Three Dirty Dwarves

About Three Dirty Dwarves

Three Dirty Dwarves (1996) is Appaloosa's comic Saturn beat 'em up in which three dim but heroic dwarves from a children's role-playing game crash into the real world, armed with sporting goods.

Three Dirty Dwarves in Depth

Four children genetically engineered by the army grow up to be child geniuses rather than perfect soldiers, so General Briggs puts them to work making weapons. To escape, they play their favourite role-playing game and lead its party, a trio of slow-witted but heroic dwarves, through a gateway into the real world. The dwarves' equipment burns up on entry, and they land in a sporting goods store, arming themselves with what they find. Monsters from the game world follow them, and the dwarves must fight through them to find the children and confront Briggs.

Most levels play as a typical beat 'em up, advancing to the end of the stage and defeating enemies on the way. Up to three players each control one dwarf, and with fewer players they can switch between dwarves at any time. A single hit knocks a dwarf unconscious, but another active dwarf can revive him by attacking him, effectively slapping him awake. Each dwarf has short- and long-range attacks of differing speed, and skulls taken from fallen enemies or boxes can be spent on special team attacks, such as starting a fight among themselves or merging into one of three huge combined dwarves.

Making Three Dirty Dwarves

Appaloosa Interactive developed it and Sega published it for the Sega Saturn in 1996. The Saturn version received moderately positive reviews, most critics praising its humour and personality.