Sega's ST-V based arcade games are basically running on Saturn hardware. When Sega decides to bring an ST-V coin-up home, it is a simple matter to port the code over to CD-Rom and package it up in a jewel case. Dynamite Deka is the latest ST-V translation and as expected, it is arcade perfect. For those who have not seen Deka yet, it represents the next generation in beat 'em ups which were staples in the 80s and early 90s. Familiar names such as Final Fight and Streets of Rage are all part of this genre and Sega updates the field with a 3-D punch and kick brawler that is cinematic, fun and full of surprises.

Deka starts off with an animation of you and your partner leaping from a helicopter and racing into a building to save hostages. The animation quality is excellent though the graphics have been modeled more for fluid motion than for precise detail. The cinemas in the game are rough in quality but they convey the storyline well enough. The first level in the game has you bursting into a room and attacking two bruisers. You must punch, kick and jump [3 buttons] your way through them to reach the next level.

After you have beaten the two goons down, you thunder off into another part of the building and take on a couple of other terrorists. In this part of the level, beating certain enemy characters will leave behind items which range from health power ups, guns, brooms and more. The weapons that you can pick up are essentially what your adversaries were carrying before you ended their lives. Some outrageous firearms may be picked up for maximum carnage. For example, early in the game, you have the chance to knock a shoulder cannon from a bad guy and use it on him and his buddies.

The cannon will punch holes in your enemies and each shot comes complete with a vapor trail for dramatic effect. Guns that are picked up may be used but inexplicably, quite a few of the terrorists can take 5-6 of your pot shots dead on and still come at you. Some will fall on their knees and plead for mercy but don't fall for their acting. As soon as you move in close to check them out, they will pounce on you and inflict some damage on your person.

A key part of the first level allows you to take part in an interactive movie clip. You're running through the corridors to your next encounter when the screen will start flashing 'punch', 'jump' or 'kick'. If you tap the relevant button quickly enough, you will successfully knock some damage into an enemy sub-boss character that is lying in wait for you. If you are unsuccessful, you will have to stand toe to toe and duke it out with him. In either case, your success or failure will be replayed in a well done cinema. The key scene in level 2 has you dodging an oncoming truck.

Deka is a great game. It features classic punch and kick action that is seamlessly interwoven with dramatic scenes which tell the story as you move through the game. Cut scenes are unnecessary in Deka because they're right in there with the action from level to level, scene to scene. The production values, if they can be called that are high and shows what good direction can do for a game. I think it would be safe to say that beat 'em ups will return, bringing back those games that we played in the 80s such as Golden Axe, Too Crude and Shinobi albeit in stunning 3-D.

As a bonus, Dynamite Deka features an early Sega Ages type side game that places you in the briny sea. The game is reminescent of such 8-bit titles as Sea Hunt or any of the 200+ public domain and shareware sea battle games that were available for the Atari 800 and Commodore 64 when those machines were in their prime. For the old timers out there, many of Sega's early arcade hits were ported over to those classic 8-bit computers by way of Atari and their subsidiary Atari Soft which made the games available on the C=64, PC, etc.