Hustle Maryama Maruyama 2 - Dynamite Headdy

Dynamite Headdy was a late release for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis in 1994. A rather kooky title by the guys at Treasure (made of ex-Konami staff, who are famous for the legendary Gunstar Heroes title amongst others), this follows the story of Dynamite Headdy and his quest to free his people from the clutches of Dark Demon. Stranger still, this is all told through the medium of puppets and a stage show, so there are plenty of weird props hanging around, parts where Headdy goes behind the scenes and so on. A truely bizarre and compelling title, this went on to be a cult classic.

 

Those who were quick to dismiss it as a straightforward platformer had clearly never played it before, as this title combines wild platforming action, shoot em up sections, boss rushes, hidden easter eggs everywhere, varied music score and plenty of cool powerups, where Headdy literally replaces his head to take advantage of faster movement, more damage and even sleep to regain health (except the bastard big head that you have to crawl around, taking damage). 

Even better was the lengthy soundtrack, with some excellent and varied music being squeezed out of the Mega Drive's FM synthesis chip. This is just one good example of the soundtrack and I had a hard time selecting even this one.