Dig Dug (Xbox 360)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.3 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Ryan Davis
• Reviewed on: 10/11/2006
• Updated on: 06/25/2007
• Released on: 10/11/2006
• Originally published on GameSpot: Dig Dug (Xbox 360) Review

Namco Bandai continues to mine its library of arcade classics with Dig Dug for Xbox Live Arcade. Similar to the XBLA releases of Namco notables Galaga and Pac-Man, Dig Dug looks, sounds, and plays like it did in its original arcade cabinet. As pleasing as it is to have such a solid version of Dig Dug to play at home, it's a no-frills package, and once you've torn through the far-too-easy achievement points, there's not a lot to keep you playing.

Though it didn't seem particularly strange as far as arcade games went at the time, in retrospect Dig Dug had a pretty weird concept. As Dig Dug (whose proper name, for those hardcore enough to care, is actually Taizo Hori), you're placed in the middle of an underground playfield littered with rocks and monster-filled chambers, with the task of eliminating all the monsters. You automatically create new tunnels simply by moving around. Connecting your tunnels to a monster-filled chamber is a surefire way to get those monsters to give chase, though they also have the ability to phase through the solid earth into unconnected tunnels and chambers without creating new tunnels.

One way to eliminate the goggle-clad Pookas and flame-spewing Fygars is to create a tunnel underneath one of the subterranean rocks and then step aside as the rock proceeds to fall down the tunnel, crushing any monsters that are in the way. Dig Dug also comes armed with what looks like a harpoon attached to a bike pump; you can hurl it at nearby monsters and then inflate them until they pop. And that pretty much sums up what Dig Dug is all about--two types of enemies, two ways to eliminate them. The color of the playfield and the placement of the chambers change as you advance, and the monsters become faster, more aggressive, and more plentiful, but the basic gameplay remains the same--and it's still quite fun.

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