Once again, another Namco entry in the Arcade Archives. I'm talking Dig Dug.
Dig Dug: The Underground Smash Arcade Hit!
Looks like Namco is becoming a very, very familiar name for Hamster's lineup of arcade titles. For a maze game, the mechanics of Dig Dug are very different from those of Pac-Man the only similarity is that when Dig Dug "digs" across the screen it gets 10 points by "square area" which mirrors the regular Pac-Dots. This feature is what breaks from the common "maze" games as the player is no longer limited by stage layouts like Pac-Man and gives you full liberty for either create your very own underground mazes or even clear the screen completely for the sake of racking a small bunch of dozen points. But unlike Pac-Man, you don't have a Power Pac-Dot in this game, instead, your character has a weapon: a harpoon to latch on your enemies and blow them until they explode.
The Science of High Scoring
Inflating a monster until it pops to death grants you a score of hundreds of points. But here's a catch: The enemy value increases depending on a couple of factors: First is how deep your enemy is when is blown to death. You can use the ground "layers" as a reference. This works well on the Pookas, while the Fygars have a more complex score mechanic as they have values if they're popped on a horizontal movement.
POOKA: 200 (Surface & Layer 1), 300 (Layer 2), 400 (Layer 3), 500 (Layer 4)
FYGAR: 200 Vertical/400 Horizontal (Surface/Layer 1), 300-V/600-H (Layer 2), 400-V/800-H (Layer 3), 500-V/1000-H (Layer 4)
SURVIVAL HINT: The harpoon also works to slow enemies down when you need to go defensive and you want to evade mostly the Pookas as they will increase their numbers in the later stages as they're immobile until they're fully deflated. While you can go defensive on the Pookas, you can't do that with the Fygars. The reason of this is their fire breath ability, this one is like 4 blocks wide and their flames can pass through very thin walls.
The second factor is using the rocks scattered on the area. When you dig below the rock, you can make it fall and hit 1, 2 or more monsters simultaneously, this will grant you a multiplier-like bonus boost. 1 creature squashed is worth 1000 points, 2, are 2500 and if you have the luck, God and all the cosmic energies on your side and squash 8 monsters in one shot with the rock you'll get 15000 points. Keep in mind, the rock can also kill you if it hits you. Dropping two rocks in a stage is not just for "weapon" use, it also makes a vegetable to appear, these are like the Fruit items in Pac-Man, the bonus giving items that increase their worth as you progress in the game. From the 400 point carrot to the 8000 point Pineapple in Stages 18 and later.
With these main aspects known and learned, there's one thing left to talk about. The last enemy on-screen. Regardless if its a Pooka or Fygar, the last enemy will try to escape from a certain death on Dig Dug's harpoon-air pump. If the creature leaves nothing happens, the stage ends and you'll go to the next like it nothing happened. But is more preferable to kill it even if its on the surface and just gives you a few points.
You mean break Donald Hayes record of 5,147,610 points?
That's waaaaay too much.
Bringing 'Dug to the house was a priority for every console and computer throughout the 80's and well into the 90's. Aside from the "Arrangement" editions on PSP and XBOX360, the closest thing to the arcade were the NES and the PlayStation ports. Curiously, the PS1 port had to scroll down a little bit while the NES didn't. While there was recently the Arcade Game Series release of Dig Dug, in 2022, Hamster released the game as part of the Arcade Archives series, but, like the Arcade Game Series release, this port only includes the Japanese ROM by Namco, omitting the International version since that was an Atari release. But there was a couple of differences between Namco and Atari. The first one was the replacement of the Namco logo with Atari's and changing the disclaimer to "© 1982 ATARI INC.", but the second was more important because the Atari version corrects what we can call the "Pac-Man Error". When the player reaches the level 256 in the Namco release, the game will become unplayable as a Pooka will instantly kill Dig Dug as soon as the level starts. The Atari release fixes that bug. If "Trophy Hunting" is the reason why you've picked this game, then this game will not go easy on you, with the bronze trophy at 30,000 points, silver at 60,000 and gold at 90,000 points. Not as plenty of trophies/achievements than Bandai Namco's Arcade Game Series, yet the Arcade Archives port definitely awaits for your challenge.
Dig Dug is not a "Smurf". ¿Got it? Fine.
Graphically, it has more colors than Pac-Man and the game makes a good work on portraying the characters on the attract mode. Most kids in the 80's might confused Dig Dug with a Smurf since the sprite has blue arms and face, ignoring the fact that the blue on the face was a visor, but combined with a white head and jumpsuit it could be easily confused with a one of them. Pookas are more like Wind-up toys cause we can see the winding key on their backs moving as they walk. The ground layers were also nicely done with the dots scattered randomly across each layer as if was a geological boundary of some sorts. Now let's talk about the sound. While we have the level start tune, the music is actually generated by Dig Dug itself. How? By simply keep walking/digging across the screen, just stop moving and the music stops, that was an interesting experimental idea for a videogame and I can even consider this as the predecessor of more complex and advanced games like Rez where the shots add additional beats to the background music.
DIG DUG'ED CURIOSITIES
A member of the Earth Defense Force Band dressed for the theatrical adaptation of Dig Dug.
- Dig Dug was one of the first Namco games released by Atari Inc. prior to its rebranding as Atari Games.
- Atari made a Rock N' Roll styled commercial for the arcade game. It is commonly known as the "Dig Dug Dance".
- The 1983 Atari 2600/5200 commercial called the Pookas "Balloon Men" and Fygars simply as "Dragons".
- Gus Allen made the cover art for the Atari 2600 and 7800 versions.
- Like Super Mario Bros., Contra and Battle City, Dig Dug became "bootleg fodder" as it was included in pirate "Famiclone" multicarts.
- Dig Dug (the character) was officialy renamed as Taizo Hori.
- Taizo Hori is a wordplay on "Horitai zo" which means "I want to dig!".
- The Arcade Archives manual refers to him as "Digdug" rather than the official name.
- Taizo made other appearances like in the Super Smash Bros. series and Disney's Wreck it Ralph! movie.
- The most remembered appearances of Taizo are Namco x Capcom and the Mr. Driller series where it was revealed that he married Tobi Masuyo from Baraduke/Alien Sector and they had three children, one of them is Mr. Driller himself Susumu Hori.
- The reason behind Hori's divorce was because he's not too bright and is hardly ever home (an irresponsible dad). This divorce is referenced in Namco x Capcom as the reason of the grudge between Tobi and Taizo.
- Dig Dug, Baraduke and Mr. Driller are part of the United Galaxy Space Force, despite of their "cute" appearance for a sci-fi multiverse.
- Dig Dug takes place on the year 2382, Baraduke on 2385 and Mr. Driller in 2399.
You: No big deal. I was just killing Pookas at minus 500 meters.
Nina: Minus?
Arcade Archives: Dig Dug is the return of a vintage classic of the dawn of the 80's Era of the arcades.
This is a great "Non-Shmup" recommendation for those who are looking for some retro-arcade action.
A classic hit always gets a positive result despite the pass of time.
