By Kurt Kalata

Developed by Namco and published by Atari in North America, Dig Dug is one of the most widely recognized video games of the golden age of arcades. But while the original - a silly little game where you dig tunnels and inflate enemies - is incredibly popular, there have been a handful of updates and follow-ups that are generally not very recognized. While some of the updates lose sight of what made the original so interesting, the widely ignored sequel, Dig Dug II, is a uniquely fantastic game in its own right.

Dig Dug (Arcade)

Dig Dug - Arcade / Everything (1982)

Atari 2600 Cover

Atari 5200 Cover

American Gameboy Artwork

Like many early arcade games, Dig Dug's concept is a bit out there. As a tiny little guy with a harpoon and air pump, your job is to dig underground and rid each stage of monsters. There are only two types - the innocuous Pookas, red balls with legs and goggles, which just kinda hop and back forth, and the more dangerous Fygars, little dragons who, as the name half-suggests, can breath fire. As your character moves along, he carves out tunnels in the dirt. While the enemies generally just pace back and forth, wandering throughout the caves they can also turn into ghosts and hover straight through the soil. In addition to being hard to hit, they can also move diagonally, as opposed to just moving in the four cardinal direction. Of course, Dig Dug's mobility is limited - the screen is divided into an invisible grid, and you can only move within those squares - putting you at a distinct disadvantage. There are two ways to dispose of foes. The most direct way is to simply chuck a spear at them and begins pumping until they explode like a balloon. (Although it's done in a rather cartoonish fashion, one has to think how this is an extremely sordid way to execute someone.) If you're feeling ambitious, there are also rocks littered throughout the stage, stuck in the dirt. If you dig your tunnel properly, and take it just right, you can dislodge the soil beneath them and drop them on the baddies, potentially a few at the same time if you're really lucky. Since boulders won't drop until you walk out from under it, you can hang out and properly time these attacks. In addition to extra points, there's a bit of a personal satisfaction in setting these up, just because they require a bit more brainwork. Of course, if you're not careful, you can also squash yourself, which is infinitely embarrassing. Additionally, once you've killed almost all of the enemies, the final one will begin to panic and make a direct beeline to the top of the stage, where it will try to flee. There's a certain joy in hunting them down and killing them before they escape, and a certain lament when they survive, even though there's no tangible rewards or punishments. You can, however, attempt to lure creatures into the lower stratosphere of the level. The further down you get, as indicated by the color of the dirt, the more points you'll get to when killing something. Since Fygars can only breathe fire left or right, you'll also get more points from killing them in a horizontal position, since you're closer to danger. Digging dirt also gives you points, giving you incentives to clear the whole map if you want higher scores. If you drop any two rocks in a stage, a bonus item will appear, which will also give you extra points. While Dig Dug starts off slow, the enemies grow both in number and speed as you traverse through the stages. Even though it's not quite as spastic as, say, Robotron 2084 or Defender, it gets pretty chaotic when you have two enemies coming at you from both sides, and one more is flying through the soil to come at you. In