Die Hard 2: Die Harder (lost build of cancelled Sega Master System port of movie tie-in action game; 1991-1992)

Cover art for the Amiga port of the game.

Status: Lost

Die Hard 2: Die Harder is a 2D rail shooter video game developed by Tiertex and published by Grandslam that was based on the 1990 action-thriller film Die Hard 2. The game loosely follows the plot of the film, and features the film's protagonist John McClane fighting his way through an airport in order to kill a legion of terrorists who have hijacked the air traffic control system.

The game was released in 1992 for the Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, and MS-DOS line of computers. However, the game was also initially intended to be released on home consoles as well, with a port being in development for the Sega Master System.

The port was first previewed in the November 1991 issue of British magazine Sega Pro, where the only currently known screenshots of it were presented. In this preview, the port was announced to be releasing at a price of £24.99 in December of 1991,^[1] a release date echoed in the December 1991 issue of Sega Power.^[2] However, in the March 1992 issue of Sega Pro, the port's release was announced as having been delayed from January of 1992 to March of 1992,^[3] before it was announced to be released in September of 1992 in the July 1992 issue of Sega Power.^[4]

But in the July 1992 issue of Sega Pro, the port was stated to have been "indefinitely postponed" due to Sega being dissatisfied with the quality of the work presented to them, and demanding that changes be made before it could be released.^[5] Tiertex as a developer were notorious for the many poor quality titles they released during this time, so it is unlikely that any of the required changes were implemented, with the game ultimately going unreleased. To date, the ROM of the Sega Master System port has not been made available online.

Gallery

Advertisement for the game in the instruction manual of the Sega Master System game The Flintstones.
Advertisement for the game in a French promotional booklet (translation: 'Courage and top physical form will be necessary for you to win this game of frenzied action.')