Lode Runner

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Lode Runner
Developer(s)	Douglas E. Smith
Publisher(s)	Brøderbund & Ariolasoft
Designer(s)	Douglas E. Smith
Release date(s)	1983
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single player
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
System requirements	Keyboard

Lode Runner is a 1983 computer game (see 1983 in video gaming).

Contents 1 Description 2 History 3 Trivia 4 Legacy 5 External links

[edit] 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 players could actually modify the parameters of a computer game for the first time.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 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 physics student at the University of Washington. The prototype game was called Kong and was playable on one of the school's VAX mainframes. The game used ASCII character graphics and was programmed in Fortran.

The second prototype of Lode Runner was known as Miner and was written in 6502 assembly language on an Apple II+ microcomputer. Smith later developed a modified version of Miner for Brøderbund Software; it was that version, now named Lode Runner, that was released in mid-1983. The original microcomputer versions included the Apple II series, the Commodore 64, and a version licensed for the MSX computer. Other versions included those for the Atari 8-bit computer family, NES, Macintosh, and the original Game Boy.

[edit] Trivia

• The animated characters in Lode Runner were "borrowed" from Choplifter, an earlier Brøderbund title. ^{[verification 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 Disk Drive.

[edit] Legacy

Broderbund 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 Lode Runner: The Legend Returns, Lode Runner 2, and 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:

• Lode Runner - The Bungeling Strikes Back
• Lode Runner - Majin No Fukkatsu
• Lode Runner - Teikoku Karano Dasshutsu
• Lode Runner: The Dig Fight

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).

Recently, Hudson Soft announced a version of Lode Runner for the Nintendo DS.

A version of Lode Runner is expected to be released on the Xbox Live Arcade, as hinted by Ross Erickson, its portfolio manager.

[edit] External links

• Lode Runner series at MobyGames
• Lode Runner entry at StrategyWiki
• Lode Runner at the Killer List of Videogames
• Jason Summer's Lode Runner Archive
• Loderunner: Ancient History!
• The Lode Runner Museum website
• Website of one of the later Lode Runner's actual creators
• Lode Runner at World of Spectrum