times of panic, you find yourself pounding on the pump button to kill a foe as fast as possible, even though there's a limit to how fast your little guy can kill things. One of the best tricks is how you can stun enemies by only pumping them a few times, so you can run past them harmlessly. You can also inflate enemies faster by getting close to them, walking forward, and jamming the pump button, as opposed to staying stationary. The game changes color schemes every four levels, and eventually starts repeating with faster enemies. Certain versions of the game end on the 256th stage, where an enemy is placed right on top of Dig Dug, killing him immediately. In the arcades, Dig Dug runs on a vertically oriented monitor, running on a variation of the Galaga hardware. That being said, the playing field only takes up a portion of the screen. It was converted to practically everything available at the time, consoles and computers worldwide. Since it's a slow moving game, its ports don't suffer the way some other arcade conversions did at the time. The major difference in all of them is a change in playing field size due to the running on a horizontal screen. Not all of them run at full speed, like the C64 version, which is otherwise quite playable. The Atari 2600 version is a bit choppy too and has some annoying flickering. The Colecovision version, initially unreleased and available in beta form, has incredibly screechy noise and strangely blinking sprites. The IBM DOS version is probably the ugliest of them all. Atarisoft developed most of the Western computers ports, while Namco handled the Japanese computer ports. The Famicom version (never released in the US) is the most faithful, featuring near identical sprites, even though the blue sky on the surface has been changed to a dark black. By the time the late 90s rolled around, most of the versions of Dig Dug - including versions on Namco Classics Vol. 1 for the PSone, Namco Museum for the PS2/Xbox/GC, Namco 50th Anniversary for the PS2/GC/Xbox/GBA/PC, the Xbox Live Arcade, and those mini-joystick games that hook up directly to the TV. The exception is the Japanese Gameboy Advance version of Dig Dug, which was released as part of the Famicom Mini series, and thus is an emulation of the Famicom version. A pirated clone called Zig Zag was also released from some of the shadier sides of the arcade business. Most of the sprites are the same, but all of the backgrounds are all horribly mangled, and much darker. The only major change is the appearance of pick-axe items, which allow you to dig through the dirt faster. The Game Boy version, released in 1992, also features an additional mode called New Dig Dug. The goal is simply to dig through the level to obtain three keys and then make your way to the exit door. You don't need to kill all of the enemies here, which actually respawn infinitely. New obstacles include 16 ton weights, which stay on the playing field even after being dropped; balls, which will roll back and forth; and bombs, which explode when dropped. Each stage usually features many impassable walls, usually requiring that you navigate through small mazes to find all of the keys. The graphics change as you progress through the stages, and there's some new music too. It's the first of the "Arrangement" types, which were seen later in different releases. Unfortunately the Gameboy version is a bit on the sluggish side, making it less than optimal. It can also be found on the Namco Gallery Volume 2 collection, which was only released in Japan, and features three other titles Galaxian, Tower of Druaga, and Famista (Family Stadium AKA RBI Baseball) 4. MP3s Download here Soundtrack (Arcade)

