Die Hard Arcade

n/a

US JP NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J
Die Hard Arcade
System(s): Sega Titan Video, Sega Saturn
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega AM1, Sega Technical Institute
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) Tec Toy (BR)
Licensor: Fox Interactive, Twentieth Century Fox (US/EU)
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (41 tracks)
Genre: Side-scrolling Action/Yoko Scroll Action (横スクロールアクション), Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1996-07 ¥? ? US 1996 $? ? JP 1997-01-24 ¥5,800 (5,974)5,800e GS-9122 JP (Satakore) 1998-03-12 ¥2,8002,800 GS-9192 US 1997-03-18 $49.9949.99 81057 EU 1997-02-24 MK81057-50 DE 1997-02-24 MK81057-50 PT 199x STJSE0501 UK 1997-02-24 £44.9944.99 MK81057-50 PL 1997 239zł239 AU 199x FDIE01SSC BR 199x 191536

Die Hard Arcade, stylized as DIE HARD ARCADE or DIE HARD Arcade and known as Dynamite Deka (ダイナマイト刑事) in Japan, is a 3D arcade beat-em up developed by Sega AM1 and Sega Technical Institute. It was published by Sega for the Sega Titan Video arcade platform in 1996 and for the Sega Saturn in the following year.

The game was published in cooperation with Fox Interactive as a licensed product based on the Die Hard movie franchise. The Japanese version was published as an original property because Sega did not have the rights to use the Die Hard license there.

Story

Nakatomi Plaza

John McClane and Kris Thompsen (Bruno Delinger and Cindy Holiday in the Japanese version) are on a mission to save the President's daughter, Missie Herrington (Caroline Powell). She has been kidnapped by a group of terrorists led by White Fang (Wolf Hongo), who are holding her in Nakatomi Plaza, a skyscraper they have taken over in Los Angeles (a skyscraper named Eternal City located in San Francisco in the Japanese version).

Gameplay

Quick time events

The game is a beat-'em-up using texture-mapped 3D polygon graphics. It can be played by one player or by two players simultaneously, with player one playing as veteran NYPD cop John McClane (Bruno Delinger) and player two playing as rookie LAPD detective Kris Thompsen (Cindy Holiday). It features a sophisticated move set for the genre, resembling a fighting game such as Virtua Fighter. The second player can join at any time during gameplay by pressing  START  on another control pad. There are combined special moves and combos in two-player games.

Characters can move by pressing a direction on the D-Pad. They can run by double-tapping forward on the D-Pad or roll backwards by double-tapping back on the D-Pad. They punch with , kick with , or jump with . Combos are performed by pressing the punch and kick buttons in quick succession. Attacks can also be performed while jumping or running. Characters automatically grab opponents in close proximity, which can be thrown by holding a direction on the D-Pad and pressing or or attacked by pressing or without a direction. Characters cannot grab enemies when holding a weapon.

Characters can pick up and use various items as weapons, from household items such as brooms and pepper shakers to high-damage missile launchers, submachine guns and anti-tank rifles. Objects are sometimes found laying in the stages, or weapons can be taken from enemies. Objects can be picked up with , then thrown, swung, or shot (depending on the object) with or again. The objects that the character has collected are shown in a bottom corner of the screen. Weapons have limited ammunition and are automatically discarded when they run out, unless the player has additional ammunition in the inventory. When a weapon runs out of ammo, the character throws the weapon, then uses the next object in the inventory (if there is one). Each player can hold one weapon in hand, up to four ammo clips, and one additional weapon in the inventory. Enemies reload weapons after picking them up if they are low on ammo. Most weapons are lost at the end of each action scene, but hand guns can be retained so long as they have ammunition remaining. Weapons are also dropped if the character is knocked down by an attack.

Stages are interspersed with automated sequences with quick time events where the players are prompted to press a certain button in time. Failing a quick time event results in either a loss of health or an additional action scene that players would otherwise not have to complete.

Each character has a life bar in a top corner of the screen that depletes as the character takes damage from enemies. A character is defeated when their life bar is emptied, and the player must use a credit to continue. Collected weapons and objects are retained after continuing, and the character receives a bonus hand gun. Life is not replenished between scenes or stages but can be replenished by finding health pick-ups. Enemy terrorists have their own life bars in a row underneath the players' life bars, and they are defeated when they run out of health.

