Boulder Dash-Rocks! Review

I don’t know whether the video game industry has been running out of ideas over the last few years, or whether games were simply better in the old days, and people have started to realise that, but lately video game developers and publishers seem to have been trawling the old-format back catalogues to dust off classic video game titles and franchises, give them a bit of a makeover, and then release them to a new generation.

Sometimes this has resulted in a completely different game which retains the spirit of the original, but is otherwise almost unrecognisable next to the first version (like, for instance, Prince of Persia) and sometimes the company simply releases a slightly shinier update of the classic game (Mr Driller, for example). Either approach has its pros and its cons. If you release a game that is too different from its parent title, then you risk losing whatever it was about the game that made it so popular in the first place – Prince Or Persia managed to re-work the game concept completely and yet still retain the spirit of the original, but the less said about the recent 3D ‘re-imagining of Space Invaders on the PSP the better (although it’s worth picking up a second-hand copy of it now, for the bonus 2-player ‘tabletop’ version of classic Invaders, if admittedly for nothing else!) The safe option then, would seem to be to simply give the graphics a sparkle and release the old game as was, right? Ah no, for you see us video gamers are a fickle crowd (as sales figures for certain over-hyped titles sometimes show) and if you do go down this route, then you risk getting slammed by the audience for ‘trying to sell them a game they already own’.

Some video games though, are so old, that the chances are that unless you’re a real video game nerd who keeps all his videogame titles in a hermetically sealed room (and, more likely than not, still lives with his parents – it’s amazing what can get lost, damaged or thrown out whenever you move house) then you won’t have these games any more. And when this is the case, it’s actually pretty good if someone releases a sparkly new version for your current console. Boulderdash was a game that I first played back at junior school on the single BBC B microcomputer that the school owned (we’re talking pre-Atari days here, which might give you a clue as to my age) and I can remember owning it on the rubber-keyed Sinclair Spectrum 48k too. It’s been a long time since I played the game though, because – to my knowledge – most of the working BBC Bs that still exist are now in museums. So when I spotted that this one was coming out, I really, really hoped it was going to be a direct port of the original game, possibly just with crisper graphics and some additional levels. Unfortunately Boulder Dash fans… it’s not.

But wait! Don’t disappear just yet. For even though this Boulder Dash is almost a completely different beast, try as I might, I really couldn’t bring myself to dislike it. The classic game it may not be, but under a coat of – it has to be said – slightly twee visuals, apparently aimed firmly at the under 10s market, there’s actually quite a decent little game, which, while not the original Boulder Dash by any means, still contains elements of what made that original game so much fun.

The original Boulder Dash saw a character called Rockford running around various underground levels, collecting diamonds, and trying to avoid the massive numbers of boulders that lay piled around. Usually the gems would be mixed in with the boulders, and removing them often prompted a veritable landslide, which Rockford would have to leg it away from – hence the title of the game: Boulder ‘Dash’. And that was pretty much the concept. As you progressed through, various other hazards would present themselves, like dangerous roaming animals such as… er, butterflies, which had to be crushed with boulders, and rapidly growing amoebas that needed to be buried by boulders to prevent them filling the level and blocking the route to the exit. But the gameplay was, nevertheless, incredibly simple: grab the diamonds and don’t get crushed by the boulders.

For Boulder Dash Rocks, the simplicity is out of the window. Although the basic concept is the same as before, Rockford’s life is now far more complicated. The levels themselves – previously mostly consisting of large open caverns – are now far more maze-like, with the result that Rockford must carefully pick his way through, figuring out carefully which route to take or risking getting walled up in a dead-end corridor. Rockford now has a variety of tools at his disposal though, including keys for locked doors (no idea what these are doing underground – maybe Rockford’s robbing a commercial mining operation or something?) dynamite, speed and health power-ups, teleporters and even a firearm called the ‘Zapper’ with four different types of ammo that can be used to kill stuff, blow obstacles up, move boulders and even put out fires.

When I first encountered all this, I let out an audible groan. Where was the simplicity of the original game? What was with all these unnecessary accoutrements? But like the conscientious reviewer I am, I kept playing through, and I quickly found that actually, much to my surprise, I was enjoying myself! Because, although it sounds like there are far too many features in the game to deal with, they’re actually implemented extremely well. So for the first couple of dozen levels at least, you’re never overwhelmed. The Zapper, something which I thought was going to totally ruin the puzzle-based gameplay, can only carry one shot at a time and has strictly limited ammo, which you find throughout the level. Fire your shot by mistake, or use it on the wrong target, and you’ll more than likely find that you can’t finish the level and have to restart. In fact, each level is basically one big puzzle, and the keys, explosives, teleporters and different types of ammo are all simply part of that puzzle.

And this makes for a game that is surprisingly tricky in places. You’re constantly racing against the clock for one thing, and on many levels you’ve just about got time to make the exit if you run flat-out through the entire level. As a result, you’ll find that many of the levels require you to explore them first and learn the best routes a number of times before you actually manage to complete them, making this game a lot like the video games of old in that it’s very unforgiving and practice is the only route to perfection. The recommended age for the game is apparently 7+, but I can’t help but feel that while younger gamers might find the cutesy graphics, and the oh-so-insufferably-cute music on the menu screen (but thankfully not in-game) appealing, after the first couple of levels, unless they’re one of those freaky child prodigy types, they’re going to have trouble with the difficulty level. Seasoned, older gamers, meanwhile, might overlook this title as being ‘just for kids’ for the same reasons, which would be a shame as what you’ve actually got here is a challenging maze game with overtones of the classic, ‘one hit and you’re dead’ video games of yore.

My advice would be: if you’ve got a DS, and you like your video games to offer a bit of a challenge, AND you don’t mind persevering at something, then give this a look. Just switch the sound off while you’re on the initial menu screen or you’re liable to lob your little console out of the nearest window, and no-one wants that now, do they?