Dig Dug: One-screen wonder

Now here's a famous one! I played Dig Dug in an arcade in the 2000's, and I'm sure there are still more than a few out there, bringing in the occasional quarter. You can even pick up a modern Dig Dug + Dig Dug II "counter-cade" (arcade machine that sits on your counter) for about $150!

Dig Dug debuted in 1982, and Japan got a Famicom port in 1985. Like other early Namco games (save Pac-Man), it was passed over in the States in favor of its sequel. In hindsight, this was a mistake, as Dig Dug is far more popular.

The Famicom cartridge

Dig Dug's charm comes from its quirkiness. You control a little guy who digs rapidly through the ground, searching for fire-breathing dragons (called Fygars) and goggle-wearing Pookas to inflate with a pump until they pop like balloons! You can also undermine rocks so that they fall onto enemies (or yourself, if you're not quick!). There are twelve similar levels, which loop continuously. The world record was set by Donald Hayes in 2017, when he scored 5,147,610 points.

As far as ports go, this one is quite faithful. They did have to decrease the size of the stages to accommodate the 4:3 aspect ratio of TVs. Instead of fifteen layers of dirt, there are only twelve. As a result, the Famicom version looks "zoomed in" compared to the original.

Left: arcade; right: Famicom

It's hard to review ports of arcade games. If I saw Dig Dug in an arcade today, I wouldn't hesitate to waste some quarters on it. Games like this were made to be played for a few minutes at a time. But even as a kid, I found it strange playing Donkey Kong or Mario Bros. on the NES. A game like Super Mario Bros. you can play for hours, and some later games last much longer. A one-screen arcade game, in contrast, is interesting for maybe fifteen minutes, thirty tops (unless you're a high-score chaser, and that just feels like work).

Grade: B+

Gameplay: Fun, but perhaps not for everyone (16/20)
Theme: Compelling, well designed concept and characters (20/20)
Controls: Controls are smooth and let you do what you want (15/15)
Difficulty: Little challenge (unless you're a high-score chaser) (12/15)
Graphics: Beautiful, well designed graphics (15/15)
Sound: Music is repetitive (9/15)

Linked Review
"This is a decent port of Dig Dug, providing plenty of entertainment as players chase after a high score. It's also a lot of fun: apart from this (and Mortal Kombat 3) how many games have you inflating your enemies with an air-pump until they burst?"

— Dave Frear, Nintendo Life, 6/10

Stats

Developer: Namco

Publisher: Namco

Genre: Maze

Arcade release date: April 1982

Famicom release date: June 1985

Extend: 10,000

My high score: 26,640

Comments

Final Fantasy VI: 30th anniversary

Final Fantasy VI is widely regarded as the greatest of the original six FF games. Its decision-based story events, fully customizable magic system, and gritty sci-fi/fantasy setting set the standard for the series moving forward. The enormous cast of characters and elaborate plot-line built on the promise of FF4 (“Final Fantasy II” in the U.S.), shedding many of that game’s cliches (while sticking with the tried-and-true Evil Empire trope) in favor of something more adult. The game’s villain, Kefka, embodies evil, playing on the sci-fi trope of the person driven mad by experimental technology. Final Fantasy VI begins with an amnesiac girl named Terra (you can change her name, of course). Controlled by a psychic “crown”, she pilots a magic-driven suit of tech armor (called “Magitek”). After forming a psychic connection to an “Esper” (what were called “Summons” in FF4), she breaks free of the empire’s control. A thief named Locke, who belongs to the resistance group known as the Returne

Mega Man X: 30th anniversary

Thirty years ago Mega Man X brought Capcom's beloved blue bomber into the 16-bit era, to great acclaim. In a creative twist, Mega Man X (called X for short) is a new robot, not the original Mega Man . As with Super Metroid, Super Castlevania IV , and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past , Mega Man X uses the winning formula of remaking the original NES game but with more and better. Mega Man X, like his predecessor, faces eight robot masters, now called "Mavericks." Instead of "men," they are made in the image of animals: Chill Penguin, Storm Eagle, Launch Octopus, Spark Mandrill (a kind of monkey), Armored Armadillo, Sting Chameleon, Flame Mammoth, and Boomer Kuwanger (a Japanese stag beetle). An opening stage ends with X being defeated by the robot Vile, a henchman of Sigma, who wants to destroy humanity using something called "Reploids" (the Mavericks?). Fortunately, a "Maverick Hunter" robot named Zero jumps in to save X. He encourages

Final Fantasy II: The lost "black sheep"

Final Fantasy II, the 1988 sequel, never came to the NES. The "black sheep" of the series, it is inferior to both I and III. A complete English prototype of the game was made but then shelved due to the release of the SNES. This was an understandable business decision, as FF4 is the far better game. The root problem was how long it took RPGs to make it to the West. Final Fantasy II has a clichéd story cribbed from Star Wars. There is an evil empire and emperor, rebels, dark knight, and city-destroying, flying death machine. The protagonists are four young people, orphaned by the empire. The game opens with a battle they can't win, but three of them are revived by one of the game's many NPCs, Minwu, a white mage. He works for Princess Leia—I mean Hilda, the leader of the rebellion (and yes, at one point you have to rescue her from a cell). You choose the names for the heroes: each is a tabula rasa , like in FF1. The girl's brother is missing and doesn't appea

Search This Blog