Move list

Move list (Attacks)

Name	Command	Description
Jab	P
P, Straight	P P
PP, Straight	P P P
PPP, Rolling Heel Kick	P P P K
PPP, Straight, Jumping Back Kick	P P P P K
Front Kick (McClane) Left Front Kick (Thompsen)	K
Front Roundhouse (McClane) Left Front Kick (Thompsen)	K K
KK, Back Kick	K K K
KK, Body Blow (McClane) KK, Power Punch (Thompsen)	K K P
Dash Uppercut	Hold P, then release
Somersault Kick	Hold K, then release

Move list (Turning attacks)

Name	Command	Description
Backfist	P while holding the D-Pad back
Side Kick	K while holding the D-Pad back

Move list (Emergency escape)

Name	Command	Description
Spinning Attack	P+K+	This ability costs a portion of health.

Move list (Jumping attacks)

Name	Command	Description
Jumping Uppercut	P+
Jump Kick	K+
Dash Elbow	P+ while holding the D-Pad forward
Jumping Double Back Kick	K+ while holding the D-Pad forward

Move list (Attacks during jumps)

Name	Command	Description
Swing Down	P while jumping
Double-Handed Swing	Hold P while jumping
Diagonal Kick	K while jumping
Double Rolling Heel Kick (McClane) Screw Kick (Thompsen)	Hold K while jumping
Elbow Drop	P while holding the D-Pad
Knee Drop	K while holding the D-Pad
Slide Punch	P upon landing
Sliding Kick	K upon landing

Move list (Dash attacks)

Name	Command	Description
Elbow	P while walking
Groin Kick (McClane) Backfist (Thompsen)	K while walking
Tackle	P while running
Jumping Kick	K while running

Move list (Recovery attacks)

Name	Command	Description
Rising Uppercut	P holding the D-Pad or
Rising Kick (McClane) Rising Sweep (Thompsen)	K holding the D-Pad or

Move list (Throws)

Name	Command	Description
Giant Swing	P (P) K (K) P after grab
German Suplex	P (P) K K (K) after grab
Piledriver	K (K) P P (P) after grab
Headlock Slam	K (K) P (P) K after grab

Characters

	John McClane (Bruno "Mr. Dynamite" Delinger)
	A veteran detective in the New York Police Department who is visiting Los Angeles to visit his ex-wife and children. Player one plays as John McClane. He is better with weapons (for example, he fires guns faster).
	Kris Thompsen (Cindy Holiday)
	A rookie detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. She is a martial arts expert. Player two plays as Kris Thompsen. She is faster and more maneuverable.
	White Fang (Wolf Hongo)
	Leader of the terrorist group occupying Nakatomi Plaza. He is trying to steal $600 million in the building's safe and has kidnapped the President's daughter.
	Missie Herrington (Caroline Powell)
	The President's daughter, who has been kidnapped by White Fang and his terrorist group.

Items

Items that can be picked up are surrounded by a red square; when the character is close enough to it, it changes to a green square and can be picked up with .

In addition to these items, there are a variety of items, such as chairs and barrels, that can be thrown at enemies and items, such as brooms and fireman's axes, that can be swung as weapons.

	Hand Gun
	A hand gun containing up to 15 rounds, which are fired one at a time. These can be taken from terrorists and can be carried between scenes. They can be reloaded by finding a Hand Gun Clip.
	Machine Gun
	A machine gun containing up to 20 rounds, which are fired in bursts of four at a time. These can be taken from terrorists or sometimes found on the ground. They can be reloaded by finding a Machine Gun Magazine.
	Missile Launcher
	A missile launcher containing up to 6 missiles, which explode in a large area. These can be taken from terrorists or sometimes found on the ground. They cannot be reloaded.
	Anti-Tank Rifle
	An anti-artillery gun containing up to 6 rounds, which knock the opponent back on impact. These can be taken from terrorists or sometimes found on the ground. They cannot be reloaded.
	Spray Can
	An aerosol spray can containing up to 6 shots. It damages and also momentarily stuns enemies. It can be combined with a lighter to create a flamethrower.
	Hand Gun Clip
	Reloads the Hand Gun with 15 rounds. Goes into the inventory until it is needed.
	Machine Gun Magazine
	Reloads the Machine Gun with 20 rounds. Goes into the inventory until it is needed.
	Life Up
	Restores part of the character's life.

