Dig Dug

Arcade version screenshot

Dig Dug is a maze video game. Controlling the titular character, the player's objective is to eliminate the enemies on each screen; these being Pookas, red tomato-like creatures with comically large goggles, and Fygars, green dragons that can breathe fire.[1] Dig Dug can defeat these enemies by using a bike pump to inflate them with air until they explode, or by crushing them under large falling rocks.[1] Bonus points are awarded for squashing multiple enemies with a single rock,[1] and dropping two rocks in a stage will cause a bonus item to appear in the middle of the screen, which can be eaten for points.[1] Once all the enemies have been defeated, Dig Dug will progress to the next stage.[1]

Enemies can travel through solid dirt to reach the player, where only their eyes will be shown.[1] Inflated enemies pose no threat to the player, allowing Dig Dug to pass through them without harm.[1] The game will play a short jingle when Dig Dug moves, abruptly stopping when he becomes idle. If the player takes too long to clear a stage, the enemies will become faster and much more aggressive, indicated by a short jingle.[1] Stages are indicated by the number of flowers placed at the top of the screen.[1] Later stages feature variations in the color of the dirt, while increasing the movement speed of the enemies.[1]

Dig Dug was programmed by Shigeichi Ishimura, a Namco hardware engineer, and the late Shouichi Fukatani.[2] The rest of the staff were made up primarily of colleagues of Shigeru Yokoyama, the creator of Galaga.[3] The game was based around the concept of allowing the player to make their own mazes. Pac-Man had a pre-set maze for the player to explore, but the development team thought the idea of letting players make their own mazes was interesting, and could lead to some unique gameplay mechanics. Namco described it as a "strategic digging game", a phrase heavily used in marketing material.[4] Yuriko Keino composed the soundtrack, and was her first video game project. The staff commissioned her to make a walking sound for the protagonist as he moves around the screen; Keino couldn't come up with a realistic stepping sound, so she instead went with a short melody that only played when the player was moving.[5] Hiroshi "Mr. Dotman" Ono, a Namco graphic artist, designed the sprites. The game was programmed for the Namco Galaga arcade system board. Dig Dug was published in Japan on April 19, 1982.[6] It was released in North America by Atari as part of their licensing deal with Namco.

The first home conversion of Dig Dug was released for the Atari 2600 in 1983, developed and published by Atari, which was followed by versions for the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64 and Apple II. In Japan, the game was ported to the Casio PV-1000 in 1983, and later to the MSX in 1984 and the Nintendo Family Computer in 1985. Gakken produced a handheld LCD tabletop game in 1983, which replaced Dig Dug's air pump with a flamethrower to accommodate for hardware limitations. Namco released a Game Boy conversion in North America only in 1992, which featured an all-new game called "New Dig Dug" where the player must collect keys to open an exit door — this version was later included in the 1996 Japan-only compilation Namco Gallery Vol. 3, which also included Galaxian, The Tower of Druaga and Famista 4.[7] A Japanese Sharp X68000 version was developed by Dempa and released in 1995, bundled with Dig Dug II.[8] The Famicom version was re-released in Japan for the Game Boy Advance in 2004 as part of the Famicom Mini lineup.[7]

Dig Dug is included in several Namco video game compilations, including Namco Museum Vol. 3 (1996), Namco Museum 64 (1999),[9] Namco Museum 50th Anniversary (2005),[10] Namco Museum Remix (2007),[11] Namco Museum Essentials (2009)[12] and Namco Museum Switch (2017).[13] The game was released digitally for the Xbox Live Arcade in 2006, featuring support for online leaderboards and achievements,[14] which was added to the Xbox One's backwards compatibility lineup in 2016.[15] A version for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console was released in 2009.[16] Dig Dug is also included as a bonus game in Pac-Man Party, alongside the arcade versions of Pac-Man and Galaga.[17]

Dig Dug was a critical and commercial success upon release, and was praised for its gameplay and layer of strategy.[19] In North America, it sold 22,228 arcade cabinets by the end of 1982 and grossed $46.3 million in revenue,[23] and was a popular title during the golden age of arcade video games. The Famicom Mini release sold 58,572 by the end of 2004,[24] while the Xbox 360 version sold 22,240 copies by 2011.[25]

American publication Blip Magazine favorably compared it to games such as Pac-Man and Defender for its simple controls and fun gameplay.[26] Allgame called it "an arcade and NES classic", praising its characters, gameplay and unique premise, and for it being easily translatable to home platforms.[18] Japanese magazine Gamest called it one of the greatest arcade games of all time in 1998, applauding its addictiveness and for breaking the traditional "dot-eater" gameplay used in titles such as Pac-Man and Rally-X.[27] In a 2007 retrospective, Eurogamer praised its "perfect" gameplay and strategy, saying it is one of "the most memorable and legendary videogame releases of the past 30 years".[19] The Killer List of Videogames rated it the sixth most popular coin-op game on their website.[28]

Electronic Fun with Computers & Games praised the Atari 8-bit version for retaining the entertaining gameplay from the arcade version and its simple controls.[22] Reviewing the Xbox Live Arcade digital re-release, IGN liked its presentation, leaderboards and addictive gameplay, recommending it for fans of the original and newcomers.[14] A similar response was echoed by GameSpot , who praised the XBLA version's colorful artwork and retaining the original arcade gameplay,[21] while Eurogamer applauded the game's addictiveness and for still holding up years after its release.[20]

Some home versions of the game were criticized for quality and lack of exclusive content. Readers of Softline magazine ranked Dig Dug the tenth-worst Apple II and fourth-worst Atari 8-bit video game of 1983 for its subpar quality and not living up to consumer expectations.[29] Eurogamer, IGN and GameSpot all criticized the XBLA conversion's lack of online multiplayer and achievements being too easy to unlock,[14][21] with Eurogamer in particular criticizing the game's controls for sometimes being unresponsive.[20]

• Dig Dug at MobyGames

• Dig Dug at the Killer List of Videogames