Dynamite Headdy

Dynamite Headdy is a platform game in which the player controls Headdy, a puppet with a detachable head. The story follows Headdy in his adventures to save his world from the evil puppet King Dark Demon, who is transforming all the puppets of the world into his evil minions. To succeed, Headdy must overcome the King's army, which features the likes of Trouble Bruin and the key masters which serve as stage bosses. Headdy can jump and throw his head in any direction to attack enemies.

His head can also be used to grab hooks and pull himself up to other platforms. Headdy's health is represented by a spotlight in the corner of the screen which changes colors. If the player does not pick up restorative items to heal themselves after suffering damage from enemies, they will lose a life.

After developing Gunstar Heroes, Treasure was divided into four teams to work on four separate projects: Alien Soldier, Light Crusader, Yū Yū Hakusho Makyō Tōitsusen, and Dynamite Headdy. Development of Dynamite Headdy started in August 1993. Inspiration for the game came from Koichi Kimura, who wanted to work on an original project. Up to this point in his five-year career, Kimura had only worked on projects using the pre-existing works of others. Kimura lead development, and president of Treasure, Masato Maegawa, served as head programmer.

Kimura designed Dynamite Headdy to be commercially viable. He wanted the main character to attack with a part of its body, so he felt a puppet that could throw its head would be appealing. Not wanting Headdy to be a stereotypical lone hero, Kimura added support characters that appear in every stage. The game's visual design was inspired by Western animation and the work of film director Terry Gilliam.

Dynamite Headdy received critical acclaim, with some believing it to be one of the best games on the Genesis. Journalists repeatedly highlighted the game's creativity as a strong point. Rik Skews of Computer and Video Games said it "breathes new life" into the platform genre and stood up to the likes of the Sonic series. The staff at Mean Machines Sega found the game innovative and liked how each stage introduced new concepts to keep gameplay fresh.

Tim Tucker at GamesMaster believed that Treasure was doing more innovation in the genre than any of its rivals. In addition to the game's originality, critics praised Treasure's programming expertise and Dynamite Headdy's technical prowess. The staff of Electronic Gaming Monthly complimented the game's visual effects and colorful stages. Tucker said "Dynamite Headdy is full of classic Treasure overstatement" and cited the impressive colors, big explosions, large sprites, and rapidly changing backgrounds—which all together were perhaps a little too overwhelming.