Miner 2049er

2049 - the year in which I might proceed to 'git gud'

First Dig Dug and now Miner 2049er? Can we really have two such games come along at once? No, because Miner 2049er doesn't appear to have a whole lot to do with mining. I can't say for sure if it's got the 2049 side of things down though, so we'll give it that.

In stark contrast to Dig Dug, what we're presented with here is a platformer - with a meaty ten levels of platforming - centered around the clean up duties of what I'm told is a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman called Bounty Bob.

It sounds different. Definitely different.

Cleaning up involves merely running over the floor and avoiding or otherwise dealing with any and all stage hazards. How hard can it be?

Dig Dug

Is manual labour even this hazardous?

Source // Wikipedia

Ah, Dig Dug, I know Dig Dug. Have I ever actually dug anything in Dig Dug? I don't think I've ever played it. Perhaps a version of it, or a clone or spiritual successor somewhere, but the original Dig Dug passed me by, to the best of my recollection.

If I kept wanting to not be in space when I played arcade games, Dig Dug appears to be answering my pleas by heading in the opposite direction, underground (deep underground, near the Earth's core, where it's still warm), and how colourful it is too. Simple, but it does the job, doesn't it? Looks like something you'd find in a text book. I wonder what we'll learn from this classic...

Robotron 2084

The ultimate conflict between man and machine and a keyboard control scheme?

Source // Wikipedia

It's not space but it is the distant future; 102 years further into time than the arcade home of Robotron 2084. Man versus Machine makes for a bit of variety across the arcade cabinets, but it still appears to be a simple game of shoot these, avoid that. Can't go wrong with that, so where does it improve over its competition?

Dum dee dum, cybernetic revolt, blah blah blah, waves of robots, dooby doo, twin stick shooter.

What. Twin stick shooter? Available on the Internet Archive? Oh hell yes, count me in.

Choplifter

When piloted by yours truly, you don't want to get to this chopper...

Source // Wikipedia

With a title like Choplifter, there can't be too many things that I'll be tasked with, in what I assume will be my helicopter. For a simple concept though, I'm a little bit surprised to see it ported to so many home consoles after its initial release on the Apple II. I don't know why I am surprised though, because simple concepts do well seemingly anywhere.

It is a good job Choplifter was a success too, because I've got to dive into those ports to play it. The Apple II version looks like helicopters in space, which kind of defeats the point of using helicopters, rather than spaceships. The gameplay however is like Lunar Lander meets Defender, which is something I can get behind - providing the ports hold up against the original.