In the early 80's, arcade gaming was at it's peak in popularity. Pac-Man had already become a cultural phenomenon, and other arcade games were seeing large success as well. In 1982, Dig Dug was created. Was it as good as some of their other great arcade hits? I'll give you my take by making this review.
Graphics: 8/10 For an arcade game of the era, this game has good visuals. The character sprites are as detailed as you could expect from an early 80's arcade game, especially the enemies. The underground areas were given good colors, especially early on. The flowers above ground look visually appealing, and the rocks underground look about the way I'd expect them to from a game from that era. The visuals are very solid for the time period. The graphics are worthy of an 8 in my eyes.
Sound: 4/10 This is the category that Dig Dug falters in compared to other arcade games of the era. While Dig Dug has a catchy tune that plays throughout the game, it only plays when you're moving. If you're standing still, no music plays at all. If you're blowing up an enemy, you hear a sound effect. It would've been nice if at the very least, the music would keep playing even if you're standing still. The overall sound quality is greatly effected due to these issues, therefore I'm giving the sound a 4.
Addictiveness: 10/10 Dig Dug has as much replay value as other arcade games of the time. In this game, you have to defeat underground enemies by either inflating them until they pop or by dropping rocks on them, the latter being much tougher to pull off. The enemies you'll face are Pookas (a red ball with goggles), and Fygars (green dragons that can breathe fire). When there's only 1 enemy left, they'll try to flee above ground and leave the screen. After either you've killed the last enemy or they escape, you move onto the next level. You keep going until you lose all of your lives. Like most arcade games at the time, the premise is simple enough, yet the gameplay is extremely addicting. That's why coin-operated games were so popular at that time. Overall, Dig Dug's got enough replay value for me to give the addictiveness a 10.
Story: N/A It's an early 80's arcade game. There's no story to be found here, therefore I'm leaving this category blank.
Depth: 9/10 Like with other arcade games at the time, if you're skilled enough to make it through every level in this game, then you'll go through a total of 255 levels. I say 255 levels because on level 256, you'll end up getting killed instantly. You need mad skill to reach that point, but for an early 80's game, there's a lot of levels to complete. For that reason, I'm giving the depth a 9.
Difficulty: 10/10 Like a lot of other arcade games, Dig Dug's a tough game that'll test your reflexes. The first few levels are fairly easy to complete, but then the difficulty ramps up. Dealing with Pookas and Fygars may seem easy at first, but once they start going through the ground to chase after you and speed up, that's when the game's true difficulty finally shows itself. I've personally never been as good at Dig Dug as I have with Galaga or Pac-Man. I feel more than comfortable giving the difficulty a 10.
Overall Score: 8.5/10 While Dig Dug may not have had the same type of impact that Pac-Man had on the world, it was still very much an arcade classic. While not quite as memorable as other arcade classics such as Pac-Man and Galaga, Dig Dug's still a very fun game that everyone should give a try at least once in their lifetime. I'm giving Dig Dug's Overall Score a respectable 8.5/10! In the early 80's, arcade gaming was at it's peak in popularity. Pac-Man had already become a cultural phenomenon, and other arcade games were seeing large success as well. In 1982, Dig Dug was created. Was it as good as some of their other great arcade hits? I'll give you my take by making this review.
Graphics: 8/10 For an arcade game of the era, this game has good visuals. The character sprites are as detailed as you could expect from an early 80's arcade game, especially the enemies. The underground areas were given good colors, especially early on. The flowers above ground look visually appealing, and the rocks underground look about the way I'd expect them to from a game from that era. The visuals are very solid for the time period. The graphics are worthy of an 8 in my eyes.
Sound: 4/10 This is the category that Dig Dug falters in compared to other arcade games of the era. While Dig Dug has a catchy tune that plays throughout the game, it only plays when you're moving. If you're standing still, no music plays at all. If you're blowing up an enemy, you hear a sound effect. It would've been nice if at the very least, the music would keep playing even if you're standing still. The overall sound quality is greatly effected due to these issues, therefore I'm giving the sound a 4.
Addictiveness: 10/10 Dig Dug has as much replay value as other arcade games of the time. In this game, you have to defeat underground enemies by either inflating them until they pop or by dropping rocks on them, the latter being much tougher to pull off. The enemies you'll face are Pookas (a red ball with goggles), and Fygars (green dragons that can breathe fire). When there's only 1 enemy left, they'll try to flee above ground and leave the screen. After either you've killed the last enemy or they escape, you move onto the next level. You keep going until you lose all of your lives. Like most arcade games at the time, the premise is simple enough, yet the gameplay is extremely addicting. That's why coin-operated games were so popular at that time. Overall, Dig Dug's got enough replay value for me to give the addictiveness a 10.
Story: N/A It's an early 80's arcade game. There's no story to be found here, therefore I'm leaving this category blank.
Depth: 9/10 Like with other arcade games at the time, if you're skilled enough to make it through every level in this game, then you'll go through a total of 255 levels. I say 255 levels because on level 256, you'll end up getting killed instantly. You need mad skill to reach that point, but for an early 80's game, there's a lot of levels to complete. For that reason, I'm giving the depth a 9.
Difficulty: 10/10 Like a lot of other arcade games, Dig Dug's a tough game that'll test your reflexes. The first few levels are fairly easy to complete, but then the difficulty ramps up. Dealing with Pookas and Fygars may seem easy at first, but once they start going through the ground to chase after you and speed up, that's when the game's true difficulty finally shows itself. I've personally never been as good at Dig Dug as I have with Galaga or Pac-Man. I feel more than comfortable giving the difficulty a 10.
Overall Score: 8.5/10 While Dig Dug may not have had the same type of impact that Pac-Man had on the world, it was still very much an arcade classic. While not quite as memorable as other arcade classics such as Pac-Man and Galaga, Dig Dug's still a very fun game that everyone should give a try at least once in their lifetime. I'm giving Dig Dug's Overall Score a respectable 8.5/10! |
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