"Lode Runner" - NES/Famicom

----- Introduction -----

(If you came here from the link to Championship Lode Runner, that's because that game is just this game but with harder levels. If you want me to review it separately... leave a comment. I don't want to but I will for you. I guess.)

Yeah, I can already tell you I don't want to play this, so I apologize if this review comes out seeming unfair to you. Lode Runner is a fairly beloved game it seems like, so I won't just take a dump on it even though I don't personally like it very much.

In fact, Lode Runner has somewhat of a legacy, earning rave reviews for Brøderbund in the 80s when it came out for the Apple ][ and Commodore 64. The original prototype for the game, apparently called Kong at the time, was developed by a guy named Doug Smith, an architecture student at the University of Washington.

After touching up the prototype a couple times, and submitting it to various publishers, he eventually ended up going with Brøderbund.

This NES version, however, was ported/developed by Hudson Soft. It's obvious enough that a different art team, at least, has worked on the game if you compare the original game to the anime-looking style of the NES port.

Commodore on the left, NES on the right. Also, I'm pretty sure those enemies are just Bomberman.

Anyway, let me take a dump on this game-- I mean play it, and review it fairly.

----- Playing the Game -----

The point of Lode Runner should be familiar quickly if you read my review of Nuts & Milk, which is very nearly the same concept, minus the hole digging. In this game, you run around collecting all the piles of gold, which opens up a ladder (generally on the top somewhere) which you can escape by.

The catch is that there are some enemies running around the level, also collecting the gold, who desire nothing more than to bump shoulders with you and cause you to evaporate into dust.

"I don't feel so good..."

Your only defense against these enemies is that by pressing the A or B button, you can dig a hole to the right or left of you, which they will blindly walk into with zero hesitation, dropping their gold. If you time it correctly, the hole will close up and kill them, but otherwise they'll simply climb out again. However, even if you kill them in the hole, they simply respawn, which makes it somewhat of a pointless endeavor-- maybe even a little worse to kill them since they may respawn in-front of your path. It's better to simply plop them in the hole and step on their heads, in general.

And that's pretty much every level in this game. Sometimes interesting twists are thrown in, in the form of various puzzles. There are a whopping fifty levels in this game, so you will get your money's worth if you take the time to play it all.

This is also the first Famicom game (by my count) to have a level select function! Fuuuuuuuuttttuuuurrreeeeee!

By pressing select at any time you can choose which level you want to play and go straight there. Good for continuing your game if you have to set it down and come back later. Also good for skipping straight to the last level to see what it's like:

What do you mean, 'cheated'!? If they didn't want you to do it, why'd they put it in the game!?

It turns out it's still pretty hard. Not unreasonably hard, but like the rest of the game, it's pretty hard. Not as hard as Championship Lode Runner though, which I'm absolutely not going to review because I can't even play this one correctly.

The last thing to do, as with Nuts & Milk, was to bust out the Edit Mode and make a level.

This took 72 hours of design and testing.

I made this short level thinking it might actually be kind of hard (in my mind, it seemed like the guys would chase you relentlessly), but actually after I put the first one in the hole the level was basically over. I guess I'm not very good at understanding what makes Lode Runner difficult, which is shocking since I only played about 5 levels, and that was the longest I've ever played it.

----- Review -----

This one has made me think it's time for another new review category.

Innovation: Yes

Does the game show anything not yet seen on this system/ever before?

Lode Runner is the first game to give us some kind of level select! Molte grazie! It's nice to be able to continue where you left off, or at least not have to start the entire game over when you lose. Especially with 50 stages!

Spitting Rage: Yes

Does the game make you want to tear your own organs out of your body?

This game is hecking hard! It's frustrating not being able to defend yourself, and it's frustrating when enemies are lurking just off-screen and pop on so quickly you don't have time to dig a hole to save yourself. With smart play, you would ideally avoid these situations, but I'm a moron, so I wasn't able to always keep track of where the enemies were relative to me in the level.

Getting cornered, or accidentally digging a hole and walking into it, are both the kinds of experiences that will make you slap your forehead in frustration.

Me, making a sudden conscious decision to never reproduce.

Intuitive Design: Good

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

There's not much that is hard to understand if you just press the buttons and see what they do. Once you see they dig a hole, what else would that be for besides tunneling into the level and defending yourself from the bad guys? Collecting gold seems obvious, and a jingle plays that alerts you that a ladder has appeared. Hard to miss any of this stuff.

Satisfying Gameplay: No

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

I don't think it feels very rewarding. Not being able to kill the enemies and simply running away all the time is okay, but it isn't very satisfying for me. I don't mind dodging them, and it does make completing a level feel more rewarding since you know you were only allowed to run away and kite (which requires more skill than simply punching them out), but ultimately the game feels so bleh to me overall.

Game Depth: Knee deep

How deep/long is the game?

Collect gold, climb ladder.

There's definitely some strategy to be had in figuring out how to deal with the bad guys, and sometimes this is the subject of puzzles built into the levels. There's some depth here, but it's not that much.

Sound Design: Good

How's the sound?

It's becoming a habit for me to say that I like the ditties in these games. I think I'm biased towards the NES sound, but I've always liked the game start theme in this game. Other than that, the sound is all pretty simple and fitting to what you're doing-- there's also a fun little bass line that plays during normal gameplay. I have no problems.

Graphics: Fine

How's it look?

It looks more interesting than the C64 game, but the graphics don't really strike me as incredible for an NES game. The characters have nice sprites, but the levels are just tiles on black backgrounds. Pretty common fare by this point, in 1984.

This screen, however, is the finest example of NES graphics the 80s has to offer.

Personal Chord: Dissonant

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

This game strikes the opposite of a personal chord, I've never liked it and it makes me feel like I have to overpower that to make myself even take it seriously. Playing it now, I can definitely see the appeal, but I definitely still have a pit in my gut telling me to stay away from this game. That's a hard thing to overcome when you've felt that way about something since your childhood.

Play or Don't: Depends on who you trust

Should you waste your precious time?

I'm not going to lie to you, people really like this game. I definitely think on that note, it's worth playing.

I don't really, but you don't have to listen to me. Strike your own path, you brave and wild adventurer.

Run your own lode.

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