Die Hard

Die Hard is a top-down run-and-gun shooter loosely based on the 1988 action film. You control New York detective John McClane, who arrives at Nakatomi Plaza to find that terrorists led by Hans Gruber have taken over the building during a Christmas party, holding his wife Holly hostage. Your mission is to fight through the terrorists and reach the roof. McClane can fire in eight directions using weapons picked up from fallen enemies, including machine guns, shotguns, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers, each with limited ammo. He can also jump to avoid pits and collect bulletproof vests for extra protection. Health pickups restore vitality, and a timer on each stage adds urgency.

PC Engine

Developed by Pack-In-Video and published by Nihon Bussan in Japan on September 28, 1990, this version never received a North American release. The game is infamous for taking extreme liberties with its source material. Instead of starting inside the skyscraper, McClane begins in a jungle, then wades through swamps and rivers—locales completely absent from the film. Many reviewers believe the Die Hard license was applied to a pre-existing, generic Commando-style shooter late in development. Hans Gruber appears only in a cutscene, and the final battle is against a helicopter rather than the iconic villain. As an action game, reception has been mixed: some praise the solid sprite work, tight controls, and weapon variety, while others criticize the repetitive level design, stiff aiming (fixed rotational angles), and lack of any authentic Die Hard atmosphere. The result is a competent but completely disconnected "movie license in name only" curiosity.