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Last year I made a thread about The Godfather which lead to a few "lost media" enthusiasts picking up on it, even with one of the original developers of it getting a hold of some of the graphics files for the game. But unfortunately that search seems to have gone cold.

Well, why don't we try a different "lost game" with Die Hard 2? What do we know about it's development and do we have people we can contact to potentially get in touch with someone who may own a prototype? I intend on writing an article for the Lost Media Wiki as I did with Godfather, but I also need a ton of material to reference to make it work.

The game was to be published by Grandslam who only published one retail Master System game being The Flintstones. Tiertex were the developers, they already had a relationship due to that they ported The Flintstones, a game originally developed by Teque on home computers and that this game was advertised in the manual. Since it is a Tiertex game, it could go either way whether we can find a prototype or not. Sonic's Edusoft was found but not Rad Mobile or many of their other games on other systems. It is also more trickier as it is usually US Gold that publishes games developed by Tiertex or at least had their involvement.

Unlike The Godfather, Die Hard 2 was released on other systems so we have a fair idea what the game would have been like as a complete game. A light gun shooter without a light gun (so highly likely no support for the Light Phaser). The C64, Amiga and Atari ST versions were also done by Tiertex and all follow the same game design but would have different staff depending on the platform. In this case, we don't know the staff members as usually they weren't credited in the game and Tiertex had quite a bit of staff working on projects during this time (apart from boss and hardware engineer Donald Campbell who highly likely wouldn't know much, if anything at all. John Prince was another boss who might also not know much.) The main two composers at the time would have either Mike Davies or John Hancock who did the music for the other versions.

Outside of namedropping from the manual advert and a mention in a French Sega catalogue, there are a couple of previews. The first one was from Sega Pro Issue 1 where it gives a description and a couple of screenshots. According to them, they have detailed the first 3 stages however they weren't sure on Stages 4 and 5. (Their prediction of Stage 5 does match the released Amiga/Atari ST/C64 versions, Stage 4 you shoot ski bikes so fairly close)

What makes this interesting is that the Master System game as claimed in magazines at the time planned to be released in December 1991 while the C64 and Amiga counterparts got reviewed in August 1992 issues (realistically between May and June due to magazine lead time). Also from what I can find, the C64 version was released by the scene started from May 1992. This would mean that the screenshots for the Master System version were development mockups. If you look at the screenshots, both of them show the exact same screen just with the enemies being in different places and the notches for health/ammo being moved around while the title screen could also be a mockup. At one point the Master System version wasn't advertised as this advert only advertises the Amiga, Atari ST and PC versions.

The game got delayed and was later featured in Sega Movie Games Book, a bonus when bought with Sega Force Issue 11. Nearly a year since it's reveal in Sega Pro. This time, there are two different screenshots showing progress and claimed to have "digitised" sound effects and pictures from the movie plus mentioning the snow bike chase that Sega Pro predicted. The booklet hoped that a preview would happen in the New Year issue and for the game to be released in the first half of 1993. It didn't. Again, the game wasn't mentioned in future release dates. Grandslam also stuck to releasing games on computers until their closure.

I've tried to check various other magazines to see if there is any other coverage apart from Sega Pro and the Sega Movie Book as the EMAP magazines skipped the game. Did find a release date on Sega Power Issue 25.

As for leads...Dominic Handy was the editor of Sega Pro so he might know something or remember seeing the game. Sega Force is a dead end since both Roger Kean and Oliver Frey passed away, Adrian Pitt may be the only lead. In terms of Grandslam themselves, a small chance but Stephen Hall may know something as he worked at the company during this time. The other option would be to find out who in Tiertex developed the game. It's doubtful that any prototype will surface but you never know.

In terms of reference material in case someone wants to do a wiki entry, we have:

Master System: Les Jeux 1992-1993 - Page 8 - Sega France https://www.smspower.org/Scans/Sega-Catalogue-MasterSystemLesJeux19921993?galler...
Sega Pro Issue 01 - November 1991 - Page 22 - Paragon Publishing https://www.smspower.org/Scans/SegaPro-Magazine-Issue01?gallerypage=22
The Flintstones Master System Manual - Page 2 - Grandslam https://archive.org/details/sms-manual-archive/The_Flintstones_SMS_EU_Manual/pag...
Sega Power Issue 25 - December 1991 - Page 11 (Mentions December 1991 release date)
Sega Movie Games Book featured in Sega Force Issue 11 - November 1992 - Europress - https://www.smspower.org/forums/post59994#59994

Woww what an amazingly detailed reply :D

A Bruce Willis light phaser game is something missing from my life.

segasonicfan wrote

Woww what an amazingly detailed reply :D

A Bruce Willis light phaser game is something missing from my life.

Obviously not the same thing, but there are the two Die Hard Trilogy games for Playstation that have lightgun segments.

zilogandmoto wrote

segasonicfan wrote

Woww what an amazingly detailed reply :D

A Bruce Willis light phaser game is something missing from my life.

Obviously not the same thing, but there are the two Die Hard Trilogy games for Playstation that have lightgun segments.

This is why I know more is a thing missing from my life :P

although I didnt know there was a sequel! Watching videos it doesnt "feel" as much like Die Hard, but still looks like fun. I have such a soft spot for the first game, in all its low poly glory.

