Last Action Hero

From Sega Retro

For the unreleased Sega Mega-CD game, see Last Action Hero (Mega-CD).

n/a

  • Mega Drive
  • Game Gear

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LastActionHero GG Title.png

Last Action Hero
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Sony Imagesoft
Developer:
Licensor: Columbia Pictures
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US 		T-93066
Videogame Rating Council: GA
Sega Game Gear
US 		T-93048
Videogame Rating Council: GA
Non-Sega versions

Last Action Hero is a Sega Mega Drive and Sega Game Gear action game based on the 1993 film of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was only released in North America.

Story

After receiving a magical movie ticket, young Danny Madigan is sucked into a theater screen and into an action movie starring indestructible Los Angeles cop Jack Slater. Jack Slater's archenemy, the ruthless assassin Mr. Benedict, gets a hold of the ticket and transports himself to the real world. Danny and Jack must follow him and stop him.

Gameplay

Mega Drive version

The game is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up played as the movie action hero Jack Slater. The levels initially take place inside Jack Slater's movie world, then transition to the "real" world. Slater moves with Left and Right. He crouches with Down and jumps with C. He punches with B and kicks with A. He can only punch while standing. He can kick while crouching with Down+A but not after jumping, though he can do a jumping split kick with Up+A that hits enemies on both sides of him.

There are two driving levels where Slater is driving a car controlled from an overhead perspective. The car speeds up with Right or slows down with Left. It brakes to a complete stop with B. The car can jump off ramps or squeeze in between vehicles to avoid running into them.

Slater has a health meter with eight segments. He loses health as he is attacked by enemies and loses a life if he loses all of his health or if time runs out. The game ends if the player runs out of lives. There are no continues.

Items

Last Action Hero MD, Movie Ticket.png
 Movie Ticket
Replenishes some of Slater's health meter. This item occasionally falls from the top of the screen.

Levels

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 1-1.png

Action Hero Movie

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 1-2.png

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 1-2 Boss.png

  • Last Action Hero MD, Stage 1-2.png

  • Last Action Hero MD, Stage 1-2 Boss.png

Inside the School

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 2.png

Bonneville Car Chase

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 3.png

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 3 Boss.png

  • Last Action Hero MD, Stage 3.png

  • Last Action Hero MD, Stage 3 Boss.png

Leo's Funeral

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 4.png

The Car Chase

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 5.png

Premiere Night

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 6.png

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 6 Boss 1.png

Last Action Hero MD, Stage 6 Boss 2.png

  • Last Action Hero MD, Stage 6.png

  • Last Action Hero MD, Stage 6 Boss 1.png

  • Last Action Hero MD, Stage 6 Boss 2.png

The Finale

Game Gear version

Last Action Hero GG, Pause Screen.png

Pause screen

The game is a side-scrolling platformer. The player controls Jack Slater, the "greatest movie hero of all time," who must leave the movie world to chase a villain who has escaped into the real world. Slater moves with Left and Right. He crouches with Down and jumps with 1. He punches with 2 and kicks with Up+2. He can only attack when standing, not when crouching or jumping.

Enemies are encountered much less frequently than in the Mega Drive game. Instead, gameplay is focused around collecting movie ticket stubs, which give Slater access to special items that are necessary to proceed in the levels, such as a fire extinguisher that he can use to put out fires or a bomb that he can use to blow up a door. A counter in the upper left corner of the screen shows how many ticket stubs need to be collected to unlock the next item. The counter changes to a different icon when a special item has been unlocked, and Slater can use it with 2 (replacing his punch until the item is successfully used). Explosives such as bombs and mines are planted with Down+2.

There are two driving levels where Slater drives a car, viewed from an overhead perspective. The car steers with Left and Right and accelerates by holding 1.

