Remakes
Information
- Author: Richard Heasman
Pros
- Excellent conversion
- Very playable
Cons
- No level select
- No sound
Links
Boulder Dash
Boulder Dash was one of the true classics of the early 1980s. Taking the role of Rockford, your aim on each level is to burrow through the earth in search of diamonds, taking care to avoid falling boulders and the occasional beasties that lurk menacingly, waiting for you to fall into their clutches. Of these nasties, fireflies and butterflies both kill Rockford with a single touch, but the latter become a source of diamonds when you drop a boulder on their bonce. The amoeba is rather different: it gradually eats into the earth that surrounds it and can be used to kill numerous butterflies (thereby converting them to diamonds), but if the amoeba grows too big, it turns into boulders, thereby cutting off your escape route.
Much of the appeal of Boulder Dash is in its simplicity and the frenetic nature of the gameplay—both of which were massively watered down in the disappointing Boulder Dash Ex. This, however, is the original thing: fast and furious, and requiring split-second decisions every step of the way.
Almost every aspect of the game is identical to the Commodore 64 version of Boulder Dash, including the scrolling, which seems to work better than on the remake twinned with Boulder Dash Ex. However, there are some changes, and, sadly, they're for the worse. First, in the original you had four starting points (levels A, E, I and M) and could choose to compete on five different difficulty levels. Here, however, you're restricted to screens and levels you've completed, and you start only with access to 'A1', which means the game becomes extremely frustrating if you get stuck. To alleviate that issue, the programmer decided on an infinite lives model, but this removes some of the challenge of the original—after all, if you fail at a level, you can just have another go. Finally, there's no sound, so all of those great crunching noises are missing, along with the satisfying effects when you collect a diamond or reach the exit. It's a real shame there are these few omissions, because in every other area this is a flawless conversion.
CG
