Last Action Hero is a series of action video games based on the 1993 film of the same name. Versions were released for the NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear, and MS-DOS. Versions were also planned for the Sega CD and Master System, but ultimately were not released.

A separate version was released on the Amiga and was developed by The Dome. The MS-DOS version was developed by Psygnosis and offers full-motion video cut scenes from the film; the never-released Sega CD version was planned to include this feature as well.^[2]

Gameplay -Last Action Hero

Last Action Hero is based on the film of the same name.

Taking the form of a side-scrolling beat-’em-up, in the SNES and Genesis version players have a strict time limit to defeat each level of the game. Every version of the game has the climactic showdown with Mr. Benedict (the movie’s primary villain), except for the NES, Game Boy, and Game Gear versions. There are two car chase stages: one in Jack Slater’s “movie” world and another in Danny Madigan’s “real” world. The NES and Amiga versions however do not feature any car levels.

The NES version has an original element that none of the other versions have: a stage that portrays Danny Madigan’s “version” of the classic Shakespeare play Hamlet.^[3]

Development and release – Last Action Hero

Last Action Hero was released for seven platforms: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Sega Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear, Amiga and MS-DOS. None of the versions feature guns or any other weapons. Most of these games were developed by Bits Studios,^[4][5][6] while the Amiga version was developed by The Dome.^[7] Sony Imagesoft published the game across most platforms,^[4] and Sony’s Psygnosis published the Amiga version.^[7][8]

Rich Robinson, executive producer at Sony Imagesoft, oversaw the filming of Last Action Hero as well as the development of the game adaptation, to ensure consistency between the two.^[9] Sony’s Columbia Pictures, which produced the film, had an interest in the game throughout its development.

Initially, the studio provided the various developers with a script for the film to help form the basis of the game. Columbia also provided stills from the film which helped the game artists.^[10][11] Later, the developers of the Amiga version saw some rough cuts of the film and then made small alterations to their game to keep it faithful to the film.^[10]

Ending Theme

Stage 2

Stage 1

Title Theme

Stage 3