Dig Dug (Arcade) Dig Dug (Arcade) Dig Dug (Arcade) Zig Zag Dig Dug (Gameboy)

Comparison Screenshots

Arcade	NES	Atari 8-bit
Atari 2600	Atari 5200	Atari 7800
Commodore 64	MSX	FM7
Apple II	Colecovision	Intellivision
TI/99	VIC 20	IBM PC
Arcade (Arrangement)	Dig Dug Deeper	PSP (Arrangement)
DS (Digging Strike)	Gameboy

Dig Dug II - Arcade / NES / X68000 / PSP / Nintendo DS (1985)

NES Cover

Dig Dug II (Arcade)

Dig Dug II (Arcade)

Dig Dug II seems like a bit of an odd title for the sequel, considering there's no actual digging. Instead of tunnelling through the soil, Dig Dug II takes place entirely on land, with each stage comprised of a single island. The goal is still to kill all of the enemies, and you still have your handy spear-pump thing. Additionally, you have a hand drill, which Dig Dug rides sorta like a pogo stick. Along the island are little fissures and cracks in the earth. At each fissure, you can drill in one of four directions, causing another crack. If you completely corner off a part of the island, it will crumble and fall into the ocean, taking anything with it. The main goal is to encase as many enemies as possible and dump them all into the drink at once, scoring massive points. You can forego all of this and continue to inflate enemies to kill them, but since there are no longer any tunnels, it's harder to control them, and it's way too easy to get surrounded, so drilling the island is definitely the best way to go. This might all seem simple enough, but there's one extremely important factor that comes into play - the larger half of the island will stay afloat while the smaller half sinks. This is easy to judge when you're just carving off small sections, but with larger sections, it's possible to find yourself on the wrong side and end up drowning too. As a result, Dig Dug II is a game of extremes - either you end up giddy that you've cleared the entire stage with one cleverly thought out plan, or your plan backfires and you end up looking look a fool. Some of the same elements of the original still come into play. There are only two enemies, and they both function the same way. They can still turn invincible and float around as ghosts, although since there's no soil to float through, this doesn't entirely make sense. The last enemies on the stage will also make a beeline for the edges and hop into the ocean, denying you a final kill if you're not fast enough. However, the music plays constantly, rather than the stop-and-go theme of the original. There are actually two different versions of Dig Dug II. The original release was quite hard, while the second release tones down the difficulty. Both have completely different levels. Most of the compilations feature only the second version, but Namco Museum for the DS features both. For some reason, Dig Dug II wasn't even remotely as popular as the original, which is a bit of a shame. Even though carving tunnels was fine, destroying whole sections of the level at once is equally, if not more, enjoyable. Also, there are actual "levels" in Dig Dug II - 32 in all, before they start repeating - whereas the original just plopped a couple of pre-made caves and let you do as you wanted. Perhaps the absence of this freeform strategy contributed to its unpopularity. As a result, it was never ported to nearly as many computers or consoles as before. For a long time, the only port was the NES version, which plays perfectly despite, once again, the different resolution, even though the graphics are a slight step downward. It even offers a few bonus scoring items. A perfect conversion was also released for the X68000 in Japan nearly ten years after its initial arcade release. For a long time, Namco neglected it on many of their earlier console compilation packs, although it appears on the Namco Museum Battle Collection for the PSP and Namco Arcade Classics for the DS and Xbox 360. MP3s Download here Soundtrack (Arcade)

Dig Dug II (Arcade) Dig Dug II (Arcade) Dig Dug II (Arcade)

Arcade	NES

Dig Dug Arrangement - Arcade / Playstation 2 / Xbox / Gamecube (1996)

Title Screen

Dig Dug Arrangement (Arcade)

Dig Dug Arrangement (Arcade)

In the mid-90s, Namco released two compilation packs in the arcades, dubbed the "Namco Classics Collection". Each featured three classics Namco games, along with updated, arranged versions featuring updated graphics and new mechanics. The first compilation included Mapp, Galaga and Xevious, while the second featured Rally-X, Pac Man, and Dig Dug. Like all of the other titles, Dig Dug features updated 2D graphics. While nothing terribly impressive, the improved color does look fairly decent. A world map between stages shows your progress through the game, with several dozen levels taking place in a variety of habitats, including cities, icebergs, and even the moon. The new music, however, which plays regardless of whether you're in motion or not, is pretty bad. Dig Dug Arrangement is more than just a graphical overhaul though. As compared to the arbitrarily placed tunnels in the original game, each stage has a distinct layout, which lends a little bit more variety to the action. In addition to the standard Fygars and Pookas, there's a new horned enemy, which can dash back and forth; a robot, which explodes when pumped, damaging nearby enemies but thankfully not Dig Dug; evil clones that can dig through the dirt and blow you up; and red Fygars that can breath fireballs that zoom across the screen. There's also two player simultaneous play, wherein you compete to kill as many enemies as possible. You can also inflate your companion if you're a jerk, although you can escape by pounding on the pump button. There are also some new power-ups, including boots to make you walk faster, a variety of pumps, and, rather strangely, a laser gun. Additionally, there are new boulder types, including giant rocks, which drop directly to the bottom of the stage, and rolling orbs, which bounce back and forth through the tunnels. There's even a staff which causes rain to fall from the sky, carving niches in the ground and potentially harming enemies. For the most part, these are all some pretty cool additions. The biggest misstep, however, are the poorly implemented boss battles. Every so often, you need to defeat a gigantic Pooka or Fygar. To defeat the Pookas, you need to inflate one of the robots so it explodes and damages it. To kill the Fygar, you just need to grab a gun and keep shooting. Unfortunately, the controls for Dig Dug were just never made for this kind of action, especially since the bosses move quickly and randomly about the playing field. Outside of its initial arcade release, Dig Dug Arrangement was included in the first Namco Classics Collection pack for the Playstation 2, Xbox and Gamecube.