Slater starts with 7 health hearts, but he can acquire up to 12. He loses a health heart whenever he takes damage from an enemy or a hazard, and he loses a life if he loses all of his health hearts and must restart the level from the beginning. The number of health hearts is carried over between levels. Every level also has a time limit (which replaces the ticket stub counter when the remaining time is low), and Slater loses a life if time runs out. The game ends if the player runs out of lives and cannot be continued. The player can view the number of health hearts possessed, the number of ticket stubs left to collect, the special item (if any), and the time remaining by pausing the game with  START .

Items

Last Action Hero GG, Items.png
 Ticket Stub
Collect ticket stubs to unlock a special item. A ticket stub sways back and forth in the air, so it may not be accessible in one position but may move into a position where Slater can reach it.
Last Action Hero GG, Items.png
Last Action Hero GG, Items.png
 Heart
Restores some of Slater's health hearts.

Levels

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 1.png

Inside the School
Slater must use
Last Action Hero GG, Special Items.png
fire extinguishers to put out fires and
Last Action Hero GG, Special Items.png
bombs to blow up doors.

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 2.png

On the School Roof
Slater must knock the Ripper off the roof of the building.

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 3.png

Bonneville Car Chase
Slater must use the
Last Action Hero GG, Special Items.png
turbo device in order to make the jump at the end of the level.

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 4.png

Outside the Subway
Slater must use a
Last Action Hero GG, Special Items.png
mine to create an explosion that drops a platform near the end of the level.

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 5.png

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 5 Boss.png

  • Last Action Hero GG, Stage 5.png

  • Last Action Hero GG, Stage 5 Boss.png

Leo's Funeral
Slater must ascend the building by jumping on top of the elevators. Once there, he can use the
Last Action Hero GG, Special Items.png
missile launcher to attack the helicopter.

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 6.png

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 6 Boss.png

  • Last Action Hero GG, Stage 6.png

  • Last Action Hero GG, Stage 6 Boss.png

The Car Chase
Slater must use the
Last Action Hero GG, Special Items.png
turbo device to beat Benedict to the movie premiere. At the end, Slater and Benedict ram their cars into each other; the player must press 1 and 2 rapidly to build the meter enough to win.

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 7.png

Premiere Night
Slater must obtain the
Last Action Hero GG, Special Items.png
key to activate the lift at the end.

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 8.png

On the Roof with the Ripper
Slater must knock the Ripper through the skylight on top of the building.

Last Action Hero GG, Stage 9.png

The Finale
Slater must defeat the Ripper, who has inhabited a movie theater screen, by kicking the large fireballs he spews back at him.

History

Nine different video game adaptions of Last Action Hero were put into production before the film was released, and due to its secretive nature, developers could only use the scripts, photographs and selected footage as reference material[2].

Arnold Schwarzenegger requested that the developers of Last Action Hero not to give the main characters guns so as not to inspire children to partake in real-world violence[2]. Despite playing a prominent role in the movie, the character Danny Maddigan is absent from the core gameplay as license holders Columbia Pictures did not want to have a small boy surrounded by violence[2]. As such, he only appears in the cutscenes.

European versions were advertised and planned[3][4][5], but the game ultimately remained a United States exclusive.

Both a Sega Master System version and Mega-CD version[6][7] (for release in Autumn 1993[8]) of Last Action Hero were once planned[9], but were cancelled for unknown reasons.

Production credits

Mega Drive version

The BITS Development Team
  • Programming: Peter Baron
  • Graphics: Laurence McDonald, Carl Cropley
  • Animation: Mark Jones
  • Music and Sound Effects: Shahid Ahmad
  • Play Testing: Jim Hale
  • Concept and Design: Peter Baron, Foo Katan, Chris Kyriacou, Cos Lazouras, Gary Sheinwald
  • Produced by: Chris Kyriacou, Gary Sheinwald
  • Executive Producer: Foo Katan
Copyright 1993 Sony Electronic Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Last Action Hero TM. Copyright 1993 Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Executive Producer: Rich Robinson
  • Producer: Nathan Rose
  • Sony Electronic Publishing Company: Olaf Olafsson, Lester Greenman, Peter Dille, Jeff Benjamin
  • Columbia Pictures Industries Inc.: Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McTiernan, Steve Roth, Robert Relyea, Neal Nordlinger
  • Columbia Pictures Merchandising: Lester Borden, Lisa Weisinger Manne, Susan Christison, Catherine Varvaro
Source:
In-game credits[10]