Stages

	The Top Floor
	The Underground Parking Lot
	The First Floor Lobby
	The Terrace
	The Top Floor
	In one-player games, the game ends after defeating White Fang on the rooftop. In two-player games, if both players are still in the game, they fight each other (similar to the end of Double Dragon) to decide who will become the bodyguard of the President's daughter.

Deep Scan

Deep Scan

The Saturn version includes a port of Sega's 1979 arcade game Deep Scan, which can be played to earn extra credits. It can be selected from the main menu. Every 200 points earned in Deep Scan gives the player a credit in Die Hard Arcade.

The goal is to destroy as many enemy submarines as possible by dropping depth charges from either the left or right side of the battleship while avoiding mines launched from these submarines. The battleship moves with or . It drops a depth charge to the left with or to the right with . The battleship has a limited number of depth charges, shown at the top of the screen. A sonar appears on the bottom of the screen and shows submarines coming from the sides, before they are visible. The game ends if the battleship is destroyed; there are no lives or continues.

History

Development

Main article: Die Hard Arcade/Development.

Legacy

The Saturn version received success in Japan due to its "shocking" commercial. In 2011, the music featured created for it was voted the 304th best video game vocal song by the Minna de Kimeru Game Ongaku Best 100 Matome section of the Japanese website Atwiki. Makoto Uchida has said that, years later, he would still receive emails from fans asking to see the commercial again.

Dynamite Deka was followed by Dynamite Deka 2 on the Sega Model 2 and Dreamcast. This game was known as Dynamite Cop outside of Japan. The story would be continued in Dynamite Deka EX, also known as Asian Dynamite, and the game would be remade in the form of Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 26: Dynamite Deka.

Sega Logistics Service announced it would end service on Dynamite Deka arcade machines on March 31, 2017.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Die Hard Arcade	Die Hard Arcade
English (US)	Die Hard Arcade	Die Hard Arcade
Japanese	ダイナマイト刑事	Dynamite Deka

Production credits

Main article: Die Hard Arcade/Production credits.

Arcade version

• Program Work
  • Chief Programmer: Hiroshi Ando
  • Enemy Programmer: Masanobu Yamamoto
  • Sub Programmer: Teruji Abe
• Art Work
  • Chief Artist: Kunitake Aoki, Tatsuto Kumada
  • Model Artist: Joe Stephenson, Stieg Hedlund, Andrew Mundy, Betty Cunningham
  • Player Model Artist: Taku Makino, Yoshiaki Aoki, Hideyuki Katoh
  • Animation Artist: Dean Ruggles, Tom Tobey, Makoto Uchida, Greg Hancock
  • Back Ground Scr: Alan Ackerman
  • Illustrator: Tony De Zuniga
  • Art Manager: Bob Steele
• Sound Work
  • Sound Director: Howard Drossin
• Special Thanks
• Hiro, Paul Sears, Youichi Ueda, Robert Morgan, David Leytze, Richard Hideshima, Tohru Nakabayashi, Kouji Ooto, Yuko L. Isoda, Kohji Tanuma, Sachiko Amano, Masayuki Ao, Naoko Takahashi, Susumi Hirai, Morikuni Kubo, Shinichiro Okumoto, Masamoto Morita
• Producer: Roger Hector, Rikiya Nakagawa, Makoto Uchida
• Executive Producer: Hisashi Suzuki
• Game Design & Directed by: Makoto Uchida

Sega AM R&D Dept. #1

Source:

In-game credits

Saturn version

• Program Work
  • Chief Programmer: Hiroshi Ando
  • Enemy Programmer: Masanobu Yamamoto
  • Sub Programmer: Teruji Abe
• Art Work
  • Chief Artists: Kunitake Aoki, Tatsuto Kumada
  • Model Artists: Joe Stephenson, Stieg Hedlund, Andrew Mundy, Betty Cunningham
  • Player Model Artists: Taku Makino, Yoshiaki Aoki, Hideyuki Katoh
  • Animation Artists: Dean Ruggles, Tom Tobey, Makoto Uchida, Greg Hancock
  • Back Ground Scr: Alan Ackerman
  • Illustrator: Tony De Zuniga
  • CG Artist: Tatsuto Kumada
  • Art Manager: Bob Steele
• Sound Work
• Music and Sound Effects by: Howard Drossin
• Special Thanks: Hiro, Paul Sears, Youichi Ueda, Robert Morgan, David Leytze, Richard Hideshima, Tohru Nakabayashi, Kouji Ooto, Yuko L. Isoda, Kouji Tanuma, Sachiko Amano, Masayuki Ao, Naoko Takahashi, Susumu Hirai, Morikuni Kubo, Shinichiro Okumoto, Stephen Hutchins, Masamoto Morita
• Producers: Roger Hector, Rikiya Nakagawa, Makoto Uchida
• Executive Producer: Hisashi Suzuki
• Game Designed & Directed by: Makoto Uchida