Dig Dug Arrangement (Arcade) Dig Dug Arrangement (Arcade) Dig Dug Arrangement (Arcade)

Dig Dug Deeper - Windows PC (2001)

Title Screen

Dig Dug Deeper

Dig Dug Deeper

With the advent of 3D graphics in the mid-90s, many developers decided it would be an excellent idea to remake old arcade games using newer technology. This was somewhat spurned on by the success of Jeff Minter's Tempest 2000, which actually managed to be better than the game it was based off of it. It also didn't technically use 3D graphics, which is why most of these remakes (Missile Command 2000, Defender 2000, Warlords, the list goes on) didn't fair so well. Dig Dug Deeper was released for Windows PC in 2001 by Infogrames, with no actual involvement from Namco. (The game was never released in Japan and is not officially considered part of the series.) Despite using 3D graphics, the game is still in 2D, and is fairly faithful to the original. In fact, it's much more conservative than even Namco's own Arrangement versions. There are a couple of power-ups to be found, like hoses that can extend and turn around corners, as well as pockets of water or gas, which can be dug out to attack enemies, or kill yourself, if you're not careful about it. It's hard to actively screw up Dig Dug, so it technically plays pretty well, but some things just feel off. For starters, Dig Dug walks too fast. This in itself ruins much of the challenge, but it doesn't help that there's no real difficulty curve. By the sixth level in the original arcade game, the enemies were fast and numerous, but the game doesn't really change as you climb through the stages. Additionally, small things are missing. One of the best strategies of the original games was to carve a space next to a tunnel full of enemies, but still leave a tiny layer of dirt. It would let you stick the hose through the wall to attack them, but the enemies would still turn around when they hit it, effectively giving you an extra layer of protection. For whatever reason, you can't do this at all. Each stage takes place in a different planet, with an overworld hub. These are largely insignificant, since there's almost nothing to actually do in them other than entering the next stage. If an enemy escapes during the stage, it'll also show up on the overworld. Here you can kill it, which makes one think that the developers of Dig Dug Deeper kinda missed the point. Special mention must be made of how completely ugly this game looks. It's hard to make dirt look attractive, but Dig Dug Deeper is especially appalling, even when compared to other PC games released around 2001. Dig Dug's redesign also look terrible, with a grotesquely huge chin and stupid looking digging animations. The sound effects are awful, complete with high pitched exclamations, and the music is just weird and trippy. This one is best left forgotten.

Dig Dug Deeper Dig Dug Deeper Dig Dug Deeper

Dig Dug Arrangement - PSP / Xbox 360 (2005)

American Cover

Dig Dug Arrangement (PSP)

Dig Dug Arrangement (PSP)

Despite sharing the same name, this version of Dig Dug Arrangement, for the PSP and Xbox 360, is completely different from the arcade release. It shares a lot of the same ideas - improved graphics, expanded gameplay, etc - but the way they're implemented in much different. It's included on the Namco Battle Collection for the PSP, and Namco Museum: Virtual Arcade, which, in addition to several emulated arcade games, also features arranged versions of Pac Man and Galaga. The backgrounds are all 2D, while the character models are 3D. It's a much better look than the abysmal Dig Dug Deeper. The soundtrack also mostly consists of remixes of the famed Dig Dug theme song. Due to the PSP widescreen ratio, the levels are now wider and shallower, with a status screen placed on the right side of the screen. Compared to the first Dig Dug Arrangement, the level types are closer to the original Dig Dug, with some occasional obstacles to block movement or obscure the view. There are a few new enemies, like ants that can dig, and rock bugs which drop boulders when they're killed. There are also fans spread throughout some of the stages, which, when activated, can either freeze enemies in their tracks or send them flying in the opposite direction, potentially slamming them into a wall. There are also a handful of power-ups to make you walk, dig, or pump faster, which can be stockpiled and activated at any time. The out-of-place gun from the first Arrangement is, thankfully, absent. There are six different worlds, each with a distinct theme, and each ending in a boss battle. These are much less frustrating than the previous game, mostly because the bosses are contained to a portion of the level, and defeating them relies more on traditional Dig Dug mechanics (dropping boulders, inflating them) rather than shooting them with laser guns. Overall, it's a bit on the short and easy side, but it's a nice dalliance for any Dig Dug fan.

