Dig Dug [Model CX2677]

Port

43 Years old Atari 2600 cart. Atari, Inc. [CA, USA]

Dig Dug © 1983 Atari, Incorporated.

You are Dig Dug, the underground miner. With your jet-powered shovel, you create intricate, subterranean mazes. Ever on the watch for vegetable prizes, you must also look out for the fierce Fygar and mean Pooka that lurk underground. Their touch kills| Worse, these two meanies can transform into spooky ghosts that will appear out of nowhere and haunt you to death.

Dig Dug contains two game variations: EASY play and NORMAL play.

EASY: There is only one pattern of tunnels, rocks, and meanies. Each round is identical to the previous round, with only two meanies per round. The meanies never speed up and they never turn into ghosts. The prize is always a carrot worth 400 points. A teddy bear head indicated easy game play and appears in the top score digit throughout the EASY play.

NORMAL: The pattern of tunnels, rocks, and meanies varies from round to round. Pooka and Fygar frequently turn into ghosts and the game action periodically speeds up. In higher rounds, as many as seven meanies can be on the screen at once. The prize changes and increases in value with higher rounds.

TECHNICAL

Model CX2677

SCORING

Your score is displayed at the lower right side of the screen. You can score a total of 999,990 points before the score resets. In EASY play, the top score is 99,990.
Digging	10 points every two chunks.
Dropping rocks on meanies
1 meanie	1,000 points.
2 meanies at once	2,500 points.
3 meanies at once	4,000 points.
4 meanies at once	6,000 points.
5 meanies at once	8,000 points.
6 meanies at once	10,000 points.
7 meanies at once	12,000 points.
Inflating Pooka; Inflating Fygar from above or below
Top soil layer	200 points.
2nd soil layer	300 points.
3rd soil layer	400 points.
Bottom soil layer	500 points.
Inflating Fygar from the side
Top soil layer	400 points.
2nd soil layer	600 points.
3rd soil layer	800 points.
Bottom soil layer	1000 points.

TIPS AND TRICKS

* At higher rounds your priority should be to get the bonus vegetables because they're worth more points than destroying meanies.

* The prize will not appear in a round until two boulders have fallen and there are fewer than seven meanies on the screen.

* The last meanie on a screen will always try to escape, thus ending the round. So, if just one meanie remains and the prize hasn't appeared, you may want to stun that meanie long enough to allow the prize to appear.

* Since the last meanie will always try to escape at the top left side of the screen, you can strategically position yourself above ground on the left and wait for the meanie to emerge then quickly blow him up.

* You can't pump through the soil, so back off if a ghost is approaching through the dirt toward your tunnel. Wait until the ghost gets indise the tunnel then quickly turn and pump it up.

* To crush a ghost, tunnel under a rock and wait (as long as you don't move, the rock won't fall). When a ghost covers the rock, quickly move out of the way and the ghost will be crushed.

* A good way to trap and squash several creatures at once is to tunnel straight up under a rock and wait for the meanies to follow. When they get close, quickly move out of the way to the right or left. They will be trapped in the path of the falling rock.

* If a meanie is pursuing you, try to get to a tunnel. Since you move more quickly in a tunnel than through soil, this gives you a better chance to escape.

* Try to group meanies behind you by stunning them and then running. (You can run right through a stunned meanie.) When several are in pursuit, lead them toward a boulder and drop it on them for high points.

STAFF

👥

Programmers: Douglas B. Macrae, Ava-Robin Cohen

SOURCES

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ROM dump (MAME).