Dig Dug II

Dig Dug II
Arcade screenshot
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	JP: Namco NA: Bandai
Platform(s)	Arcade, NES, Famicom Disk System
Release	Arcade JP: March 12, 1985 NA: May 5, 1985 Famicom/NES JP: April 18, 1986 NA: December 15, 1989 Famicom Disk System JP: August 31, 1990
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Arcade system	Namco Super Pac-Man

Dig Dug II, subtitled Trouble in Paradise for Bandai's American NES port, is the arcade sequel to Dig Dug, released by Namco in 1985. It runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware but with a video system like that used in Mappy, The Tower of Druaga and Grobda (without the DAC). The only home version of the game was for the NES, which Bandai released in Japan on April 18, 1986 and in North America during 1989.

Gameplay

Dig Dug II takes place on an island with an overhead view. The goal is to kill all the enemies. There are two types of enemies: Pookas (round red monsters with goggles), which can kill a player by touching him, and Fygars (dragons), which can kill a player either by touching him or breathing fire on him.

Taizo Hori (the player's character) is armed with two weapons. One is an air pump that can inflate enemies until they burst. The other is a jackhammer, which can be used at "fault lines" on the map to create faults in the ground. If both ends of a system of faults reach the water, the ground surrounded by them will sink into the ocean, killing all creatures on it, including Taizo himself if the player is not careful. The points earned from this depend on how many enemies are killed at once. Once three pieces of land have been cut off an island, a bonus vegetable will appear somewhere on what remains of the island, which can be eaten for extra points. When only one, two or (on later rounds) three enemies remain on the island, the enemies will head for the edge of the island and jump into the water, killing themselves and ending the round.

Different variations

There are two versions of this game: a harder new version, and an easier old version. Both versions have completely different rounds. The newer version was a lot more common in the arcades than the original version, and almost every port of this game is of the newer version. Both Namco Museum Battle Collection and Namco Museum DS include both versions. The newer version also appears to be designed for higher point opportunities on its early rounds.

Legacy

In 2005, Dig Dug II was ported to the PlayStation Portable as part of Namco Museum Battle Collection, and was included in Namco Museum DS which was released for the Nintendo DS on September 18, 2007. The game was also included in Namco Museum Virtual Arcade in 2008 and was released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on October 20, 2009, along with the inceptive title. Both Dig Dug games are available as part of the Namco Museum Megamix compilation for the Wii, which (much unlike the Virtual Console Arcade versions) was only released in North America.

A reimagined version for the PC titled Dig Dug Island, featuring online multiplayer and the graphical style of Dig Dug Remix, was released in 2008 exclusively in Japan. However, the game's servers were shut down in just under a year, leaving it unplayable.

External links

• Dig Dug II at the Killer List of Videogames
• Dig Dug II at the Arcade History database
• Dig Dug Island official site (archive)