Pac-Man wasn't the only popular arcade game Namco made. Aside from Galaga, Mappy, and others, there was also Dig Dug.
In Dig Dug, your objective is to dig through the earth's soil and eliminate the monsters lurking within it. You can move through the soil (Thus creating tunnels) by simply moving around, but defeating the monsters is the hard part. You can do this by creating a tunnel beneath a rock wedged in the earth, making it drop down and crushing the enemy. But that's no fun, is it?
If you want a more inventive way to kill enemies, you're in luck, because there is one - You can throw out a hook, which, when successfully attached to the enemy, allows you to inflate it until it pops. If you only partially inflate a monster (For example, because other monsters are headed your way and you have to run for it), it will rapidly deflate back to its normal state before giving chase once more. While it is deflating you can run through it without dying.
There are only two monsters in the game. Pookas are red, balloon-esque enemies wearing goggles. They are harmless, unless they touch you, of course. Fygars are dragon-like creatures, which, if you cross their line of sight horizontally, will glow for a second or two before spewing fire about three spaces wide. Duck out of the way when they do this!
After the monsters move around for a while, they will be able to turn into a ghost of some sort and float through the dirt before appearing in another tunnel. After that they will need a few seconds to "recharge" this ability. If there is only one enemy left, ocassionally, it might get frightened and run for the surface. If it escapes, you will win the round.
Like most arcade games, the game has no ending. After 12 rounds, rounds 8-12 will begin repeating infinitely until you lose all your lives. The only thing that changes after a set amount of levels is the colour scheme of the dirt.
One more thing that should be mentioned is the music - Namco has done something rather strange (Yet inventive) with it, as it will only play while you're moving around. If you're standing still, the game is mostly silent.
Overall, Dig Dug is yet another good Namco arcade game. It is good fun to try and get better highscores, but be warned, because there's not a lot of variety! Note that the game costs 600 Wii Points instead of 500, because, surprisingly, it was never released outside Japan.
1. Roo
09 Jun 2008, 13:55 GMT
Minted. Dig Dug is a minor classic: get it in!
2. koresh1959
09 Jun 2008, 13:59 GMT
Reminds me of those sand-digging sections in Super Mario Bros. 2... I hated them! But this looks fairly interesting.
3. FalloutBR
09 Jun 2008, 14:00 GMT
Looks very interesting... I'll wait a review before buying it though, I just got Toki Tori, and that really got me busy (and low on money
)
4. Olimar_91
09 Jun 2008, 14:43 GMT
I can't help but think of Mega64 when I watch the footage from this game XP
5. Adamant
09 Jun 2008, 14:46 GMT
3 stars? Seriously? This is one of my favorite games of all time. A must download.
" Aside from Galaga, Mappy, and others, there was also Dig Dug."
Was Mappy really that popular? I mean, I love the game, but it's not something you hear about a whole lot.
6. Drake
09 Jun 2008, 15:10 GMT
I would give it higher, but really, there's not much to the game these days. It's the same reason we gave Pac-Man and other similar games 3 stars.
Mappy has a cult following, I'm pretty sure.
7. Jogurt the Yogurt
09 Jun 2008, 15:41 GMT
I love Dig Dug, and I agree with the 3. Good score, solid game.
8. Atlantis1982
09 Jun 2008, 15:58 GMT
And was just reading about this being rated in the forums, and POOF like those critters, it just appears today on the VC.
9. stinssd
09 Jun 2008, 16:20 GMT
I used to play this on my Commodore 64. It's a fun game, but 600 points? Hmmm.
10. angel m. rivera collazo
09 Jun 2008, 17:49 GMT
this is arcade classic,but,NES version is a little subpar,4 stars.
11. STEADY MOBBIN 22
09 Jun 2008, 17:58 GMT
What do you mean it was never released here? Im confused. There were a ton of ports to lesser systems, but a full arcade port was also released for Xbox Live about a year ago.
12. Angelic Lapras King
09 Jun 2008, 18:18 GMT
Guess we Europeans won't see it for awhile....
13. Kevin
09 Jun 2008, 18:42 GMT
Now we need mappy. I know its not as big as the other namco classics but I love it.
14. Adamant
09 Jun 2008, 21:16 GMT
@STEADY MOBBIN 22: The Famicom/NES port was never released outside Japan, for some bizarre reason. That's the one we got on the VC.
15. Tides of Chaos
09 Jun 2008, 21:26 GMT
This looks like a faithful arcade port, but I'd recommend a namco collection over $6 for this.
16. kevenz
09 Jun 2008, 22:00 GMT
this game is great but repetitive.... similar to pacman, mappy and other early 80 games arcade games.
I hope Dig Dug 2 come out eventually, it is much better imo. You can destroy a whole island! I have both games on on the same nes cart
17. Alpo
10 Jun 2008, 00:05 GMT
This game is so repetitive and boring, it is not worth it to download. The VC needs Star Wars: Shadows of the Empirer, and Turok 2 for download
18. Csheroe
10 Jun 2008, 01:44 GMT
@alpo
sorry dude but this game's a classic and star wars..really? Turok 2 will never come..But it would be cool if it did.
