent reveals a boundary-pushing piece of software for the time. Including impressive 3D effects predating many more popular titles using similar features. This extends to the stellar soundtrack, as well as a general gameplay loop that feels both familiar and radically different from its contemporaries - even ones made by Treasure, themselves; think Gunstar Heroes meets Sonic meets Rayman. I could probably describe Dynamite Headdy in better detail, but with its ease of access both legally and otherwise, it's best you just give it a shot, yourself.

I had already played a few platformers before D. Headdy in the early 90s, both on NES and Megadrive.

You could say I was a connoisseur of the genre. This was without a doubt a must play.

Colourful, dynamic, action packed... I really liked it.

I played the fan-translated Japanese version of this game. It is vastly superior to what we got in the west. The story segments have been kept in rather than omitted entirely, and the difficulty level hasn't been adjusted in order to make things crushingly hard for the player. It's definitely the way to go.

A very imaginative platformer. Bursting at the seams with ideas and various little details that give it the essence of a demented Japanese kids cartoon. It doesn't always work and sometimes the difficulty, even in the Japanese version, is just too unfair for its own good. But Dynamite Headdy is dangerously close to hidden gem territory. Well worth checking out for any platforming enthusiast.

7.75 outta 10

This game is excellent, and I get the feeling I'm going to be talking about it for a long time. It looks/sounds great for a Mega Drive title, has tons of personality, and has quite possibly some of the greatest sound effects in any video game ever (You Got A Secret Bonus Point!).

However, cannot overstate how absolutely brutal it is--people will tell you the Japanese version is "easier" but this is relative, the game is still super hard so don't feel bad if you're getting your ass beat a couple levels in. I definitely want to pick it up again later to see if I can get the secret ending.

One of the best Sega Genesis games, and in my opinion, the best game made by Treasure.

Yes, it's true that they ramped up the difficulty for the Western release, and while that kind of stinks I still think this game is fully approachable to anyone in 2023. For the younger people on here...this is basically Cuphead with more a bit more platforming and a play aesthetic.

Shame that the Super Nintendo port was cancelled, and, if I recall...there may have even been a Sega CD game planned. Oh well, at least it's on NSO for the five people paying for the premium package.

Dynamite Headdy is much better than any character action game has any right to be. Once again Treasure had created a visually stunning and vibrant side scroller for Mega Drive, almost like a proto Rayman meets Mischief Makers but much better. There’s a tonne of extras, special awards, bonus games that spell out a word for post-game goodies and difficulty settings. Unfortunately I stuck with standard difficulty and still needed to cheese some sections (rewinds), I don’t have as much time and patience that I used to. Basically a must play for Mega Drive.

(Beat this, but used saved states liberally— it’s really fucking hard.)

This is an insanely-paced platformer with wildly varied game mechanics from level to level. In fact, one of its downsides may be that it throws TOO MUCH at the player too quickly, and could’ve benefited from some conceptual editing.

However, as it stands, DH is tough-as-nails but mostly fair, super smooth in the control department, and highly impressive from a graphics/art direction perspective. It contains some absolutely brilliant boss fights, as all Treasure games do!

The bonus game sucks, the melon head sucks, and it’s arguably FAR too unforgiving with health, saves, continues, etc... but if you’re playing with a saved state at the beginning of every scene, and can learn via trial and error, it’s a joy to play.

Recently replayed this game and it's still fun as hell. The creativity and style of this game carries it. The whole game is a play filled with props, spotlights and behind the scenes sections. It's colorful and wacky with a lot of charm. Easily top 10 Genesis games (see my list to know where I rank it lol).

I remember this game being hard but man is it harder than I remember. There's even a 1 hit hard mode I never knew about.

It wasn't till decades after it's release that I learned the Japanese version is easier and even has dialog that was cut from the western version.