Cave In? Cave On!
Boulder Dash is one of those games I used to see in magazines when I was a kid. Everyone seemed to rave on and enjoy it. However, I played a version on my ZX Spectrum that I didn't like because of the eye-popping scrolling. That's about as much as I recall if I'm honest. Fast forward to my Atari ST years, and I played a few more, but I wasn’t impressed with the less-than-smooth scrolling. A necessity for a game like this.
Then I saw Douglas Rockmoor by Gary Wheaton (aka Goth), which Budgie UK released in 1990 (I bought this, but not the sequel released a year later). The premise is exactly what you expect: we're in several labyrinths of caves filled with soil, diamonds, rocks, and a few nasty creatures. As you move, dirt is removed to create the pathway you've travelled. Sometimes, enemies are scarpering about, so look for any nearby rocks to cunningly eliminate them using gravity! You can also push rocks if there's a space behind them, but try to avoid being crushed yourself! Collect the diamonds, don't get trapped, and look for the exit to escape!
I've played both games today, which are much the same. The sequel has more levels and nicer graphics (not much!). In fact, I'm tempted to ask if these run in medium resolution, as only 4 colours are used (for the game). Sadly, a timer is present, and you know how much I hate those! But it begins to count down several seconds before the game is ready!! Also, it's worth noting that the silky-smooth scrolling runs at 50fps. Impressive, but also strange because the screen scrolls slower than the player moves, which is weird.
Anyhow, for someone who never enjoyed Boulder Dash, I quite liked these two games. However, they are extremely difficult and too tough for the likes of me, who found the first caves quite impossible! Regardless of my whinges, fans of the genre will no doubt be cave-struck with both Douglas Rockmoor games.
- Both games are downloadable from Atarimania.
- A hard drive version of the first game is over on 8BitChip.
- Wondering how smooth, eh? Check out Hundgirrid's excellent video recording.
This is the type of puzzle we face - how to kill that blocky alien!
Of course, you may also get yourself stuck!
This screen is scary! RUNNNNNN!!
Argh, I did it again and got myself stuck.
I started this cave and was immediately stuck!
Believe it or not, I only took this screenshot because I liked the colours!