Game Gear version

The BITS Team
  • Programming by: Neil Dodwell
  • Graphics and Animation by: Mark Jones
  • Music and Sound Effects by: Shahid Ahmad
  • Playtesting by: Jim Hale
  • Concept and Design by: Neil Dodwell, Mark Jones, Foo Katan, Chris Kyriacou, Cos Lazouras, Gary Sheinwald
  • Produced by: Chris Kyriacou, Gary Sheinwald
  • Executive Producer: Foo Katan
  • Executive Producer: Rich Robinson
  • Producer: Nathan Rose
  • Sony Electronic Publishing Company: Olaf Olafsson, Lester Greenman, Peter Dille, Jeff Benjamin
  • Columbia Pictures Industries Inc.: Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McTiernan, Steve Roth, Robert Relyea, Neal Nordlinger
  • Columbia Pictures Merchandising: Lester Borden, Lisa Weisinger Manne, Susan Christison, Catherine Varvaro
Source:
In-game credits[11]

Magazine articles

Main article: Last Action Hero/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in (US) #54: "January 1994" (199x-xx-xx)
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Print advert in (UK) #145: "December 1993" (1993-11-15)
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Print advert in (FR) #25: "Novembre 1993" (1993-1x-xx)
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Print advert in (DE) #1993-12: "12/93" (1993-11-22)
also published in:
  • (DE) #1993-12: "12/93" (1993-11-10)[12]
Logo-pdf.svg
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Mega Drive print advert in (ES) #9: "Diciembre 1993" (1993-1x-xx)
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Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
(RU) NTSC-U
40
[13]
(AU)
9
[14]
(RU) NTSC-U
60
[15]
Sega Mega Drive
 36
Based on
3 reviews

Last Action Hero

Mega Drive, US
Last Action Hero MD US BoxCover.JPG
Cover
LastActionHero MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, US (Not For Resale)
LastActionHero MD US Box.jpg
Cover
LastActionHero MD US Cart.jpg
Cart

Game Gear version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Sega Game Gear
 N/A
Based on
0 reviews

Last Action Hero

Game Gear, US
LastActionHero GG US Box Back.jpgNospine.pngLastActionHero GG US Box Front.jpg
Cover
LastActionHero GG US Cart.jpg
Cart
Last Action Hero GG US Manual.pdf
Manual

Technical information

Main article: Last Action Hero/Technical information.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 GamePro, "November 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 213
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Computer & Video Games, "August 1993" (UK; 1993-07-15), page 26
  3. ↑ MAN!AC, "11/93" (DE; 1993-xx-xx), page 12
  4. ↑ Sega Pro, "Xmas Special 1993" (UK; 1993-12-02), page 89
  5. ↑ Sega Pro, "Xmas Special 1993" (UK; 1993-12-02), page 98
  6. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "August 1993" (UK; 1993-06-30), page 12
  7. ↑ Sega Pro, "Xmas Special 1993" (UK; 1993-12-02), page 100
  8. ↑ Game Informer, "March/April 1993" (US; 1993-0x-xx), page 38
  9. ↑ GamePro, "April 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 111
  10. ↑ File:Last Action Hero MD credits.pdf
  11. ↑ File:Last Action Hero GG credits.pdf
  12. ↑ MAN!AC, "12/93" (DE; 1993-11-10), page 57
  13. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 159
  14. ↑ Hyper, "February 1994" (AU; 199x-xx-xx), page 70
  15. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 102


Last Action Hero

LastActionHero title.png

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Last Action Hero games for Sega systems
Sega Master System
 Last Action Hero (unreleased)
Sega Mega Drive
 Last Action Hero (1993)
Sega Game Gear
 Last Action Hero (1993)
Sega Mega-CD
 Last Action Hero (unreleased)
Pinball
 Last Action Hero (1993)
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