Die Hard Trilogy

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Die Hard Trilogy
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Fox Interactive, Sega (JP)
Developer:
Distributor: Electronic Arts (EU)
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (26 tracks)
Peripherals supported: Virtua Gun, Arcade Racer Joystick, Shuttle Mouse, 3D Control Pad
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Saturn
JP 		¥5,8005,800 GS-9123
Sega Saturn
US 		$54.9854.98[2] T-16103H
Sega Saturn
EU 		T-16103H-50
Sega Saturn
FR 		T-16103H-09
Sega Saturn
BR 		191x46

Die Hard Trilogy (ダイハード・トリロジー) is a set of action games inspired by the Die Hard film franchise. It was developed by Probe Entertainment and published by Fox Interactive for the Sega Saturn in late 1996/early 1997. It is one of two Die Hard games to hit the Saturn at around the same period, the other being Sega's own, Die Hard Arcade, an unrelated beat-'em-up loosely inspired by the first movie.

According to Mean Machines Sega the game was also announced for both the Sega Mega Drive and Sega 32X; however, neither of those platforms would see a release.

Gameplay

As the name suggests, Die Hard Trilogy is split into three sections to cover each of the three Die Hard films. The gameplay differs wildly between the three thirds and covers but a section of the film's story:

Die Hard

Die Hard, based on the 1988 film, sees protagonist John McClane rescue hostages in Nakatomi Plaza (the setting of the first film) in a third-person perspective.

Die Harder

Die Harder, based on the 1990 sequel, Die Hard 2 (sometimes subtitled "Die Harder") is a rail-shooter where the player shoots terrorists at Dulles Airport. This section is compatible with the Virtua Gun.

With a Vengeance

With a Vengeance, based on the 1995 movie, Die Hard with a Vengeance has the player drive a taxi, sports car or dump truck, defusing bombs. With a Vengeance is notorious for allowing users to run over pedestrians, which, if viewed from inside the car, leads to blood being smeared across the windscreen - a source of much controversy at the time which likely led to the game's high age ratings.

History

Development

Die Hard Trilogy was originally developed with the PlayStation in mind, with the Saturn (and PC) versions being green lit towards the end of the game's initial development. Though considered by the press to be technically impressive for its day, Die Hard Trilogy highlights the problem facing many western Saturn developers of the era - that the console's 3D capabilities are noticably behind those of Sony's console.

The Saturn version runs at a lower frame rate and screen resolution, and cuts out several graphical effects, particularly in regards to semi-transparent polygons and textures, and more complex lighting and shadow systems. Polygon counts are also lower in the Saturn version, and loading times are slightly longer in some sections. Virtua Gun support for Die Harder is, however, considered a plus - the PlayStation version does not support any light guns despite the popularity of the de facto GunCon standard created by Namco. There are also a number of subtle changes including different HUD graphics and fonts.

Bug

There is a bug that makes the game lock after the Die Hard copyright text when using some 4in1 carts. This has been noted to occure with the 4in1 cart that has a parallel port on it, it is unclear if this happens with all revisions of the 4in1 cart with the parallel port. The bug is in both the European and American release of the game. There is currently no Action Replay code to circumvent this so the only option is to boot the game without the cart inserted.

Legacy

The game was very popular and successful at the time of release, eventually resulting in a PlayStation sequel, Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas in 2000.

