Right well we are now into July and I thought I would start off this month with another one of my Atari Nostalgia posts, which will cover a classic video game from the Atari 2600 console and this one will be on the game, Dig Dug. So after 33 years on from its original release on the console (although it was originally an arcade game released the year before in 1982) how does it stand up??? Well let's find out.....
GAMEPLAY
Well the game's premise is fairly simple and it involves the eponymous character of the game, Dig Dug who can dig tunnels through the underground and he uses an air pump to eliminate monsters that dwell below or he can also drop rocks on them. The monsters themselves come in two different types, the Pookas who are a race of yellow creature that wear goggles (although depending on the version the colour of the Pookas may vary). And the other type of monsters in the game are the Fygars, who are a race of green dragons that can breathe fire aswell as fly through the underground with their wings. The Pookas can also travel through the Earth and turn into ghostly figure when they do it and they can do this to try and kill Dig Dug or to escape the underground.
Dig Dug as a playable can use his air pump to inflate the monsters until they explode or he can even use it to partially inflate them as a distraction so he can get by them if he so needs to or even use it to stun them in position so he can drop a rock on them. The monsters however, if they are partially inflated will soon recover and reduce back to their normal size if Dig Dug leaves them be. The monsters at random moments can become more angry and chase after Dig Dug and as the levels progress they move faster and faster, which increases the game's difficulty as you progress. Dig Dug can simply end a level by either eliminating all the monsters or if the last one is still alive and tries to flee and succeeds then the level is over and it goes to the next one.
In terms of the game's point system and lives, Dig Dug starts off with four lives and he can pick up so many points to eliminating a monster either by using his air pump or crushing them with rocks and he can get bonus points if he kills more than one of the monsters together as it is possible to flatten two or three of them at once. Also at random points in the game you will get bonus points as different vegetables appear in the centre of the screen for Dig Dug to pick up but they only appear for a limited time. The levels are also colour coded and as Dig Dug travels down the levels he will get awarded more points for exploding a monster than the upper levels (something which I didn't even know myself!).
GRAPHICS
As for the game's graphics, well depending on the version, some versions may look better than others but the Atari 2600 version's graphics are pretty decent for the time and the animations for monsters and Dig Dug are pretty smooth overall. The game also makes interesting use of its colours as the different underground levels are colour coded and they change to different colours as the levels progress. Its no Uncharted 4 that's for sure but the graphics for Dig Dug still have their own charm for a game of its time and the goofy quality of the characters themselves give the game its own appeal.
MUSIC AND SOUND
Well Dig Dug unlike some of the Atari games, does have music and it is a pretty repetitive theme that plays throughout the game. However the theme itself only plays when Dig Dug is tunneling his way through the earth and it stops when he doesn't and it is replaced instead by a spooky electronic noise and the only other music that appears in the game is when Dig Dug receives an extra life. The sound effects are also pretty simple and a selection of electronic bleeps for and bloops for blowing up the monsters, and fire dragon noise for when the Fygars breathe fire and also a bloopy noise for when Dig Dug is killed (yeah I haven't described them well!).
Anyway so in short the theme is actually quite catchy and it also remains part of the game's charm and appeal and its sound effects are basic but work well and that's pretty much all that needs to be said there about them.
FLAWS
As for Dig Dug's flaws....well yes there are one or two.
And to start off one of the game's problems again stems from the fact that there is no end to the game, like so many Atari games you just keep on playing and playinf until your playable character loses their lives. So its a pretty common flaw in the Atari catalogue and indeed of games in general of their time so even though its a kind of flaw its not one that is specific to Dig Dug in itself.
Another issue I have is to do with the movement of Dig Dug himself as he moves a bit too slowly as he tunnels through the earth and his animation for these moments when he does look a bit stiff. Not only that Dig Dug quite often moves a bit too slow to try and evade the Fygars and the Pookas when they come floating towards him through the earth, which can make trying to evade them quite a frustrating process.
And lastly I think even though the game makes interesting use of its colour coding for the underground levels, I think the actual colours they use are a big garish in that they can be bright green, pink or purple so they could end up going for your eyes. And in that regards I think the Arcade version's levels made better use of colour than the Atari version does.
Also further to this point, Dig Dug was later released as part of the Xbox arcade network for the Xbox 360 and I personally played that version myself and found it to be a bit more playable and easier on the eyes than the Atari version. So in fact if I had to choose between the two versions I would probably rather go for the Xbox 360's arcade version than the Atari one for that reason alone.
Anyway that's it for the flaws!
SUM UP
So in summing up, Dig Dug is still alot of fun on the Atari 2600 although I would argue it has been better ported onto other consoles since then, especially given the Atari's rather garish colour scheme for the levels and the somewhat stiff and slow movement of the playable character. But if you can forgive that, its still alot of fun to play and its silly and enjoyable premise of blowing up underground monsters with an air pump is a blast in itself (no pun intended!).
And if you have ever get an Atari 2600 (or an emulator and the game ROM like I did!) Dig Dug is worth checking out although I'd still pick the Xbox 360 version over this one personally for its better playability and graphics.
Right well that's it for now and I will be back on yet again here sometime in the near future so until the next its bye for now.
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