The Double Dynamites is an excellent cooperative two-player shooter. It was developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and first released into arcades in 1989. Fabtek released the game in North America.

The Double Dynamites is a bit like a third-person Operation Wolf, with continual scrolling, lots of shooting, lots of carnage, and lots of explosions. Each player is represented as a see-through torso, with guns blazing, visible only from behind and from the waist up.

You can duck and weave to try to avoid hits, but the really unique feature of this game is the fact that it’s part shooter, and part beat ’em up. During boss battles, if the boss moves into the foreground, the game becomes a beat ’em up where you must out-punch your opponent quickly. If they move into the background then the game becomes a shoot ’em up again and you have to blast them. But you have to switch attacks, depending on where the boss is. It’s an interesting mechanic that is worth looking out for. Oh, and bosses often come in multiples. You’ll see health bars with “Boss #1 and “Boss #2” at the top of the screen if you have more than one boss to defeat.

Overall, The Double Dynamites is a solid piece of arcade action from 1980s Japan. The home conversions of this game were re-titled “Dynamite Duke“, which does cause some confusion.

More: The Double Dynamites on Moby Games