What platforms is Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty on?

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty was released on Acorn Archimedes, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, DOS, Amiga, RISC OS.

When did Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty release?

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty was first released on December 1, 1992.

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

Dec 1, 1992Real Time Strategy (RTS)StrategyAcorn ArchimedesSega Mega Drive/GenesisDOSAmigaRISC OS

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty — frequently asked questions

What platforms is Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty on?: Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty was released on Acorn Archimedes, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, DOS, Amiga, RISC OS.
When did Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty release?: Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty was first released on December 1, 1992.

About Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

Dune II is often considered the first mainstream modern real-time strategy game and established many conventions of the genre. Even though set in Frank Herbert's famous Dune universe, the game is only loosely connected to the plot of any of the books or the films based from them. Controlling either of the three Houses, the player must fight a number of battles against the other Houses. In the early levels, the goal is simply to earn a certain number of credits, while in the later missions, all enemies must be destroyed. The single resource in the game is the Spice, which must be collected by harvesters. The spice is converted to credits in a refinery, which are then spent to construct additional buildings and units. There are two terrain types: buildings can only be constructed on stone, while the Spice is only found on sand. However, units moving on sand attract the large sandworms of Dune, who are virtually indestructible and can swallow even large units whole. As levels progress, new and more advanced buildings and units are made available, including structures like a radar station, a repair facility or defense turrets and, for units, various ground troops, light vehicles and tanks. Each House can construct one unique special unit, and, after building a palace improvement, can unleash a unique palace effect.

Summary via IGDB.

Game details

Developer: Westwood Studios
Publisher: Virgin Games
Game modes: Single player
Themes: Science fiction
Series: Frank Herbert's Dune

Details via IGDB.

Reception

IGDB rating

89/100

from 110 ratings

Every version compared

Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release

Platform	Year	Loose	Complete	Sealed	Period reviews	Fake risk
Sega Genesis	1994	$64	$133	$474	2 reviews	Medium

Also released on: Acorn Archimedes · Sega Mega Drive/Genesis · DOS · Amiga · RISC OS. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.

Collector value & authenticity

Sega Genesis · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-29

Loose

$64

Complete

$133

Sealed

$474

few sales

Other releases and variants

Release	Loose	Complete	Sealed
European (PAL) release	$33	$97	—

How often it sells

Loose: about once a week
Complete: about once a week
Sealed: about once a year

Prices marked “few sales” rest on about one recorded sale a year, so treat them as a rough guide: the next copy could sell well above or below. Expect to wait for one to come up.

Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-29.

Price over time

Loose
Complete

A loose copy sold for about $12.19 in Oct 2007, $55 five years ago, and $64 as of Oct 2026.

Show as table

Month	Loose	Complete
Jan 2008	$13.12	—
Jan 2009	$15.15	—
Jan 2010	$11.99	—
Jan 2011	$15.00	—
Jan 2012	$16.15	—
Jan 2013	$14.95	—
Jan 2014	$18.03	$33
Jan 2015	$25	$50
Jan 2016	$19.99	$30
Jan 2017	$25	$45
Jan 2018	$30	$33
Jan 2019	$35	$47
Jan 2020	$34	$85
Jan 2021	$56	$90
Jan 2022	$65	$157
Jan 2023	$60	$162
Jan 2024	$52	$145
Jan 2025	$67	$155
Jan 2026	$54	$157
Oct 2026	$64	$133

Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.

Release record

Territory	Date	Product number	Barcode	Known board
North America	1 May 1994	T-70246	052145820159	—
Europe / PAL	June 1994	T-70246-50	5013715020169	171-5978BA

Source: Product numbers: MAME's Mega Drive software list and the No-Intro serial records in the libretro database, published where both agree on the same cartridge dump, or from the libretro records alone where MAME lists no number for that dump. Board and ROM numbers: MAME's software list

Region: NA+EU
Released: 1994
Authenticity: Med

Modern re-releases, such as Sega Ages, the Genesis Mini and Nintendo Switch Online, are not tracked hereMedium counterfeit risk

Sega Genesis prices, all games & how to spot a fake

A real-time strategy game remade for the gamepad, well received at the time and one of the priciest US carts.

This is the Genesis version of Westwood's real-time strategy game, called Dune: The Battle for Arrakis in North America and Dune II: Battle for Arrakis in Europe, and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment. It came out in North America on 1 May 1994 and in Europe in June 1994. You lead one of the Houses of Arrakis, gathering resources, building a base and fighting your rivals.

The Genesis game has its own look: different building and unit graphics, and a full-screen interface without menus that is suited to a gamepad. It uses access codes for each level instead of saving. GamePro called it one of the best war strategy carts for the Genesis, praising the controls, digitized speech, music and fun gameplay, and Electronic Gaming Monthly found it addictive and easy to learn, which it called unusual for a strategy game. In 1996 GamesMaster put the Mega Drive version eighth in its Mega Drive top ten.

What the press said at the time

Sega Pro Issue 41	February 1995	86%
Sega Pro Issue 43	April 1995	86%

“If you've ever had thoughts of conquering a world, then pick up Dune: The Battle for Arrakis, This translation from the smash personal computer hit is without a doubt one of the best war strategy carts for the Genesis.”
— GamePro, December 1993

“A cracking stratégy release that has you building a špice complex on Arrakis and trying to wipe out rival clans.”
— Sega Pro, February 1995

“А cracking strategy release that has you building a ‘spico complex on Arrakis and trying to wipe out rival clans,”
— Sega Pro, April 1995

How the Sega Genesis version differs

The Mega Drive/Genesis version introduced a context-sensitive mouse cursor for issuing commands.

Electronic Games previewed it in October 1993 as a computer hit that was coming to the Genesis that winter.

Also on other platforms

Amiga · MS-DOS · RISC OS

Before you buy

Among US carts this is one of the priciest. The European cart usually costs much less than the US one, noticeably so for a loose cart. For a cart at this price, a Western Genesis cart has no notch in its shell, and you should compare a photo of the board with the board listed on this page.