19. Jolted85
10 Jun 2008, 03:04 GMT
Played the arcade game a long time ago, it's pretty fun, but I wouldn't give it no more than 3 stars though.
20. Draygone
10 Jun 2008, 06:26 GMT
Funny, I thought we actually got the game on NES. I know we had it on Atari. That's the version I played, anyway. Was one of my favorite games. I kinda like how the Atari version looks better, though. Blue sky. This one has too much black.
21. BB Sting
10 Jun 2008, 07:12 GMT
I hate it when a game is ported from the arcade to the NES, and then ported again from the NES to the Virtual Console. Mabe Nintendo will come up with some sort of Virtual Arcade so we can play these games as they were originally created, right down to the cigarette burns on the A button, Imao
22. STEADY MOBBIN 22
10 Jun 2008, 14:14 GMT
So Dig Dug is just as good as Metroid. FAIL.
re-rate Metroid please.
23. Adamant
10 Jun 2008, 19:45 GMT
Dig Dug being as good as Metroid sounds about right, yeah.
24. Drake
10 Jun 2008, 22:22 GMT
Yeah, Metroid should get 2 stars instead
Metroid really hasn't aged well if you ask me, every single sequel (Metroid II included) is better. It's really repetitive (Same rooms over and over), most enemies are annoying, you always start the game with almost no health, there's no map (Which is made even worse by the repetitive rooms), it's slow, etc.
Now to run before the Metroid fanboys come after me!
25. Tweek
11 Jun 2008, 01:11 GMT
Meh...this game was...Okay, but for 500 wii points? No. I played this game on an emulator and it held my attention for about 5 minutes.
26. Terranigma
14 Jun 2008, 10:12 GMT
Even though it technically is an Import, there are so many versions of the game available to western audiences so it seems a bit of a shady move to release this as an import title by Nintendo. I hope it won't happen again unless there isn't the extra charge
27. poggydude
15 Jun 2008, 16:49 GMT
the game is fun but I'd get namco muesem which is probably really cheap right now and includes an amazing number of classics
28. Clayfrd
16 Jun 2008, 04:50 GMT
@koresh1959-
Ha! I hated those too! I can assure you that Dig Dug is much more fun. I have it on Game Boy Advance.
29. Tony
16 Jun 2008, 18:21 GMT
I paid $9.00 for the GBA Namco arcade. It has Pole position. Ms. Pacman, Galaga and Galaxian. I can't see paying 600 points for this
Good game not a good value
30. pApEr y0sh!
22 Jun 2008, 19:38 GMT
isnt this on namco museum? why would someone pay 6$ for this when you can get it with like 5 other games for the same price
31. Tweek
22 Jun 2008, 22:29 GMT
Well, Dig Dug is fun, but 600 Wii points? Import or not, i think i'll give this one a miss.
32. BleachFan888
23 Jun 2008, 20:52 GMT
I already have this game on several other consoles, so it's pointless for me to buy it.
33. Mr. Cheez
03 Jul 2008, 20:27 GMT
I have this game on 2 NM collections. There's no way i'm wasting an extra 100 points on this. Awesome game though, but the sequel sucked.
Mappy's pretty good too.
Edit: actually, the sequel was alright. It just got crazy hard by level 25.
34. Adamant
05 Jul 2008, 20:11 GMT
^Yes, yes, it is. Why isn't Mappy on the VC yet?
35. Tabbyluigi
09 Aug 2008, 16:39 GMT
Okay, but not exactly great. This game is not quite as addictable as Pac-Man or Mario, but it is decent, but this is a bit expensive for it.
36. LordJamak
09 Aug 2008, 23:31 GMT
Fun game. This was only a Japanese NES game? Hmmm I must remember it from arcade and other places. Still very fun though. Are we gonna see NES's Dig Dug II on VC?
37. Beau Skunk
12 Aug 2008, 02:09 GMT
I recall, the NES version of Mappy was also onley released in Japan. (Another classic Namco arcade game.) Always loved Dig Dug, but it doesn't seem as replayable, or as addictive to me as DK or Pac Man. Though the concept of Dig Dug of digging your own pathways is rather innovative for it's day.
Dig Dug 2 (NES) was pretty addictive, and good so I hope that comes to VC to someday. (Oddly the sequal NES version was released outside of Japan.)
38. angel m. rivera collazo
29 Aug 2008, 14:08 GMT
bb sting,I am with you,Virtual Arcade! every arcade emulation deserves 5 stars! nes digdug...3 stars. I have about 3 namco museums for different consoles.
39. slangman
29 Aug 2008, 16:13 GMT
Unless the virtual console version can save high scores. I see this as a complete waste of time since you can get this on a Namco collection disc on different formats (this was on gamecube right?)
@Drake i disagree i think the original Metroid is better then Metroid II though the sequels are far Superior.
40. SRPirate
08 Sep 2008, 06:18 GMT
this game is a lot of fun to play at times but sometimes its really boring
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