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Lode Runner

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Lode Runner
File:Loderunner.gif
Developer(s)Douglas E. Smith
Publisher(s)Brøderbund & Ariolasoft
Designer(s)Douglas E. Smith
Platform(s)Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, Atari 400/800, MS-DOS (booter), Mac OS, NES, Game Boy, BBC Micro, Nintendo DS, Virtual Console
Release1983
Genre(s)Platform, Puzzle
Mode(s)Single player

Lode Runner is a 1983 platform game, first published by Brøderbund.

Description

The player controls a stick figure who must collect all the gold in the level while avoiding robots trying to catch the player. The levels feature a multi-story brick platform motif, with ladders and hand-to-hand bars suspended in the air which offer multiple ways to travel throughout the level. The player can dig holes into floors and temporarily trap robots. The player may safely walk on top of a robot trapped in a hole. Over time, the so-called "turf" regenerates. If a hole is filled before a robot escapes, it is consumed and immediately respawns at a random place at the top of the level. The player's character can fall from an unlimited height without being injured, but cannot jump, so it is possible for the player to become trapped in a pit and thus for the player to have to abort the character's life (the game starts with five lives; each level passed earns an extra life). Certain parts of turf are trapdoors through which the player and robots will fall, and other parts are bedrock which cannot be dug through. The player finishes a level by collecting all the gold in the level and then traveling to the top of the screen.

There are 150 levels in the game which become progressively more difficult, either in terms of problem-solving or reaction time.

Lode Runner is notable for being one of the first games to include a level editor, a feature that allowed players to create their own levels for the game. This feature bolstered its popularity, as magazines such as Computer Gaming World held contests to see who could build the best level.[1]

History

The original prototype of what later became known as Lode Runner was a game developed by Douglas E. Smith of Renton, Washington, who at the time was a architecture student at the University of Washington (UW)[2]. The prototype game, called Kong, was written for a Prime Computer 550 minicomputer. It was limited to one building on the UW campus. Shortly there after, it was moved to VAX minicomputers, since there were more terminals available at more of the buildings on campus. The game used ASCII character "graphics" and was programmed in Fortran.

When the game was ported to the VAX, some Pascal sections were mixed in with the original Fortran code. In a weekend (circa September 1982), Smith was able to build a very crude playable version in 6502 assembly language on an Apple II+ microcomputer and renamed the prototype game Miner. Through the end of the year, Smith continued to refine that version, which was black-and-white with no joystick support. He submitted the initial rough version to Brøderbund around October 1982. Brøderbund replied with a short one line rejection letter stating something to the effect of "Sorry, your game doesn't fit into our product line; please feel free to submit future products."

Smith then borrowed some money and bought a color monitor and joystick and continued to improve the game. Around Christmas of 1982, he submitted the game, now renamed Lode Runner, to four companies and quickly got offers from all four publishers. The four companies were Sierra, Sirius, Synergistic and Brøderbund.

The game was released in mid-1983. The original microcomputer versions included the Apple II series, the Commodore 64, the Sinclair Spectrum 48K/128K, and a version licensed for the MSX computer. Other versions included those for the Atari computer, NES, Macintosh, and the original Game Boy.

Reception

A review in Computer Gaming World praised the game's particularly easy-to-use level editor, and the strategy involved for an arcade title, describing it as "one of the few thinking men's arcade games".[3]

Legacy

Brøderbund followed Lode Runner with Championship Lode Runner and Lode Runner's Rescue. In Lode Runner's Rescue (Atari XL/C64), the game takes place in an isometric environment and the user plays as Lode Runner's daughter, Alexandra. The character eats "magic mushrooms" to run faster and jump higher.

Newer versions of Lode Runner were created in subsequent years, such as Battle Lode Runner, Lode Runner: The Legend Returns, Lode Runner 2, Lode Runner Online: Mad Monks' Revenge. Each added several different items to the game, such as jackhammers, bombs, and snares, along with differing backgrounds, sound, and more.

The arcade version had numerous sequels, including:

Much later, a 3D version for the Nintendo 64, Lode Runner 3D, was also released.

Lode Runner also had several titles not released in the U.S., such as Lode Runner Twin and Power Lode Runner, which add some variants to the same game (mostly different characters and scenarios). Another title, Battle Lode Runner, was originally only released in Japan, but was made available on Nintendo's Wii system, via its Virtual Console service in April 2007. The original Lode Runner followed, made available in June 2007. There was also an Cubic Lode Runner, a 3-D Lode Runner variation released only in Japan for the Gamecube and PlayStation 2. [1]

Hudson Soft also announced a version of Lode Runner for the Nintendo DS.[2]

A Lode Runner board game was published by Tsukuda in 1986. It was designed by Donal Carlston. [3]

Trivia

  • Computer Gaming World reported that the animated characters in Lode Runner were "borrowed" from Choplifter, an earlier Brøderbund title.[3] Smith claims the characters were not borrowed from Choplifter, but because the characters were only 7x10 pixels, they were inevitable cosmetic similarities [citation needed].
  • Brøderbund referred to the legion of stick figure villains as members of the Bungeling Empire. The Bungelings were used as the enemy in Choplifter, the Lode Runner series, and Raid on Bungeling Bay.
  • The NES version, developed by Hudson Soft, had the first appearance of Bombermen as the evil enemy robots. This is significant, as Bomberman was later released. To further connect the two games, the end screen in the NES version of Bomberman mentions the original White Bomberman having turned human and a hint of seeing him in another game, with the Lode Runner behind him (though this can be interpreted as Bomberman's unhelmeted human form). In the Japanese version, the message is a more direct reference to the game: "Congratulations - Bomber Man becomes Runner - See you again in Lode Runner."
  • Lode Runner was the first of many games to be listed on GameSpot's "Greatest Games of All Time."
  • In Japan, the Famicom version of Lode Runner allowed for editing and creating of levels to share with friends using a tape recorder.
  • During development of Lode Runner, Smith had around seven to ten levels. Around March or April of 1983, Brøderbund called him and asked how many levels would be in the final version as they were preparing marketing materials and packaging. Off the top of his head he blurted 150. At the end, he was paying anyone and everyone to help create levels to fulfill the goal of 150 that he had blurted out earlier.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Lode Runner Contest", Computer Gaming World, p. 22, August 1984{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  2. ^ "Lock'n'Lode", IGN, February 17, 1999{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ a b Besnard, John (October 1983), "Lode Runner", Computer Gaming World, p. 20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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