I feel a certain kinship to the New York Rangers hockey fans now. For years I have wished, hoped, prayed, and begged and pleaded for Broderbund, ne ANYONE to do a remake of the original classic, Lode Runner. My prayers have been answered. None other than Jeff Tunnell / Dynamix of Incredible Machine fame have come to the rescue and are redoing this classic using ALL of today's advances in hardware and game design. As the sign in Madison Square Garden read after game 7, "I can now die in peace."
Lode Runner is a simple game by concept, yet thoroughly engrossing in execution. Your task is simple - run through a maze of ladders and levels collecting scattered gold pieces while being pursue by the bad guys. To stop there, however, doesn't do justice to the game. This is an action game with incredible cerebral planning and scheming. It is the true classic action/puzzle game.
In this remake, Jeff and his talented team have done wonders to the original CGA 320x200x4 color. Running now in Windows (and DOS), you get high-res, glorious 256 color graphics that look handpainted, VERY detailed animation cels for the characters and a rousing soundtrack and sound effects. The game also includes a level designer/painter so you can invent your own levels or redo all the originals in this new look and feel. HINT HINT. I suspect that within just a few short months we'll see hundreds of original designs of Lode Runner levels all over the networks/ bulletin boards.
If you've never played Lode Runner before - don't miss this one. If you've played Lode Runner 'til 4am and wondered where the hours went - don't miss this one.
Anyone with a PC in the world ought to buy this game. Yes, it's that good.
This preview is Copyright (C) 1994 by Ross Erickson for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.