Die Hard Arcade

Die Hard Arcade
North American Saturn cover art
Developer(s)Sega AM1
Sega Technical Institute
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Makoto Uchida
Producer(s)Roger Hector
Rikiya Nakagawa
Makoto Uchida
Designer(s)Makoto Uchida
Programmer(s)Hiroshi Ando
Artist(s)Kunitake Aoki
Tatsuto Kumada
Composer(s)Howard Drossin
Platform(s)Arcade, Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Network
Release
July 1996
  • Arcade
    Sega Saturn
    • JP: January 24, 1997
    • PAL: February 24, 1997
    • NA: March 18, 1997[4]
    PlayStation 2
    • JP: April 27, 2006
    PlayStation Network
    • JP: August 22, 2012
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemST-V[5]

Die Hard Arcade, known as Dynamite Deka (ダイナマイト刑事, Dainamaito Deka, lit. Dynamite Detective) in Japan, is an arcade beat 'em up video game released by Sega. It was the first beat 'em up to use texture-mapped 3D polygon graphics,[5] and used a sophisticated move set by contemporary beat 'em up standards, often being likened to a fighting game in this respect.[6] It also features quick time events, the ability to combine items to make more powerful weapons, and in two-player mode the ability to perform combined special moves and combos.

The game was published in cooperation with Fox Interactive and was a licensed product based on the Die Hard movie franchise. Because Sega did not hold the Japanese video game rights for Die Hard, in Japan the game was stripped of the Die Hard license and published as an original property.

Similarly to hit action films of the time, Die Hard Arcade is dominated by over-the-top, largely gore-free violence which is played for comedic effect.[6] Released in 1996 for arcades, the game was ported to the Sega Saturn in 1997 and the PlayStation 2 (Japan only) in the Sega Ages line in 2006. A sequel, Dynamite Cop, was released for arcades and Dreamcast in 1998 without the Die Hard license.

  1. ^ a b Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 38, 132. ISBN 978-4990251215.
  2. ^ Sega Arcade History. Famitsu DC (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2002. p. 137.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference CVG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "SEGA SATURN BRINGS HOME DIE HARD ARCADE FOR THE ULTIMATE LIVING ROOM BRAWL". Sega Central. Sega of America. March 18, 1997. Archived from the original on February 2, 1998. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Webb, Marcus (August 1996). "Up and Coming Coin-Ops". Next Generation. No. 20. Imagine Media. p. 18.
  6. ^ a b Leadbetter, Rich (March 1997). "Rage Hard!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 17. Emap International Limited. pp. 46–49.