Dynamite Dux

Dynamite Dux is a side-scrolling 'beat 'em up' arcade game, created by Sega AM2 and released by Sega in 1988 for their successful Sega System 16 arcade board, the same board that was used for hits like Golden Axe and Altered Beast. It was a moderate success and was ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Sega Master System and ZX Spectrum in the following year.

Plot
The Arcade and Master System versions plot differ ever so slightly:

Arcade: One day Lucy was playing with her pets Bin and Pin in a beautiful flower garden. Then suddenly an evil black shadow appeared and changed into "Achacha the Great" while they were watching. Lucy startled and frightened was kept in a miracle ball and taken away to the Achacha World by "Achacha the Great"! Therefore Bin and Pin rose up and ventured into the Achacha World to rescue her.

Master System: It started out as a Sunday picnic with your girl Lucy. Suddenly, out of this weird blue bubble, a totally ugly troll-like creature appeared, grabbed Lucy, put her into a bubble and made her disappear! If that wasn't enough, he turned you into a duck! You began to quack angrily.

The evil little troll was Achacha the Great, terrible tyrant of the Achacha dimension. With a nasty chuckle he dared you to follow him into the Achacha dimension and rescue Lucy. Then he disappeared and a mysterious doorway appeared in thin air.

You went in, and found yourself in the weirdest place you've ever been! You also discovered you were no ordinary duck. You could jump high and had a wicked right hook. And...you had the power of the Super Punch!

Now, as you get ready to venture into the unknown strangeness of the Achacha dimension, remeber that every creature you see is out for a duck dinner! There are weapons you can pick up and use! You might find hot dogs, pie and pizza to eat for power!

So get ready to punch out everything you see. Achacha has your feathers ruffled. And you don't really like being a duck...much less a duck dinner! Only by beating him will you ever be human again!

Gameplay
Players take on the role of Bin and Pin, and walk through cartoony versions of real world locations such as Texas, Chicago and Japan, and must make their way through hordes of colourful enemies and a mid stage mini boss to make their way to the end of level boss.

Both ducks have the ability to jump and punch, and holding down the punch button makes them charge up a punch by spinning their arms around, although they cannot move during this charge up. A regular punch will knock out one enemy, whilst a charged punch will cause Bin and Pin's arms to grow large and knock out multiple opponents in a single swing. Pressing punch whilst jumping allows them to perform a jump kick. Unlike many side scrolling Beat 'em Ups, Dynamite Dux allows the player to attack in 8 different directions.

Alongside their basic punch attacks, Bin and Pin will come across multiple weapons on their travels such as rocks, bombs, missile launchers and bazookas which can be used to dispatch enemies safely from a distance. Upon defeating certain enemies, they may drop weapons or food that will heal the player.

If the player dawdles too much a demon will appear and slowly drain Bin and Pin's health, encouraging the player to hurry up to shake him off.

Sometimes after completing a level the player will be taken to a boxing ring where Bin and Pin will fight it out amongst themselves, with the winner scoring bonus points for knocking the other duck out.

Trivia

 * The game's hero Bin served as inspiration for Bean the Dynamite, with some sources citing Bin as Bean's dad. However Bin is a duck and Bean is a woodpecker officially making the relationship strange.
 * The heroine, Lucy, appears in Sega Ages as a scorecard girl. Bin and Pin both appear alongside her.
 * The Amiga and Atari ST versions of this game have an offensive easter egg of the opening sequence that can be accessed only by altering some of the code.
 * Colonel Sanders, the mascot of Kentucky Fried Chicken, appears in the title both in the very first gameplay area and as a judge in the boxing ring matches between Bin and Pin in between game rounds.