Retro game review: Dynamite Cop is a friendly beat-em-up that definitely isn’t Die Hard Arcade 2: for one thing, it’s on a boat
You will fight a kraken bare-handed in the depths of a cruise ship.
(This time around I mostly played Dynamite Cop on my AYN Thor in Flycast. (My Dreamcast’s disc drive is long dead.) A few problems in emulation were evident, particularly the messed-up water.)
A common sight at the famous HEY arcade in Akihabara— one which I was gifted with on one of my Japan trips— was that of some unassuming older gentleman, still in his business suit from work, quietly walking up to the arcade’s enormous custom-built dual-screen Darius II setup and proceeding to utterly crush the game from beginning to end on a single coin.
His performance complete, the fellow would simply go along on his way as some tall foreign goof watching (me) offered quiet applause. He didn’t do it to show off, I imagine: I imagine he simply itched to beat Darius II all over again. Sheer love of the game. Not his first time; wouldn’t be his last.
In arcade games we call that a one-credit clear (1CC): finishing the game from start to end without needing to use a continue. You’ve got your traditional three lives, so there’s room to make a few mistakes on your run, but when you lose, it’s over.
Arguably, not every single arcade game was necessarily built with a one-credit clear in mind. But it is usually possible, with a comprehensive knowledge of the game and after the practice needed to execute on a winning plan. It might take tens or hundreds of hours to arrive at that point, but for hardcore arcade gamers that’s the fun and the appeal.