Heres the 2nd one:

Author	Message
VenomRush1997 Joined: 19 Nov 2015 Posts: 59	How likely are we going to be able to find the Die Hard 2 prototype? Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 5:29 am
VenomRush1997 Joined: 19 Nov 2015 Posts: 59	Last year I made a thread about The Godfather which lead to a few "lost media" enthusiasts picking up on it, even with one of the original developers of it getting a hold of some of the graphics files for the game. But unfortunately that search seems to have gone cold. Well, why don't we try a different "lost game" with Die Hard 2? What do we know about it's development and do we have people we can contact to potentially get in touch with someone who may own a prototype? I intend on writing an article for the Lost Media Wiki as I did with Godfather, but I also need a ton of material to reference to make it work.

Yawackhary Joined: 18 Aug 2006 Posts: 62	Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:27 am
Yawackhary Joined: 18 Aug 2006 Posts: 62	The game was to be published by Grandslam who only published one retail Master System game being The Flintstones. Tiertex were the developers, they already had a relationship due to that they ported The Flintstones, a game originally developed by Teque on home computers and that this game was advertised in the manual. Since it is a Tiertex game, it could go either way whether we can find a prototype or not. Sonic's Edusoft was found but not Rad Mobile or many of their other games on other systems. It is also more trickier as it is usually US Gold that publishes games developed by Tiertex or at least had their involvement. Unlike The Godfather, Die Hard 2 was released on other systems so we have a fair idea what the game would have been like as a complete game. A light gun shooter without a light gun (so highly likely no support for the Light Phaser). The C64, Amiga and Atari ST versions were also done by Tiertex and all follow the same game design but would have different staff depending on the platform. In this case, we don't know the staff members as usually they weren't credited in the game and Tiertex had quite a bit of staff working on projects during this time (apart from boss and hardware engineer Donald Campbell who highly likely wouldn't know much, if anything at all. John Prince was another boss who might also not know much.) The main two composers at the time would have either Mike Davies or John Hancock who did the music for the other versions. Outside of namedropping from the manual advert and a mention in a French Sega catalogue, there are a couple of previews. The first one was from Sega Pro Issue 1 where it gives a description and a couple of screenshots. According to them, they have detailed the first 3 stages however they weren't sure on Stages 4 and 5. (Their prediction of Stage 5 does match the released Amiga/Atari ST/C64 versions, Stage 4 you shoot ski bikes so fairly close) What makes this interesting is that the Master System game as claimed in magazines at the time planned to be released in December 1991 while the C64 and Amiga counterparts got reviewed in August 1992 issues (realistically between May and June due to magazine lead time). Also from what I can find, the C64 version was released by the scene started from May 1992. This would mean that the screenshots for the Master System version were development mockups. If you look at the screenshots, both of them show the exact same screen just with the enemies being in different places and the notches for health/ammo being moved around while the title screen could also be a mockup. At one point the Master System version wasn't advertised as this advert only advertises the Amiga, Atari ST and PC versions. The game got delayed and was later featured in Sega Movie Games Book, a bonus when bought with Sega Force Issue 11. Nearly a year since it's reveal in Sega Pro. This time, there are two different screenshots showing progress and claimed to have "digitised" sound effects and pictures from the movie plus mentioning the snow bike chase that Sega Pro predicted. The booklet hoped that a preview would happen in the New Year issue and for the game to be released in the first half of 1993. It didn't. Again, the game wasn't mentioned in future release dates. Grandslam also stuck to releasing games on computers until their closure. I've tried to check various other magazines to see if there is any other coverage apart from Sega Pro and the Sega Movie Book as the EMAP magazines skipped the game. Did find a release date on Sega Power Issue 25. As for leads...Dominic Handy was the editor of Sega Pro so he might know something or remember seeing the game. Sega Force is a dead end since both Roger Kean and Oliver Frey passed away, Adrian Pitt may be the only lead. In terms of Grandslam themselves, a small chance but Stephen Hall may know something as he worked at the company during this time. The other option would be to find out who in Tiertex developed the game. It's doubtful that any prototype will surface but you never know. In terms of reference material in case someone wants to do a wiki entry, we have: Master System: Les Jeux 1992-1993 - Page 8 - Sega France https://www.smspower.org/Scans/Sega-Catalogue-MasterSystemLesJeux19921993?galler... Sega Pro Issue 01 - November 1991 - Page 22 - Paragon Publishing https://www.smspower.org/Scans/SegaPro-Magazine-Issue01?gallerypage=22 The Flintstones Master System Manual - Page 2 - Grandslam https://archive.org/details/sms-manual-archive/The_Flintstones_SMS_EU_Manual/pag... Sega Power Issue 25 - December 1991 - Page 11 (Mentions December 1991 release date) Sega Movie Games Book featured in Sega Force Issue 11 - November 1992 - Europress - https://www.smspower.org/forums/post59994#59994

segasonicfan Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 374 Location: USA	Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2024 11:35 am
	Woww what an amazingly detailed reply :D A Bruce Willis light phaser game is something missing from my life.

zilogandmoto Joined: 24 Jun 2020 Posts: 61 Location: Chicago	Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 2:51 pm
	segasonicfan wrote Woww what an amazingly detailed reply :D A Bruce Willis light phaser game is something missing from my life. Obviously not the same thing, but there are the two Die Hard Trilogy games for Playstation that have lightgun segments.

segasonicfan Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 374 Location: USA	Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 3:52 pm
	zilogandmoto wrote segasonicfan wrote Woww what an amazingly detailed reply :D A Bruce Willis light phaser game is something missing from my life. Obviously not the same thing, but there are the two Die Hard Trilogy games for Playstation that have lightgun segments. This is why I know more is a thing missing from my life :P although I didnt know there was a sequel! Watching videos it doesnt "feel" as much like Die Hard, but still looks like fun. I have such a soft spot for the first game, in all its low poly glory. Heres the 2nd one:

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