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

Street Fighter II: 30th anniversary

Thirty years ago Street Fighter II made the transition from arcade to living room on the Super NES. Although quickly eclipsed by its two successors, for one year it was the hotness. It would be hard to overstate how popular Street Fighter II was in the early 90's. Its predecessor was downright bad, but Street Fighter II invented the PVP fighting genre as we know it. Its roster of eight characters was a huge step-up from Street Fighter's two (Ken and Ryu, who returned for the sequel). The next iteration of the arcade game, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, which hit arcades just as the SNES port arrived, let you play as the bosses as well, increasing the roster to twelve. A false rumor said a secret code would let you play them at home. While that wasn't true, there was a code (↓, R, ↑, L, Y, B) to let both players choose the same character for a mirror match. A prime strength of the game is how interesting each character is: the American airman Guile (think Top Gun); the

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: 30th anniversary

Hard to believe it's been thirty years since The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past came out on the Super Nintendo, yet here we are! A Link to the Past is in contention for the title of Best Nintendo Game Ever . It perfectly reinvented, reimagined, and revolutionized everything great about the original Legend of Zelda . First off, the story is expanded, with five pages devoted to it in the manual, including background mythology not included in-game about the three gods that made the Triforce. The opening cinematic tells of a war centuries earlier, which resulted in seven wise men sealing the Triforce away in the "Golden World." When the game begins, the boy Link awakens on a dark and stormy night, hearing the voice of Princess Zelda in his head, asking him to rescue her from the dungeon of Hyrule Castle, where she's been imprisoned by the evil wizard Agahnim. Link finds his uncle, wounded, who gives him his sword. Link's first task is to rescue Zelda, then lead h

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: 20th anniversary

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is special to me because it was one of the first games I played on the Wii U. I hadn't owned a video-game console since the Super Nintendo until my wife bought me a Wii U for my 30th birthday. Since I missed the Game Cube and Wii eras, playing The Wind Waker was a revelation to me. It was as good as I remembered A Link to the Past being. I've read that, when it debuted, some people hated the cel-shaded art style of The Wind Waker. In retrospect that's hard to fathom, because the game is such a visual delight. The cartoony style and feel of the game is probably its strongest feature, at least for me. Sailing the seas and exploring the game's many islands is a joyous process of discovery. There are all sorts of quirky citizens to meet and interact with, including an auction house, bird people (the Rito), pirates, a traveling merchant (Beedle), temples, and the long-lost, sunken kingdom of Hyrule. The mid-game twist delighted me: Link l

Search This Blog