Dig Dug Arrangement (PSP) Dig Dug Arrangement (PSP) Dig Dug Arrangement (PSP)

Dig Dug: Digging Strike - Nintendo DS (2006)

American Cover

Dig Dug: Digging Strike

Dig Dug: Digging Strike

In 1999, Namco released a strange little puzzle action game called Mr. Driller. The goal of this game is to drill through a huge columns of blocks, as you try to make it as far underground as you can before you run out of air. It's rumored that this game was called Dig Dug 3 during its development, but other than the common theme of digging underground, there's very little connection gameplay-wise to the classic arcade games. Still, Namco decided to make a connection anyway - the hero of Mr. Driller, Susumu Hori is the son of the hero from Dig Dug. While previously this hero had only been named "Dig Dug", Namco pulled a retcon and named in Taizo Hori, a pun on the Japanese phrase "horitai zo", which means "I want to dig!". The art style of the Mr. Driller games is decidedly cartoony, and Taizo Hori received a suiting makeover, including a strange little goatee. He is a playable character in Mr. Driller G for the Playstation. The Mr. Driller games found some measure of popularity (in Japan, anyway), so Namco capitalized on this craze to stick Taizo Hori in a brand new Dig Dug game, this time for the Nintendo DS. The result, Dig Dug: Digging Strike, is an incredibly strange marriage behind the concepts of the first two arcade games. The underlying goal in each stage is to defeat a gigantic monster, who traipses along on an island, which is displayed on the top screen. The only way to kill it is by cutting off parts of the island so it sinks into the ocean. Littering the island are stakes, which are located next to fissures on the island. Next to these stages are holes, which take you underground, and to the bottom screen. Here, you need to dig out all of the dirt from beneath the stakes, which causes the ground above to crack. If you manage to completely cut off a part of the island while the monster is on top, you win the level. The biggest problem with Digging Strike is that it completely undermines the concepts that made the original games so appealing. All of the stakes are pre-placed at the beginning of the stage, which removes a lot of the strategy. Instead, you just need to walk around and looks for vulnerabilities in the soil, instead of making your own. You can find power-ups which allow you to change the directions of the stake (from horizontal to vertical, or vice versa) but that doesn't add much to the strategy. Similarly, once you go underground, you're faced with the usual monsters - but you don't need to kill them at all. If you want, you can completely avoid them and just dig out the stake. This in itself is a tedious process, because you need to dig two squares, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until you reach the bottom of the screen. Simply digging two columns vertically won't cut it. You also need to sit and wait, and watch the top screen until the monster steps over the right part of the island. This is perhaps supposed to give you incentive to kill the enemies, but you're still rarely in danger. Other elements just don't work either. There are occasionally hunks of food lying in the underground caverns. If an enemy touches it, it'll float to the surface, where the monster can eat it and become faster. There are also power-ups where you can call upon Susumu to help stop the monster. These include a race car a la Rally-X, or a spaceship a la Xevious, which is called the Horivalou, a play off the Sovalou. Neither of these work long enough for them to be useful. The 2D graphics on the bottom screen are grade-up versions of the old Dig Dug sprites, similar to the Arrangement arcade game, which look decent enough. The top screen utilizes 3D graphics, which allows the viewpoint to be rotated, and looks fairly clean for a DS title. In homage to the first game, the music only plays when Taizo is moving, which worked for the simple eight second music loop in the original game, but sounds very out of place here. There's also a ridiculously tacked on story mode with awful dialogue, which are thankfully quite skippable. The problem with Digging Strike is that there are so many things going on that none of it really sticks. It doesn't help that the game is also ridiculously easy, and quite short. It would've been nice if Namco had included ports of the original games - the first stage is actually played just like the first arcade game, as a reminder of its greatness - but Namco cheapened out and just held out of their release on a later compilation pack.

