Review by: J.M. Vargas

THE SATURN VERSION OF THIS GAME TRULY "DIES HARD".

Pardon the pun. It seriously disturbs me and every serious Saturn backer to be subject to the inadequate ports of excellent PSX games. UK-based Probe blessed us with an OK version of "Alien Trilogy", and I expected no less from them when I loaded "DHT" into the Saturn. I played the PSX version to death, and was eager and ready to trade it if the Saturn version held its own. Well...

GRAPICS/VISUALS: B

I expected the transparencies, light-sourcing and other hardware-taxing effects to be removed from the game, and that's eactly what I got. "Die Hard" (third-person, Loaded-style shooter based on the first film) was visually O.K., but the transparencies of the shattering glass that made the PSX version sweet are missing. The gunfire and fading walls were sweet. "Die Harder" (Virtua Cop-style shooting gallery based on film # 2) loses A LOT of speed and frame-rate in the heat of action, not to mention the sweet effects of the rocket launcher and exploding walls. "Die Hard With a Vengeance" (Twisted Metal-like rampage through NYC, based on the Jeremy Irons flick) suffers from the same problems as "Die Harder".

Overall, the visuals don't match those of the PSX (but then again I wasn't expecting it to do so), and the slowdown that plagues the second and third levels affects the gameplay and looks sloppy. That's unforgivable.

SOUND/MUSIC: B

The background music during the menu screens and the actual game itself are rather dull and lackluster, and are just...well...there! The one-liners and sound effects are better on the Satrun version, but only slightly. M-16's sound like M-16's, and an exploding bomb produces a deep and satisfying resonance when they come through. Unfortunately, the visuals don't do the enhanced sounds justice; would you rather HEAR a mediocre-looking explosion or SEE a cool-looking bang with an OK sound?

GAMEPLAY/FUN FACTOR: B+

I played the PSX version to death, so I knew what to expect from the game's engines. Saturn's version plays just the same, which is a good thing. Nothing is sadder than when a major game tries to be the jack of all gaming genres and can't master any (can you say "Shadows of the Empire?"). "DHT" gives me three genres and delivers them to me with blisteringly good fun; each of them individually couldn't support itself without major upgrades in length and visual quality, but together they can't be beat for the (gulp!) $59.99 asking price. But bad and good share a room... ..the frame-rate dropout and slowdown during "D.Harder" and "Vengeance" affects the strategy for the worse, and puts it bellow the PSX by a little. Eye-candy aside, your gameplay gets affected by the slowdown and will get you killed more that a couple of times (particularly in the airport).

..analog-control support for "Vengeance" (yes!) enhances the driving experience, and makes this particlar section fun for a while. Had the game packed the visual punch and less slowdown than the PSX version, this would have been the one to keep. Oh well!

OVERALL: B-

I love my Saturn, support it, play it and will stand by the machine until the last third-party drops out. But I also own a PSX, and as a consumer who demands quality overall (visuals, sound and gameplay together), I have to stick to my "DHT" version on the PSX and return the Saturn version. Loyalty and affection for my Saturn will not make me buy an inferior version of a game that is better on the PSX. Please don't misread this as yet another beating on a machine that can't possibly be put down any lower in the grand scale of things..."DHT" is a superior third-party game that is fun and entertaining. If you only have a Saturn and haven't seen the other versions, give it a try. But don't support a Saturn by buying games that aren't what YOU want them to be...that will reduce our beloved gaming machine to the status of a pauper. I'll keep looking.