I remember. I remember the first time I laid eyes on you. The sounds of other arcade cabinets trying to vie for my attention with loud crashing noises and light shows aplenty. The sum of everybody laughing and talking at the same time while playing a game, hanging in the air like an almost visible audio fog. The horribly paisley patterned carpet underneath my feet, my chucks crunching on dried popcorn, as I began to walk and scan through the aisles of arcade cabinets. Looking for something to grab my attention but not knowing what. Until I laid eyes on you in the distance. All alone. No one giving you any attention. As I eventually reached you, as I found out your name, as I checked out your game, I already knew the courtship had already begun. I found what I was looking for and thus did begin The Start of The Affair.

The year was 1982. J. Geils Band's "Centerfold" and Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" ( Damn, I loved that song ) were blaring on the radio, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was a mega blockbuster surpassing Star Wars in sales, and my favorite shows on TV were T.J. Hooker ( Damn, I had a thing for Heather Locklear ) and Magnum P.I. Arcades were in full swing then my friends. Such a glorious time to be a hyper active adolescent. An adolescent enamored by Dig Dug.



The old adage of killing two birds with one stone comes to mind.


Namco's Dig Dug had alot in common with a bevy of older games or as the hip kids call 'em nowadays retro games and that is back then, games were made from a purely gameplay standpoint. They sure didn't have any fancy graphic chips to realize the 3D characters and landscapes of today's games but what they did have was an almost universal focus on gameplay versus anything else. I can assure you there weren't too many games trying to be cinematic narratives, they were there to be played and enjoyed. Dig Dug's objective, like most games back then at the time, was based on the joy of completing a level with the best possible score.

The path to achieving that was to eliminate underground-dwelling monsters. You could do this by two ways: by inflating them until they pop or by crushing them with dropped rocks. There are two kinds of enemies in the game: Pookas, round red balloon like monsters (said to be modeled after tomatoes) who wear yellow goggles, and Fygars, green dragons who can breathe fire. You are Dig Dug ( Later in another game I found out his name was Taizo Hori, and is the father of Susumu Hori, the main character in the Mr. Driller series ), sporting white and blue colors, and able to dig tunnels with a drill/air pump contraption. Dig Dug is killed if he is cornered by a Pooka, burned by a Fygar's fire, or crushed by the proverbial rock.



These are pretty kick ass.


There were alot of ways of maximizing your score such as collecting vegetables that appeared once you dropped two rocks, dropping said rocks on more than one creature and by digging lower in the level, as the lower you got the more points you amassed. As a matter of fact, the terrain is divided by different colors. Generally the darker color, the more points you will net. About four pumps ought to do it to blow them buggers to kingdom come but if partially pumped, you could phase through them as a strategic way for them to continue to live and follow you to a better and more score beneficial demise. Once only one creature is left, he will run to the top of the level to literally exit stage left, that is if you don't impede his way.

As you progress the game just gets faster and chucks more enemies at you. Making you switch from the lure 'em to the rocks , to pumping them away quickly as their increased speed will have them on you like white on rice. Let's not forget they also phase of their own accord into ghost like eyes and the gameplay gets more and more hectic. But like all good games you will get into a zone where you almost are not even thinking what you're doing, letting instincts as well as hand and eye coordination take over.



Cool ass T shirt.


I don't know why I fell for Dig Dug versus the other fare out there. Maybe it was the way that when you moved Dig Dug that classic music would begin and consequently end just as abruptly when you stopped moving. Maybe it was the whole weird vibe of it all. But my fondest memories playing a game were way back when, trying to beat my own high score in those musky arcades of yesteryears. I tried other fare too. Pacman, Mr Do! ( a Dig Dug like game ), Burger Time ( awesome ), and Rolling Thunder. Yet Dig Dug was my first love. My key that unlocked the gamer inside of me. For that it will hold a special place in my heart.

I think I shall revisit you again Dig Dug, now instead of in a musky arcade, within the comfortable confines of my home and PSP. It's been a long time. As we get acquainted again I nestle back to my ways of playing. Off in the distance I can almost hear Tainted Love once again. Damn I love that song.