Magazine articles

Main article: Die Hard Trilogy/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

  • DieHardTrilogy Saturn US PrintAdvert.jpg

    US print advert

  • UK print advert

  • DieHardTrilogy Sat UK PrintAd 2.pdf

    UK print advert

  • DieHardTrilogy Sat UK PrintAd 3.jpg

    UK print advert

  • DieHardTrilogy Sat UK PrintAd 4.jpg

    UK print advert

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
76 №24, p74-78[3]
95 №61, p140
92 №52, p62-65[4]
93 №73, p89
91 №17, p68/69[5]
67 №1996-22, p278[6]
76
Sega Saturn
 84
Based on
7 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
576 KByte (HU)
95
[8]
Alaab Alcomputtar (SA)
90
[9]
CD Consoles (FR) PAL
100
[3]
Consoles + (FR) PAL
95
[10]
Fun Generation (DE) PAL
90
[11]
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
71
[12]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
78
[13]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
83
[14]
Gry Komputerowe (PL)
85
[15]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
92
[4]
Player One (FR)
93
[16]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
52
[17]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
64
[18]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
91
[19]
Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL
91
[20]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
67
[21]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
76
[7]
Strana Igr (RU)
60
[22]
Total Saturn (UK) PAL
95
[23]
Sega Saturn
 82
Based on
19 reviews

Die Hard Trilogy

Saturn, US
DieHardTrilogy Saturn US Box Back.jpgDieHardTrilogy Saturn US Box Front.jpg
Cover
DieHardTrilogy Saturn US Disc.jpg
Disc
Dht sat us manual.pdf
Manual
Saturn, EU
DHT Saturn EU Box.jpg
Cover
DieHardTrilogy saturn eu cd.jpg
Disc
Saturn, JP
DieHardTrilogy Saturn JP Box Back.jpgDieHardTrilogy Saturn JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
DieHardTrilogy Saturn JP Spinecard.jpg
Spinecard
DieHardTrilogy Saturn JP Disc.jpg
Disc
Saturn, FR
DHT Saturn FR Box.jpg
Cover
Saturn, ES
DHT Saturn ES Box.jpg
Cover
Saturn, BR

References

  1. ↑ File:CVG UK 184.pdf, page 53
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Press release: 1997-01-17: Fox Interactive's Breakthrough Game 'DIE HARD TRILOGY' Explodes On Sega Saturn & Windows(R) 95
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 File:CDConsoles FR 24.pdf, page 74 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CDConsoles FR 24.pdf_p74" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 File:MeanMachinesSega52UK.pdf, page 62 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega52UK.pdf_p62" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ↑ File:SSM_UK_17.pdf, page 68
  6. ↑ File:SSM_JP_19961227_1996-22.pdf, page 280
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Saturn no Game wa Sekai Ichi~i~i~i!: Satamaga Dokusha Race Zen Kiroku, SoftBank Publishing, page 14 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SnGwSISDRZK Book JP.pdf_p14" defined multiple times with different content
  8. ↑ 576 KByte, "Április 1997" (HU; 1997-xx-xx), page 34
  9. ↑ Alaab Alcomputtar, "" (SA; 1996-xx-xx), page 64
  10. ↑ Consoles +, "Janvier 1997" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 140
  11. ↑ Fun Generation, "01/97" (DE; 1996-12-18), page 116
  12. ↑ GameFan, "Volume 5, Issue 2: February 1997" (US; 1997-xx-xx), page 30
  13. ↑ GamePro, "April 1997" (US; 1997-xx-xx), page 91
  14. ↑ Game Informer, "February 1997" (US; 199x-0x-xx), page 57
  15. ↑ Gry Komputerowe, "1-2/1997" (PL; 1997-xx-xx), page 1
  16. ↑ Player One, "Mars 1997" (FR; 1997-xx-xx), page 89
  17. ↑ Saturn Fan, "1996 No. 26" (JP; 1996-12-13), page 200
  18. ↑ Saturn Fan, "1997 No. 6" (JP; 1997-03-14), page 110
  19. ↑ Sega Power, "February 1997" (UK; 1997-01-15), page 34
  20. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "March 1997" (UK; 1997-02-19), page 68
  21. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "1996-22 (1996-12-27)" (JP; 1996-12-13), page 280
  22. ↑ Strana Igr, "Dekabr 1996" (RU; 1996-xx-xx), page 88
  23. ↑ Total Saturn, "Volume One Issue Six" (UK; 1997-02-28), page 34
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