Dig Dug: Digging Strike Dig Dug: Digging Strike Dig Dug: Digging Strike

Dig Dug Island: Minami no Jima no Pukapukapon - Windows PC (2007)

Title Screen

Dig Dug Island

Dig Dug Island

Dig Dug Island: Minami no Jima no Pukapukapon ("The South Island Pukapukapon" - "puka" is onomatopoeia for something inflating, while "pon" means "explosion". In other words, the sound effects when killing a foe in Dig Dug.) is an online multiplayer developed by Verx. From the official website, it seems to be a huge multiplayer deathmatch version of Dig Dug II. You can set up your own island and play as cartoony versions of Dig Dug, as well as Valkyrie. Seems like fun, but since it's online and for Windows, it's pretty much for Japan only. Too bad they won't port it to something like the Xbox Live Arcade so the rest of the planet can actually give it a shot.

Dig Dug Island

Similar Games

Around the same time that Dig Dug was released, Universal released Mr. Do in the arcades. Taking the role of a clown, it looks like Dig Dug on the surface - carve through tunnels, avoid bad guys, etc - but in practice, it's a much different game. The goal is Mr. Do is simply to collect all of the fruit in the level. Although you can attack enemies with a bouncing ball, there are times you'll be left defenseless as it bounds throughout the stage, so you're more often running that attacking. However, you can still drop rocks on your foes heads to kill them. The enemies also spawn in the middle of the screen and aggressively track down your character, as opposed to Dig Dug, where they just kinda meander in your general direction after a few moments. The successive Mr. Do games - there are four in total - have little to do with the original, other than starring the same titular character. A few years later came Boulder Dash, initially released for home computers and eventually ported to the arcades and home consoles. The only thing in common with Dig Dug is that you dig through tunnels. The goal in each (rather expansive) stage is to collect all of the diamonds, but navigating the huge amount of boulders requires a fair bit of strategy. You can't directly attack enemies (which are relatively rare) but you can drop boulders in their head to kill them.

Mr. Do (Arcade)

Namco X Capcom

Namco X Capcom is a bizarre fanfic of a strategy game that comes out with some kind of a madcap plot to assemble characters from both Namco and Capcom universes, pit them together in a Super Robot Taisen-type battle system, and add in a flashy pseudo-fighting game style minigame to show off lots of fancy moves. Amongst the Namco characters is, of course, Taizo Hori. Except instead of the wimpy little cartoon dude in Mr. Driller, he's now a big action hero complete with a bad ass drill. His theme music is a drastic arrangement of the stage intro theme from Dig Dug II. You don't come across him until you're several hours into the game, but when you do, it's really cool. The original Dig Dug also shows up in Namco Super Wars for the Wonderswan, the portable predecessor to Namco X Capcom. MP3s Download here Namco X Capcom - Dig Dug

Namco X Capcom Artwork

Although this is the only time that Dig Dug/Taizo makes any appearances outside of the Dig Dug/Mr. Driller series, the Pooka seems to be the unofficial mascot of the games, showing up in many of the Pac Man World games, as well as appearing in statue form in Ridge Racer Type 4. A remix of the Dig Dug theme also appears in the rhythm game Technic Beat, released in the arcades and for the Playstation 2. Links StrategyWiki - Dig Dug How to play the original arcade game. Ed's Dig Dug Page Devoted to the original game. Fixing Dig Dug's Kill Screen Nerdy programming stuff, but interesting notes on hacking the game to fix the kill screen. StrategyWiki - Dig Dug Diggins Strike Guide to the DS game.

Dig Dug (Gameboy)