Lode Runner 3-D

It’s the future. You’re a space-faring gold miner. Somebody’s nicked your gold. What do you do? What do you do?

And that’s the plot! Basically an unpleasant fellow called the Emperor Monk has developed the rather nasty habit of stealing your gold (habit! Get it? Monks? Habit? Oh forget it!) Rather than calling the interstellar cops and getting them to bust the thieving git, the company you work for is sending you – equipped with nothing but a puny mining laser and a pair of running shoes – to get the gold back. And to make things more difficult the gold is scattered across five different planets.

Lode Runner 3D is based on an old Commodore 64 game called, rather unsurprisingly, Lode Runner. This was a 2-D platformer with much the same plot of the new game – in other words, you controlled a small bloke who had to hunt through level after level to find blocks of gold.

Solid Gold

From a graphical point of view, Lode Runner 3D is fairly uninspiring. That’s not to say that it’s particularly bad – it’s just nothing to write home about. The playing area is constructed primarily of 3-D blocks of various colours, and the lode runner and his enemies (the monks) are nice enough, but they won’t win any awards for innovative design. So visually the game isn’t stunning which might put some people off. However those people will be missing out! Lode Runner 3D is not a game about flashy visuals. The graphics are more than adequate for the job at hand, which is to portray the most addictive puzzle game on the N64 – very possibly the most addictive puzzler on any console – ever!

As mentioned already the gold which you have to find is spread over five different planets. Each planet has five stages and each stage contains four levels. This gives you a total of... hang on a minute, where’s that calculator... carry the three... a total of 100 levels. While this might not seem many to some people, it should be emphasised that although the first world can be completed fairly quickly providing you’re more intelligent than the average lobotomised hamster on the later worlds, the difficulty level increases exponentially and it takes longer and longer to complete the each stage so you shouldn’t finish this game anytime soon. Plus there are the gems which are scattered throughout the stages. Collect these and you’re transported to one of several bonus levels where you get one chance to collect as many extra lives as you can. On the earlier levels the gems are relatively easy to get to but as you go farther into the game it gets a lot more difficult and on the fourth and fifth worlds the gems are often in seemingly impossible to reach locations. This means that even if you finish the game there’s going to be some levels where you haven’t collected the gems and figuring out how to get these and then how to complete the bonus levels themselves should considerably increase the game’s longevity.

Lodes Of Puzzles

For anyone not clear on exactly what a 3-D puzzle game entails, Lode Runner 3D basically involves negotiating a three-dimensional ‘maze’. Rather than your standard circular maze that you might expect to find in the grounds of a big country house though, the mazes in Lode Runner 3D are obstacle based. It all centres around the abilities of the lode runner himself. This dashing young chap can run fairly fast and can drop any distance without getting injured. However he can only drop off the edge of platforms which have arrows pointing downwards, and although he’s got a gun this can only be used to shoot a block which is set into the floor in front of him. (A bit of a design flaw there.) He can’t shoot blocks which are on the same level as him or blocks which he is standing on. Oh, and he can’t jump either.

This means that each level is constructed of a mixture of blocks, some of which can be destroyed and some of which can’t. To aid the lode runner on his quest for cash he finds various items on each world. The first thing he encounters is the bomb. This device destroys any blocks within one square of it and can thus be used to take out blocks which can’t be removed with the gun. Once used, the bomb reappears wherever it was first found and can be collected again. Some puzzles rely on you re-using the same bomb several times in succession to clear a group of blocks.

Other elements – some of which crop up on several worlds, others which are exclusive to just one – include teleports, lifts, hovering platforms, rock-boring devices, bridge-building robots, organic bridges which swallow you if you approach them from the wrong direction, rolling boulders and a variety of blocks including wooden ones, organic ones and ones which make other blocks disappear in a chain reaction. Any block on a level which is destroyed reappears after a short time, which is both a help and a hindrance. It means that if you blow the wrong block up it soon comes back but it also means that when trying to clear a group of blocks and get past them you’ve got a limited time in which to do it.

Manic Monks

In general, most levels are set up in such a way that you have plenty of time to think about each puzzle. The emphasis is on working the puzzle out rather than just being the quickest on the analogue stick. That said, as you progress through the game many of the puzzles start to rely on not just figuring out what to do, but on timing everything to the split second. You might need to drop a bomb on one block, dash up a ramp, collect the replacement bomb, drop this in the gap made by the first and drop down as the new bomb goes off to prevent getting trapped by the reappearance of the first block.

