Random Game O' the Day: Lode Runner

[digitalpress]

The DP Generator Classica (tm) has chosen Lode Runner on this fine day. It chose the Atari XE version but we'll open discussion up to the game in general.

Any gamer worth his salt has played SOME version of Lode Runner at least once, so I expect to hear everyone's thoughts on the game. I'll be honest with you - I've never been a fan of the game. It all goes back to my fear and loathing of platformers in general, and I SUCK VERY HARD at such games. Lode Runner is no exception. I'm very good at the part where you dig a hole and fall in it by accident but beyond that, I'm inept.

What's YOUR deal with Lode Runner? Like it? What was the first version you played? Did any of the versions "nail it" better than others? Have you ever played the arcade version? Let's hear it! Write your own mini-review here.

DP Guide (these are the home cartridge versions only) sez:

U.S. Game Releases

Lode Runner (Atari XE, by Atari) $10/R4
Designed by Chuck Peavey. Original game designed by Doug Smith. Licensed from Broderbund. #RX8082.

Lode Runner (Commodore 64, by Broderbund) $8/R3 +
Designed by Dane Bigham. A 16k cart. Original game designed by Doug Smith. Frantic platform action, influential and converted to just about every console that's ever existed. Due to memory constraints, only has 16 of the original levels. Converted into a coin-op by Irem in 1984.
PERIODICALS: Scored 88% in Zzap!64 June 1985. c1983 Broderbund. #234.

Hyper Lode Runner (Game Boy, by Bandai) $0/R0
Released 1990. #DMG-HL-USA.

Lode Runner 3D (N64, by Infogrames) $12/R3
Gray cart. Rated E. #NUS-NLRE-USA.

Lode Runner (Nintendo NES, by Broderbund) $5/R3
Based on the 1984 Irem coin-op. The coin-op from which this game was based was in itself based on the Broderbund 8-bit computer game. Released 09/87. #NES-LO-USA.

Lode Runner: The Legend Returns (PlayStation, by Natsume) $8/R5
The game is packaged as "2 in 1": Lode Runner
Returns and Lode Runner Extra, but it's merely a marketing gimmick. Released 3/1/98.

Lode Runner (VIC-20, by Broderbund) $19/R5 +
Designed by Mike Wise, Doug Smith. Released in 1983. 16k cart. See also "Apple Panic". PERIODICALS: AD: "...You will maneuver through scene after scene, running, jumping, drilling passages and outfoxing enemy guards in a secret underground hideaway as you pick up chests of gold stolen from the citizens of the Bungeling Empire. There's no end to the thrills, chills and challenge." (Partial text from Broderbund multiple-game ad in December 1983 Compute!'s Gazette).

Non-U.S. Game Releases

Lode Runner 2 (PlayStation, by Success) $0/R0
Developed by Success. Released 3/30/00. #SLPM-86460.

Lode Runner Extra (PlayStation, by Petra) $0/R0
Released 1/10/07. #SLPS-00641.

Championship Lode Runner (SG1000, by Sega) $0/R0
Released 1985. #C-57.

Lode Runner (SG1000, by Sega) $0/R0
Released 1984. #G-1031.

Lode Runner Twin (SNES, by T&E Soft) $0/R0
Released 07/29/94. #SHVC-7Z.

Power Lode Runner (SNES, by Nintendo) $0/R0
Released 01/01/99. #SHVC-BPLJ-JPN.

Battle Lode Runner (Turbografx-16, by Hudson) $25/R5
English-friendly. Action/Platform/Scrolling Screen. HuCard. #HS93054.

Lode Runner Lost Labyrinth (Turbografx-16, by Pack-In Video) $0/R0
Close translation of the original Lode Runner game. English-friendly. Action/Platform/Fixed Screen. HuCard. #PV1004.

[Mayhem]

This really is a true fire classic... and one of the few American game concepts completely embraced by the Japanese over the years. I love the C64 version, but I play the disc version as it has all the levels (as opposed to just 16 as mentioned). The new GC version is rather strange doing it in isometric 3D viewpoint but is solid nonetheless.

