Dynamite Duke (Arcade)

Dynamite Duke
Also known as: The Double Dynamites (2 Players Version) Developer: Seibu Kaihatsu Publishers: Tecmo (JP), Fabtek (US), Seibu Kaihatsu (EU) Platform: Arcade (Seibu Dynamite Duke hardware) Released in JP: September 1989 Released in US: May 1989 Released in EU: August 1989 This game has unused graphics. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences.

What happens when you merge titles like Operation Wolf, Punch-Out!! (plus kicks) and microtransactions? You get DYNAMITE DUKE!

Dynamite Duke aka The Double Dynamites is the story of one or two totally rad military guys decimating an entire army with nothing but their own stength and determination and a couple of powerups they pick up along the way. It doesn't get any more classic than that.

Unused Graphics

It seems Seibu was thinking of having Taito publish the game at some point, judging by this shaded version of the classic Taito logo located next to Seibu's own. There is no known palette.

Version Differences

	Japan 25JUL89 MAME: dyndukeja	Europe 25JUL89 MAME: dyndukea	US 25JUL89 MAME: dyndukeu	Japan 03SEP89 MAME: dyndukej	Europe 03SEP89 MAME: dynduke	Japan 13NOV89 (The Double Dynamites) MAME: dbldynj	US 13NOV89 (The Double Dynamites) MAME: dbldynu
FBI Screen	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Tutorial	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Microtransactions	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Game Mode	Single Player Only	Single Player Only	Single Player Only	Single Player Only	Single Player Only	Single Player or Simultaneous Multiplayer	Single Player or Simultaneous Multiplayer
Lifebar	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Squares	Squares

FBI Screen

The US sets display the FBI's "Winners Don't Use Drugs" screen common of the era upon startup. Other sets go directly to the title screen.

Title Screen

Japanese and European sets	US set	Japanese set (The Double Dynamites)	US set (The Double Dynamites)

The Double Dynamites logo was changed with something more dull, a "SIMULTANEOUS TWO PLAYERS GAME" was added and the background's palettes were altered.

While Fabtek (US publisher) went to the effort to rework the copyright section and changing Seibu's logo with their own, Tecmo (JP publisher), instead, skimped on reworking the copyright section.

Tutorial

Japanese 25JUL89 and 03SEP89 sets	European and US 25JUL89 sets	European 03SEP89 set	Japanese and US 13NOV89 sets (The Double Dynamites)

The US and European July sets, after inserting a credit, show a tutorial on how to use the dynamite punch. Other sets remove this feature and show a typical press start screen (even the earlier Japanese July set).

Additionally, the "PUSH A START", present in both Japanese sets (July and September), was changed to the much more grammatically correct "PRESS START" in the European September set, and "PRESS 1P/2P START" in The Double Dynamites.

Aside from being redundant, The Double Dynamites also shows the coinage setting.

Microtransactions

European 25JUL89 set	US 25JUL89 set

The US and European July sets experiment the use of microtransactions. The screen above appears every odd level cleared (1, 3, 5 and 7), and to trigger it, you have to beat these levels with four dynamite punches or less.

If the condition above is met, you'll be taken to a screen where Dynamite Duke offers you four extra dynamite punches and one extra life at the price of one credit. This feature was removed in the other sets (including the earlier Japanese July set).

The European set uses Dynamite Duke's sprite from the ending, while the US set uses a modified version of the same sprite with his eyes exposed and open mouth, probably to fit the situation's context better. Plus the instruction balloon was redrawned to resemble an actual speech balloon, complete with a tail, making it clear that Dynamite Duke is speaking to you.