Source:

In-game credits

File:Die Hard Arcade Saturn credits.pdf

---

Development

• Programmers: Teruhito Abe and Hiroshi Ando
• Art Work: Tatsuto Kumada
• Game Design/Production: Makoto Uchida
• Music and Sound Effects: Howard Drossin

Production

• Executive Producer: Manny Granillo
• Producer: Steve Hutchins
• Assistant Producer: Michael S. Jablonn
• Lead Tester: Arnold Feener
• Assistant Lead Testers: Jeremy Cambell, Robert Hernandez, Ryan Hurth

Marketing

• Marketing Manager: Anne Moellering
• Associate Product Manager: Mark Moeller
• Product Specialist: Mark Subotnick
• Package Design: Moore & Price Design Group, Inc.
• Packaging: Eric Smith
• Manual: Richard Walker

Special Thanks To

• Scott Marcus at Fox Interactive, Arvin Carlson, Marcy Ditter, Matt Dunbar, Lydia Gable, Ted Hoff, Eileen Sacman, Bob Schonfisch, Marc Sherrod, Undyne Stafford, Andrew Stein, Dan Stevens, Bernie Stolar, Jennifer Titchener, Shinobu Toyoda, Shuji Utsumi, Frontline Marketing and the SEEDY Crew

And the SOA Software Test Department

• Nicolas Azizian, Aaron Bandur, Holly Bourdet, Karen Brown, Don Carmichael, Anthony Chau, Art Datangel, Roger DeForest, Mike Dobbins, Tai Huynh, John Jansen, Ty Johnson, Dave Kinel, Lloyd Kinoshita, Dennis Lee, Mark Lerma, Jeff Loney, Chris Lucich, Tony Lynch, Benny Malto, Mark McCunny, Steve Perez, David Portera, Tony Ragano, Ilya Reeves, Chris Towles, Adam Victor, Peter Young, Michael Yu

Source:

US manual

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Magazine articles

Main article: Die Hard Arcade/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

ST-V US flyer (front)

ST-V US flyer (back)

PDF

Saturn JP flyer

Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1997-02: "1997-02 (1997-01-31)" (1997-01-17)

Saturn print advert in GameFan (US) #0504: "Volume 5, Issue 4: April 1997" (1997-xx-xx)

Print advert in Strana Igr (RU) #13: "Iyul 1997 1/2" (1997-xx-xx)

Photo gallery

• 

  ST-V US cabinet

Artwork

• 

Physical scans

Sega Titan Video version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Next Generation (US) 50

	50
Based on 1 review

Die Hard Arcade

Sega Titan Video, US
Cart

Sega Titan Video, JP
"Top" instructions "Long" instructions "Long" instructions (2)
Cart Instuction card(s)

Saturn version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source GamesMaster (UK) 77 №53, p42/43

	77
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 576 KByte (HU) 80 Ação Games (BR) 75 CD Consoles (FR) 80 Console Mania (IT) PAL 91 Computer & Video Games (UK) 50 Edge (UK) PAL 60 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 74 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 70 Freak (IL) 92 Fun Generation (DE) PAL 70 Gambler (PL) 83 GameFan (US) 81 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 88 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 53 Gry Komputerowe (PL) 75 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 70 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 80 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 75 neXt Level (DE) PAL 80 Player One (FR) 90 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 76 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 74 Secret Service (PL) 56 Sega Magazin (DE) 86 Sega Power (UK) PAL 88 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL 80 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 77 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 81 Strana Igr (RU) 80 Super Power (FI) 83 Ultra Game Players (US) NTSC-U 82 Video Games (DE) PAL 75

	77
Based on 32 reviews

Die Hard Arcade

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc

Saturn, JP (Satakore)
Cover
Disc

Saturn, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, EU
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, EU (newer)

Saturn, PT
Cover
Disc

Saturn, AU
Cover
Disc

Saturn, BR
Cover

Technical information

Main article: Die Hard Arcade/Technical information.

External links

• Sega of America webpage: Saturn