Lode runner

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Lode Runner is a computer game and is considered a classic among platform games .

Game flow

Each level consists of several levels of corridors or platforms that are connected to one another with vertical ladders and horizontal climbing poles. A side view is displayed, the complete level is visible on the screen, so there is no scrolling . The character has to collect all treasures that are in the respective level. She is followed by two to five opponents. The only aid is a kind of shovel (also interpreted as a laser pistol ), with which holes can be dug in the ground, which will close again after a while. The playing figure can jump down through such a hole, a pursuer will get stuck in it for a while. If the hole is fresh, he can free himself from it, otherwise this pursuer is eliminated and a new pursuer falls into play from the top of the screen. Holes cannot be dug in certain ground structures (concrete); mostly these are places that make the game more challenging.

Production notes

The game was developed by Douglas E. Smith (* 1960, † 2014). The previous version Kong was written in Fortran and Pascal on Prime and VAX computers and used ASCII characters for representation. Then Smith developed another version called Miner in 6502 - assembler for the Apple II , which he initially unsuccessfully offered to various software publishers. He refined the version and finally got into business with Brøderbund , which released Lode Runner for Apple II, Atari 800 , C64 , SG-1000 and other systems from 1983 onwards .

Lode Runner is one of the few games that first appeared on a home computer and then as an arcade game ; the reverse route of implementing original arcade games for home computers was much more common. A year after the home computer version of Lode Runner was released, it was licensed by the Japanese company Irem Corporation and released as an arcade machine. The hardware of this machine is the same as that for the Kung Fu Master machine, namely the Irem M-62 .

In the GDR , Lode Runner and its ASCII variants Ladder and Ladder were among the most famous games that were played on Robotron 's office computers .

Clone KGoldrunner as part of KDE Games

In 1984 a direct successor to the game, Championship Load Runner , appeared, which contained 50 new levels with identical technology.

In 1994 a sequel was released under the title Lode Runner: The Legend Returns , developed by Sierra On-Line . In 1995, the third part of the Lode Runner series appeared under the title Lode Runner On-Line: The Mad Monks' Revenge . This game was published by GT Interactive and developed by the Presage company. In 1998 a 3D version of the game was released under the title Lode Runner II . This game was published by GT Interactive and developed by the Presage company.

The Hudson company released a graphically revised version of Lode Runner for the Nintendo DS in October 2006 . The complete level can be seen as an overview on one screen, the scrolling playing field on a second screen.

There are also clones of the game under the name Mine Runner , including for the Amiga . In the KDE project, a clone called KGoldrunner was developed that runs on Linux and Windows computers. With emulators like MiniVMac, the original version can also be played on current computer systems. Lode Runner was published under the name Lode Runner Classic by Tozai Games for Android , iOS and Windows Phone devices.

Versions

year Surname Publisher platform comment
1983 Lode runner Brøderbund Amstrad CPC , Apple II , Atari 8-bit , Atari ST , Commodore 64 , DOS , J2ME , Mac OS , MSX , NES , PC-88 , PC Booter , SG-1000 , VIC-20 , Wii , WonderSwan , ZX Spectrum The original, initially developed for Apple, later ported. The game contains 150 levels and a level editor .
1984 Championship Lode Runner Brøderbund Apple II , Atari 8-bit , Commodore 64 , MSX , NES , PC-88 , PC Booter , SG-1000 , Wii The direct successor to Lode Runner. The game contains 50 challenging levels created by fans of the game.
1984 Lode runner Irem Arcade A variant of the original game for arcade machines that contains only 24 of the original's levels.
1984 Lode Runner: The Bungeling Strikes Back Irem Arcade This is a version for arcade machines that includes all 150 levels of the original. In addition, the game can be played alternately by 2 players and uses a 512-color palette.
1985 Lode Runner's Rescue Brøderbund Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 Based on the original game, with a 3D view.
1985 Lode Runner: Golden Labyrinth Irem Arcade
1986 Lode Runner: Teikoku Karano Dasshutsu Irem Arcade
1986 Lode runner Tsukada Not a computer game, but a board game .
1990 Hyper Lode Runner Tose Co., Ltd Game Boy A version with 50 levels is based on the original.
1994 Lode Runner: The Legend Returns Sierra Entertainment DOS Remake of the original with improved graphics.
1994 Lode Runner Twin T&E Soft SNES A game for game consoles in the anime style.
1995 Lode Runner Online: Mad Monks' Revenge Sierra Entertainment Windows , Mac OS
1998 Lode Runner 2 Presage software Windows Game with an isometric perspective .
1999 Lode Runner 3-D Big bang Nintendo 64
1999 Power Lode Runner Nintendo NES
2000 Lode Runner: The Dig Fight Psikyo Arcade
2007 Battle Lode Runner Nintendo
2008 Lode runner Hudson Soft iPod The original for the iPod.
2009 Lode runner Tozai Games Xbox 360 Remake with 3D graphics, new modes, multiplayer, level editor.
2012-2013 Lode Runner Classic Tozai Games Android , iOS , Windows Phone Close to the original. Porting for mobile devices with some extensions.
2013-2016 Lode Runner Total Recall Simon Hung Browser , HTML5 Open source, close to the original.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In Memoriam, Douglas E. Smith, 1960-2014 . Tozai Games, September 12, 2014, accessed September 15, 2014 .
  2. ↑ The history of computer technology in the GDR. Games. In: robotrontechnik.de. Retrieved August 30, 2012 .
  3. ↑ KDE.org: KGoldrunner - Hunt Gold, Dodge Enemies and Solve Puzzles. Retrieved March 2, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Tozai Games
  5. ↑ "Lode Runner" at Mobygames.com
  6. ^ "Championship Lode Runner" at Mobygames.com
  7. ↑ "Lode Runner: The Bungeling Strikes Back" on Youtube.com
  8. ↑ Atari 400 800 XL XE Lode Runner's Rescue: scans, dump, download, screenshots, ads, videos, catalog, instructions, roms
  9. ^ Lode Runner - Golden Labyrinth
  10. ↑ Lode Runner: Teikoku Karano Dasshutsu at allgame.com
  11. ↑ Lode Runner | BoardGameGeek
  12. ↑ "Hyper Lode Runner"
  13. ↑ Lode Runner: The Legens Returns at classic-PC-games.com
  14. ↑ Lode Runner Online: Mad Monks' Revenge ( Memento from December 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ Power Lode Runner on youtube.com
  16. ↑ Lode Runner: the dig fight on arcade-history.com
  17. ↑ Lode Runner for Xbox 360
  18. ↑ Lode Runner (X360) Review on IGN.com
  19. ↑ "Load Runner Classic"
  20. ^ "Load Runner Total Recall"