I've played the arcade in MAME, but not the real thing. In fact the original Apple II version is one of the few I haven't played :roll:

[bigdaddychester]

My only experience with lode runner was with the Apple II version. My computer instructor in high school made copies of it for us to "experiment" with on our school computers (back in the day hardly anyone had a computer at home). Lots of fun with this one but I can't understand how we learned about computers when everyone was playing this!

[ManekiNeko]

Lode Runner was always too rigid and puzzle-oriented for my tastes. You can't directly attack the bad guys... your only options is to dig holes prematurely and hope they get buried in rock when they fall in. Furthermore, if you get cornered (and you most likely will), you have to start the entire round over again. I've never liked that... it's the kind of frustration that kept me from enjoying other platform games like Miner 2049'er.
I'm an arcade game fan from the beginning to the very end, so a game specifically designed for computers (with all that entails) isn't going to interest me quite as much. I'd rather play Mr. Do!'s Castle or Berlin Wall than Lode Runner... they're faster and more rewarding.

JR

[Jorpho]

I guess you're not counting Hyper Lode Runner for Game Boy as a home version?

[Keir]

Lode Runner is awesome!
Like Mayhem, I prefer the C64 disk version, but even the VIC-20 version is great! The NES version is simpler and cutesified of course, but it's still a lot of fun. Unlike the Playstation version, which is so easy it gets boring real fast. On the other hand, you've got Hyper Lode Runner which is insanely hard. I think I was able to beat the first level after a few days of trying.

[Mayhem]

Hmmm still need to get my hands on the Vic20 version.

[Flack]

This was one of the first games we had for our Apple that I can remember. The Apple had joystick had two buttons, so one dug left and one dug right. This made the C64 version a little harder for me, since it only had one button and you had to face which way you were digging. On levels where you had to run "backwards" and dig, the Apple version was much easier.

My dad and I were both into computers back then, and Lode Runner was one game we could BOTH play. All the reasons that ManekiNeko gave for not liking the game were the same reasons we loved it. It was a thinking man's game, involving planning, forethought, and discovery. I can't remember if it was the original or the sequal, but one of them had a level editor, and my dad and I would make levels for each other to play all the time.

I think Lode Runner was a testament to the fact that you could have GREAT games with minimal graphics. With bricks, ladders, and stick men, Broderbund made a game that we played for literally years and years. To be quite honest I don't think the Playstation or Arcade versions were any better than those early Apple ones, despite better graphics and sound.

Flack

[IntvGene]

Lode Runner was definitely a computer thing.

I didn't mind the fact that I couldn't directly attack them. I was really impressed by the AI and how it felt like they were really chasing you (an amazing feat at the time). It was probably one of the first games that I felt like I was battling real enemies, not just the computer AI. I remember seeing the guys helplessly squirm before the pits closed on them and crushed them, and feeling a sense of revenge. The characters looked really simple, but had great animation to them.

I also really liked the Lode Runner that came out later (Championship?) with the level editor. That really kept me going for hours too.

[NE146]

Lode Runner.. had it for the Apple II. I KNEW that Lode Runner was a popular game as I'd see ads for it all the time and see reviews etc. But no matter how I tried to play it, I just didn't dig it very much.

Now all these years later I realize why.. It's because you're always just running away like a pussy! That game must've triggered some kind of innate frustration at just running and not being able to attack your antagonists in any way aside from digging holes (see Space Panic for the other idea that thankfully never evolved from that pt. LOL) Anyway, in retrospect, that's probably why I didn't like it. If only I could shoot those damn bastards LOL

[ubersaurus]

I didn't get to play it til earlier this year when I found the NES cart, and remembered my friends hyping the c64 version. SO I took it home, popped it in, and can honestly say, this game is insanely fun, and difficult.

Grade A classic.

[Daniel Thomas]

Lode Runner was truly one of the giants of computer gaming. The definitive versions, of course, are on the home computers (the Atari 800 version probably being my favorite).

The more Japanese versions of LR (NES, arcade, GB) were a little too cartooney for my tastes, and took some of the fire out of it (much like Boulderdash). Yes, this game was damned hard, and I can't believe I could finish more than two dozen levels even today, but dagnabbit, that's the way I likes it!

The N64 version was a nice twist to the formula, but I didn't play it too much, thanks to the screwy camera angles. Was it true that Doug Smith was responsible for that version as well? I think I read something to that effect once.

