''Mr. Dig'' is a

maze video game This is a list of maze video games by type. Top-down maze games While the character in a maze would have a limited view, the player is able to see much or all of the maze. ''Maze chase games'' are a specific subset of the overhead perspective. T ...

programmed by Rita Jay and published in 1984 by

Microdeal Microdeal was a British software company which operated during the 1980s and early 1990s from its base at Truro Road in the town of St Austell, Cornwall. The company, founded by John Symes was one of the major producers of games and other softw ...

for the

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

Dragon 32/64 The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are 8-bit home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer, and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., initially in Swansea, Wales, before mo ...

, and

TRS-80 Color Computer The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer, is a series of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different ...

. The game is a direct clone of

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

's 1982 arcade game, ''

Mr. Do! is a 1982 maze video game developed by Universal. It is the first arcade video game to be released as a conversion kit for other cabinets; Taito published the conversion kit in Japan. The game was inspired by Namco's ''Dig Dug'' released earl ...

''.

Gameplay

The object of the game is to guide the titular "Mr. Dig" through a maze by digging tunnels, collecting cherries, and avoiding the various monsters that come out to get him. Mr. Dig can defeat them by hitting them with his bouncing "power ball" or by dropping large apples on them. There are several types of monsters that try to prevent Mr. Dig from getting the cherries. The least threatening are simply Meanies - small characters that can only chase Mr. Dig. Although their touch is deadly, they can't tunnel behind the players, so they can be led to a dead end and trapped with one of the apples. Meanies can transform into Miners, and these creatures pose a greater threat to Mr. Dig because they can tunnel behind him and eat the apples. The game allows the player to choose one of ten difficulty levels from "Big Baby's Level" (easy) to "Masochist's Level" (impossible).

Audio

The game uses excerpts from Mozart's Turkish March as its main musical theme.

Reception

The game has been met with fairly positive reviews. ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...

'' reviewer summed up ''Mr. Dig'' as "a really nice game from Microdeal, very playable and extremely addictive". The ''

Page 6 ''Page 6'' (subtitled ''Atari Users Magazine'') was a British magazine aimed at users of Atari 8-bit computers and Atari ST home computers. The first issue was in 1982, and it was renamed to ''Page 6 Atari User'' and then ''New Atari User'' be ...

'' reviewer liked the game better than ''Mr. Do'', feeling that it was harder than the latter and thought that ''Mr. Dig'' will appeal to a wider range of computer gamers.

References

External links

* * {{Internet Archive game, id=a8b_Mr._Dig_1984_Microdeal_GB
Review
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Commodore User ''Commodore User'', (also referred to as ''CU'') later renamed to ''CU Amiga'', is a British magazine initially published by Paradox Group before being acquired by EMAP. Timeline ''Commodore User'' was launched in October 1983 with an initial pr ...

'' 1984 video games Atari 8-bit computer games Commodore 64 games Dragon 32 games Maze games TRS-80 Color Computer games Video game clones Video games about food and drink Video games developed in the United Kingdom Microdeal games