Boulder Dash

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008)

For the similarly-named board game, see Balderdash.

NES box art

Boulder Dash, aka Rockford, originally released in 1984, is a classic series of computer games for the Atari 400/800, Apple II, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and ColecoVision home computers, and later ported to the NES, Acorn Electron, PC, Amstrad CPC, Amiga and many other platforms. It was created by Peter Liepa and Chris Gray, and on October 28, 1983, acquired and later published by First Star Software, which still^[update] owns the rights to the game.

The game's protagonist is called "Rockford". He must dig through caves collecting gems and diamonds and reach the exit within a time limit, while avoiding various types of dangerous creatures as well as obstacles like falling rocks and the constant danger of being crushed or trapped by an avalanche, or killed by an underground explosion.

The Commodore 64 version of the first game was also re-released on the Virtual Console in Europe on September 19, 2008 and in North America on June 1, 2009.

[edit] Boulder Dash series

The official Boulder Dash games started in 1984 with the original home computer title, and continue to be published by First Star.

• Boulder Dash (1984) – The original Boulder Dash was published on multiple home computer and consoles.
• Boulder Dash (1984) – It was then released on arcade console by Exidy. This version was almost identical, but with coins buying 30 seconds of game time.^[1] Historically, this was the first home computer title to be converted to an arcade console.^[1]
• Boulder Dash (1985 – Arcade) – In 1985 Comptiq released another arcade version on Data East's "DECO Cassette System", with improved graphics but a reduced display grid on a vertical monitor.^[1]
• Boulder Dash II (1985) – The second home format was published under several different titles; Rockford's Riot on the MSX, Rockford's Revenge on the C64 (with the former used with the ZX Spectrum's marketing, but the latter used on the cassette inlay), whilst in Japanese it was titled Champion Boulder Dash.^[1]
• Boulder Dash 3 (1986 – Apple II, C64, Spectrum, PC) – Monochrome space-themed graphics and poorly designed levels made this a critical failure.^[1]
• Boulder Dash Construction Kit (1986 – Apple II, C64, Spectrum, Atari 800, Atari ST) – This release included a small number of levels, but was titled Boulder Dash IV – The Game for the Spectrum re-release.^[1]
• Rockford (1988 – Amiga, Atari ST, Arcade, Spectrum,^[2] Amstrad, C64)^[1]
• Boulder Dash Part 2 (1990 – Arcade)^[1]
• Boudler Dash (1990 - Game Boy)^[1]
• Boulder Dash (1990 - NES)^[1]
• Boulder Dash Ex (2002 – Game Boy Advance)^[1]
• Boulder Dash Xmas 2002 Edition (2002 – PC)^[1]
• GemJam Gold (2003 – PC) – The game's credits claim this is based on Boulder Dash, and is licensed by First Star.^[1]
• Boulder Dash – Treasure Pleasure (2003 – PC)^[1]
• Boulder Dash: Rocks! (2007 – PSP, DS)^[1]
• Boulder DAs Vol 1'(2009 – iPhone OS)^[1]

[edit] Reception

Mean Machines gave the Game Boy port of Boulder Dash a score of 90%, praising it as "one of the finest video games ever written", describing the game as "one to buy as soon as possible" and noting its faithfulness to the original Commodore 64 version.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Supaplex

[edit] External links

• First Star Software: Boulder Dash
• Boulder Dash at MobyGames
• Boulder Dash's game mechanics
• Rhod's Boulder Dash Collection — photos of game's various commercial packaging