Dynamite Headdy cancelled 32x port

Posted by DJ Sprouts on behalf of LachStarYT 
Dynamite Headdy. That’s a name not many people know anymore. It’s a great game, one of my favorites, but sadly it’s not one that many people talk about these days. This game is the definition of a hidden gem. 
But if you are aware of the games existence, and if you’re as big of a fan as I am, it’s probable you may have heard about the cancelled port to Sega’s 32 bit add on for the mega drive, the 32x. almost nothing is known about it, aside from the fact that it was in development (which we know thanks to a magazine article) but canned for reasons unknown (likely because no one even bought a 32x). That is all that is known about it, or all least, that was. Until a prototype was found.
If you’re wondering how this prototype was discovered, we must go back to January of last year. A gimmick account  called “The Sega Archeologist” had been created on twitter, claimed to be run by a former beta tester for Sega. These claims were proven by all the never-before-seen prototypes of SEGA games. Over the next months I watched this account very closely as it would post new stuff 2 or 3 times a month. By the beginning of August, there were prototypes for many different games from 1993-2002. Some were even of cancelled games no one had heard of. As a Sega fan, I loved seeing all this Sega history unearthed and posted for all to see. But there was one prototype I wanted to see more than any other; the 32x port of Dynamite Headdy (which according to the post was going to be called Dynamite Headdy DX).
Lucky for me, on the anniversary of the original game, the Sega archeologist account announced that they had a prototype, and that the rom could be downloaded in the link below. As soon as I saw this tweet, I rushed to the link and downloaded the rom as fast as possible. I loaded the rom in fusion emulator, and began playing it.
The opening Sega and Treasure logos were the same, but when it got to the title screen, the words "encore edition" were under the logo, and the copyright info at the bottom said 1995 instead of 1994. I pressed start to find that unlike the original, this version let you save your progress. I created a new save file and started playing.
The actual game was the same as the original Mega Drive version, more or less. Some big sprites, such as the tower in the stair wars level, were now low poly 3D models, and Maryauma and some other bosses had their Japanese design. The cutscenes all had English dialog, however, and now they were even voice acted. But none of that really matters. Things only started to get really interesting when I beat scene 5-4. When Headdy walked off screen, a brand new level began.
The level was called “Headdy on Ice”. As you may have guessed from the title, the level was winter themed. Headdy was standing on blue bricks covered in snow, with blue icy mountains behind him, in front of a sunset sky. The level was not only cool to see, but also fun to play. The level was filled with snow machine enemies that would try to blow Headdy away, and ended with a section of Headdy riding a sled down a hill. The sled crashed, and Headdy jumped off it and off screen, and the next level began.
This level was called “Stair wars II: the empire steps back.”. I groaned when I saw that title. Stair Wars was my least favorite level of the game, and this level was just a harder and longer version of it. The tower in the back was blue, and the steps were icy and slippery. Maryauma now had a second arm on his machine which could hurt you. After losing all my lives except one, and spending what felt like hours, I finally reached the top of the icy tower and moved on to the next level.
This level was called “Leap of faith” and consisted of Headdy standing on a white bridge in front of a black background. I walked to the right until the bridge stopped. There was a ledge on the other side of the of the screen, but it looked almost to far away to jump to. Text appeared at the top of the screen which read:
“Go ahead. Take the leap.”
I decided to get a running start before jumping. I actually nearly reached the ledge, but as I did it seemed to fly away from me. Headdy fell through the black void while his sprite rotated for what must’ve been at least a whole minute, screaming the whole time. Eventually, he disappeared and a dialogue box came on screen.
It said: “You need to find all the secret bonus points to get past this level.”.
I was surprised at this, since in the original game you don’t get any reward for finding all the secret bonus points. Then it showed a game over screen, one different from the original game’s. Headdy was standing in front of the same black background, covered in shadows, with red “GAME OVER” text above him. I found this image, combined with the slow and quiet low-pitched note playing in the background, to be extremely unsettling. Why would they choose this for the game over screen?
Eventually, after a few more tries, I got all the secret bonus points and went back to the leap of faith level to find a new set of stairs leading up to the ledge. I climbed them, and Beau appeared on screen, congratulating me for beating this level. The normal “Scene complete” text appeared, Headdy walked off screen and all the other levels of the game and the ending were normal.
When I finished the game, I was still very happy to have finally found this lost media, and to have beaten it. But still, that game over screen. It puzzles me, even to this day. I thought I’d ask the Sega archeologist, but when I logged onto twitter next morning I found his account had been suspended. Guess I’ll never know for sure now.
Category:Video Games
Category:Sega
Category:Dynamite headdy