As an added problem, many levels contain monks. These slaves of the Emperor are intent on preventing our hero from recovering his gold and if you kill them they just reappear. To deal with these monks you can trap them in blocks, blast them with bombs or simply isolate them so that they can’t get to you. Everything that affects you affects them too, so they can ride lifts, get killed by explosions and fall off the edge of the appropriate platforms. The only restriction they have is that they can’t operate anything. So while they can follow you up on an active lift they can’t actually activate it themselves and they can’t pick up and drop bombs. What they do however is collect gold. If they do this then you need to either kill or trap them to make them release it. Blast a block in front of them and they drop into it, leaving the gold on top. This is also a good way of bridging certain gaps as you can pass across a space with a monk trapped in it even though it’s not solid.

Puzzletastic Mate!

Lode Runner 3D is a game which starts off great and just gets better and better with each successive level. Haunting music plays throughout the game creating just the right atmosphere and each new world in addition to giving you a change of scenery requires you to master a whole new style of play. The optional automatic/manual camera is perfect – an N64 first – and the only real criticism of the game is that once you’ve puzzled out a level it’s doubtful how much fun it would be to play over again, making the replay value limited. That said though, the number of levels should be more than enough to keep you going for a long time so this isn’t a major problem. Unfortunately Lode Runner 3D is the kind of game that you couldn’t really get a feel for just playing a few levels in your local software store, as it just wouldn’t do it justice. But then that’s what you buy review magazines for, isn’t it?

Way back in 1983, a funky little I action-puzzle-game called Lode f Runner rocked the computergaming world with its innovative design and addictive gameplay. Having landed on nearly every gaming platform in the mid-to-late '80s, it's no surprise that this title has finally found its way to the N64. Lode Runner 64 takes all of the traditional Lode Runner elements and attempts to incorporate them into a 3D world.

Apparently, Lode Runner became stranded on a foreign planet after having left Earth. With his navigational system on the fritz, he needs to gather the appropriate data in order to find his way home. The problem is that the people who have this crucial information, the red-robed monks, are a bunch of suspicious punks who won't give it up. That said, Lode Runner must beat it out of them, while making his way from world to world, gathering stolen riches (i.e., gold) along the way.

Since the game has made the leap into 3D, so too have the "puzzle-style" levels. Instead of simply walking left, right, up and down, you can now walk into the foreground and back, naturally, into the background. The Trigger button fires your laser pistol, while the rest of the buttons manipulate the camera, allowing you to better plan your strategy for each stage. Each stage is constructed of a number of tiles that must be destroyed by using Lode Runner's supply of lasers, bombs, drill bits and Brunswicks.

By eliminating the correct tiles, you'll not only be able to carve a path for yourself, but you'll also be able to trap and kill those red-robed monks (that's Mr. Lode Runner to you!).

The game itself is broken down into five different worlds, with each world being divided into multiple stages, with each stage then having at least four levels. Gasp! In each level, you need to make your way through a puzzle-type path. Once you've collected enough gold, a portal opens up that leads to the next level. While you're at it, you'll need to find Nav-cards that will allow you access to other worlds. The final objective is to meet and defeat the Boss that controls the five worlds. Once that is completed, then you will finally be able to return to Earth.

I grew up playing video games. Sure, I know you have heard this a thousand times before from a thousand different writers. We all grew up playing video games. The only reason I am bringing this up is because back in 1983, I was in my game-playing prime. I had nothing to worry about but playing games all summer long. That is why I am so surprised that I don't remember playing Lode Runner. Apparently the game has been elevated to classic status over the years. There have been tons of remakes of the game on multiple platforms. If there was a good game back then, I was all over it. Somehow either I just completely missed this game, or else old age is really setting in and I just don't remember playing it. Either way, this matters not. What matters is that it is 1999 and I have a chance to check out the latest incarnation of the game and decide if it stands on its own merits or is just another lame remake of a classic game.

Let me set the scene. The rich Out-Sector colonies are being raided by the mad Emperor Monk of Pandora. The Emperor has been swiping all the gold shipments, causing all the local economies to deteriorate. Disguised as a rogue trade ship, you must infiltrate the outer defenses, get on the enemy base, recover as much missing gold as possible and kill the Emperor himself. Sound exciting? It doesn't really matter, because this game is all about solving puzzles, not saving the universe. Sure, you will run into a bad guy every so often, but you can't even vape him with your laser pistol.

Gameplay

When I first looked at the box, the thought "lame platform game" instantly came to mind. I figured they took some old school platform game, updated the graphics to 3D, spit out a few new levels and looked to cash in (not that any game company would ever try such a thing). What I found was something totally different from what I expected. There's nothing really like it in the N64 library of games.

After playing for about 30 seconds, I cast aside any remaining thoughts of this being a platform game. This game is first and foremost a puzzle game, with minor platform elements mixed in. I was really surprised, considering this game had stereotype written all over it. You know, a character that you control running around collecting gold, trying to get to the evil boss at the end and destroy him (once again, a plotline that no game company has ever used before). But nope, I was wrong and I am pretty glad that I did give this game a chance instead of dismissing it.