[Neil Koch]

I loved Lode Runner on the Apple II, but I actually had more fun creating levels rather than actually playing the game (kind of like create-a-wrestler on the new WWF games).

Was LR the first game to have some sort of level creator?

[Kid Fenris]

Along with Jumpman Junior and Archon, Lode Runner was responsible for most of my fond childhood memories revolving around the Commodore 64, or at least, the Commodore owned by my grandparents. I played Lode Runner whenever I visited them, and I really liked the level-creator mode. Unfortunately, I don't think I was old enough to grasp the idea of designing tough-but-fair challenges. Instead, I made stages that were either mercilessly hard or impossible to complete. And then I'd tell my sister that she had to complete my latest Lode Runner creation if she wanted to play Jumpman Junior.

It was cruel of me, but my sister, then no older than six, was equally sadistic with her Jumpman Junior exploits. Whenever she played the game, she would make the eponymous Jumpman walk into the nearest pit so she could hear the amusing dirge that followed his demise. It drove me nuts.

So, anyway, Lode Runner. Fun.

[Berserker]

best one i've played was the sierra one made around maybe 95 or 96, fun little game you could design your own maps and stuff. it was for the PC/Mac

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Early this year, I paid handsomely for a complete Apple II Lode Runner package - maybe more than it's really worth, but man, I wanted the whole thing. I loved this game. Alongside the Odyssey2 games that would let you create your own playing fields, Lode Runner was so much more inspiring than just being a game. I remembered being thrilled the first time I made a big playfield constructed out of the gargantuan letters EG.

That element, of allowing the user to participate in creating the game, makes Lode Runner and others like it endlessly playable.

Anyone wanting a look at the Apple II version can visit here (http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/apple/2003/l.htm).

[zmweasel]

N/A

[Raedon]

I always like the Logan's Run artwork on the box!

... only one thing will forever puzzle me.. This dude has a laser gun, but.. there are no guns in Lode Runner! I can only assume it was the floor atomizor thingy that isn't rendered in lovely pixels even though he is obviously shooting it into the air..

http://lemon64.ayleen.nl/covers/full/lode_runner.jpg

and what sort of evil robots keep gold goblets laying around I ask you..

anyway.. What other game allows you to bust up the floor AND walk over some heads.

I had this one on the C64 which was a solid version.

[NE146]

Anyone wanting a look at the Apple II version can visit here (http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/apple/2003/l.htm).

..And if they want to play it on the cheap they can download APPLEWIN (http://www.jantzer-schmidt.de/applewin/). One of the best most simplest to use emulators I've ever had the pleasure of installing. Turns any boring "modern" pc into a green monochrome ancient Apple 2. Works great for running ancient DB apps in the office as a screensaver during lunch.. makes everyone do a double take LOL

http://www.atariage.com/forums/download.php?id=1654 http://www.atariage.com/forums/download.php?id=1653 http://www.atariage.com/forums/download.php?id=1652

[xertcev]

The game of endless possibilities...Some levels a little too easy,
some not so easy, some seemingly impossible. But there's always a way.
Once you figure it out it's simple.

My first experience was the apple II version in "Gordy's basement"
(You don't know Gordy) He set me up with all the games I ever wanted,
before I even knew of the term "pirate"

After the Apple II was long packed away, I played the "On-Line"
version on my Mac System 7.

I still play "Mad Monks' Revenge" on my PC today.
And the make your own level feature, I love it.
That's the only programming I can handle.


I never cared much for the NES version or the Arcade.
And 3D did not work for me.
Never played Atari XE, or Commodore, or Vic 20


My favorite...APPLE II, I still play it emulated (AppleWin)

Here's one of my custom levels on "Mad Monks' Revenge"


http://home.mchsi.com/~lindner24/lr01.jpg

[Arqueologia_Digital]

My experience in NES with this game isn´t good, i´m terribly pathetic with this game. Well, i didn´t play again, but when i did it, it costed me a lot...i think i couldn´t pass level 2 :P

[Dirty Tiger]

I loved the Apple II version as a kid. Played for hours.

Now I have the NES version and get silly happy when I play. Great Game.

[kainemaxwell]

There's a couple versions of Lode Runner on my NES multicart. Used to play them alot back in the day, especially the editor to make your own levels.