As you recall the C-64 version was very jumpy and the graphics consisted of stick figures but it was still cool, well on the NES they souped up the graphics and revamped the controls.
For those of you who do not remember this gem of a game, let me give you the skinny.
The NES version starts off a little like Super Mario Bros. 3. You have to walk around and solve four or so levels in order to progress to the next world. The levels are kind of tough and I'm not sure how many worlds there are, I keep getting mad and shutting off the game:).
Okay now that you have the basic idea, all thats left to talk about are the levels and the overall improvements of the game.
The levels are set up sort of like Dig Dug. The character digs around avoiding boulders and baddies. Many boards are set up to trap you so be careful as you dig around stuff. In the upper left hand corner of the screen it will tell you how many diamonds that you need to find in order to get out of that particular maze. Every now and then the maze will be stuffed with baddies and sometimes the only way to get diamonds will be to kill these creatures. Unlike Dig Dug you have no weapons to help you so you must use well timed falling boulders to kill these nasty guys and your creative little minds... (and lets face it some of us lost our minds when the NES was introduced back in '84, I know I did).
Umm, sorry about that, as many of you know I tend to ramble at times. Now where was I? Oh yeah,
On the second world (Ice World) you have to trap this blob type stuff that is growing in the bottom of the screen. What you want to do is trap the blob with boulders except for one little space. Then in that little space use your body to block the blob. Eventually the blob will die, when it runs out of space to grow, and it will turn to diamonds. In most cases you will need these diamonds to escape the maze, so beware!
THE NUTS & BOLTS.....
The graphics are excellent. I would compare these to Mario and Mega Man.
Control is the most important part of avoiding a swift death and luckily the controls in Boulderdash are excellent!
The sounds, as always, could have been much better.
The game play is very addictive. Boulderdash will keep you coming back for more.
I proudly give this three dollar game a very high ***1/2 to **** stars. ____________________________________________________________________________________
Just like in the first Mario Brothers, Boulderdash has a time limit, but you will some times will need this timer to get you out of a jam. I would highly suggest using a Game Genie for this game along with a comfortable controler. Below are the Game Genie codes that are available for Boulderdash.
CODE / EFFECT
SLEZXTVI/Infinite lives
PAKIELLA/1 life
TAKIELLA/6 lives
PAKIELLE/9 lives
PEOXEYLA/1 life after continue
TEOXEYLA/6 lives after continue
PEOXEYLE/9 lives after continue
YOSGXNYU/Speed up timer
NNSGXNYU/Slow down timer
SXSGSYAX/Stop timer
The only code I use is the unliminted lives one. If you do alter the time, only slow it down DO NOT STOP THE TIMER, cause if you get stuck in a maze on unlimited time, then guess what... you get to hit the reset button and start all over!!! One thing the programers should of added in Boulderdash is a maze forfit. I've been stuck before with 150 ticks left on the clock and let me tell you its a drag just sitting there until you die, so keep a timer on of some sort on and have your smokes, beer, pop, kool-aid, gameboy, book or whatever handy:).
I hope you enjoy Boulderdash as much as I do, See ya
The NES-Nut...