As I was playing this game, I kept thinking that it was a puzzle game, but not in the traditional sense. I almost want to call it an exercise in logic and deduction. When I think of a puzzle game, I think of falling blocks that need to be lined up or popping same-color bubbles. If that is also your definition of a puzzle game, you will have to wipe those thoughts away because the gameplay is nothing like a traditional puzzle game.

I am sure you are now thinking, "Great, then what the hell do you do?" The answer to the question is quite simple. You try to get from your starting point on a level to an escape pod located somewhere else on the level. Getting to the escape pod can be anything but simple. See, all the levels are made up of floor tiles. Some of the tiles are destructible and others are not. You are armed only with a ray gun that shoots diagonally downward. This means that you can only shoot the tile directly in front of you or directly behind you, but not the one you are standing on. Oh, did I forget to mention that the tiles only disappear for a short amount of time and then regenerate? What happens if you are standing on the spot where the tile regenerates? The tile wins and you get to start over.

The puzzle elements start to kick in when you really have to plot your course. It is very important to think ahead. If you shoot out tile A, what is your next move? The developers have programmed in plenty of opportunities to paint yourself into a corner with no way out. It almost becomes funny when you do find yourself with no route for escape because your mistake becomes very obvious about one second after you make it. Panic hits you, usually accompanied by the words "Oh no!" and then death. I found that I did not mind dying too much because I almost always learned something from my death. I would take that knowledge and use it the next time I hit the spot, and knew not to make the same mistake again. Hell, I almost think the programmers put in traps that look like the obvious solution on the surface and trick you into trying it, only to find out that you are screwed.

The game would be entertaining if this was all there was to it, but there is more. Up until now, the only way to move around the levels was by blowing holes in the ground and falling to the level below. What if there is a box or something blocking your path? I say throw a bomb down and watch the sucker blow. Scattered throughout some levels are bombs that will allow you to do just that. It seemed that the bombs were only on levels that required you to use them, so you knew if you came across a bomb it was more than likely at some point you would be bowing up a blockade somewhere. There were a number of different other things to enhance the levels as well. Early on you are introduced to the Helix Lift and the Shuttle Disk. The Helix Lift will lift you from up a number of levels back up to a higher location on the level. This means that a lot of your time is spent backtracking or going over areas that you had seen but were previously unable to access. The Shuttle Disks are transporters that fly you to a different location on the level. This also helps you access other areas in the level that you otherwise would not be able to reach.

Complaints? Yeah, I have a few. First and foremost, the game can get a bit on the redundant side. I really have to be in the right mood to play. To me, playing games is supposed to be a relaxing experience. Playing this game is anything but mentally relaxing. Even though you are solving different challenges, the underlying gameplay is still the same. Also, the control left a lot to be desired. On one hand, it was nice to see you did not have cheap deaths by falling off ledges, but you really did not have much freedom. The game basically played on rails, meaning you could only go one left or right and that was it. There was some wrapping in and out, and there is where the controls were a bit on the unresponsive side. Nothing major, but still a concern.

Graphics

Here is another of my complaints. The graphics in this game were first-generation at best. There were even some instances where I found myself cringing and wishing they would have just left it out or at least scaled it down (explosions especially). Everything had a really grainy look to it. All things considered, you are not really going to be playing the game for its mind-blowing graphics anyway. You will play it for the mental challenge, but they did not have to make it a visual challenge as well.

Bottom Line

This is a fun game that should keep you playing for a while. If you like to be mentally challenged when you are playing a video game, you should enjoy this game. I think they did a great job with the level design and I can almost guarantee you will die a number of times saying, "Oh, I see what I need to do." This game does have a ton of levels (136) but it needs them because once you solve a level, there is little challenge left to replay it. I wish they would have cleaned up the graphics some, but overall this is a pretty decent game that is worth at least a weekend rental.

Geezer gamers will fondly remember Lode Runner as a tiny figure running across PC and Apple screens in the '80s. Now our hero's been re-invented for a new millennium with 64-bit technology in Lode Runner 3D. Racing over 130 levels on five different worlds with hordes of evil monks hounding you, you must recover gold and gems to unlock passages to subsequent levels. No need to fear--in addition to the classic ability to burrow through levels, you're armed with new gadgets and devices such as plasma launchers.

Although the games full of running, jumping, and shooting, the core of Lode Runner 3D is its solid one-person puzzle game, which features good graphics, sounds, control, and enough variety and challenges to keep your attention. Welcome back, Lode Runner--it was worth the wait.