Digger and the Legend of the Lost City
System: NES
Release Date: December 1990
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Milton Bradley
Genre: Action
The Big Dig is on its way as we look to descend to the bottom in Digger and the Legend of the Lost City! You’re Digger T. Rock and you love digging holes. You wish to uncover the missing wonders beneath the surface of the Earth and one day you found a sign for the mysterious Lost City. Is this for real? Find out in 10 caverns you need to dig through, defeat enemies, and try not to die!
The goal of each level is simple. You need to push down a pillar that opens the exit of the room for sixty seconds. Then you need to get through the door before it closes. Easier said than done… Along the way, Digger finds sandy blocks that can and must be dug through. And enemies. Lots and lots of respawning enemies. These guys need to be smashed with your shovel, or you can throw rocks at them if you have any in your inventory.
As you walk around the level, trying to find the proper sequence of moves to the pillar and exit, you might find a secret passage way that greatly increases your score and takes you to different areas of the level. You can also come across some items for your inventory. There’s a rope ladder that you can throw down long drops to stop you from falling a long way, landing on your head, and losing a ton of life energy. There’s dynamite that you can use to blow up weak walls impeding your progress. There are jewels that you can collect and use at stores to buy more inventory. You can collect more jewels at the end of the level if you get to the door with 40 seconds or more remaining. Just don’t die right away…
I never got to a store because this game is unforgivably hard. I would concede that there are people out there that enjoy this game and find it to be fun. But I am not one of those people. The constantly respawning enemies can trap you to a point where you have to take damage and while one or two hits won’t be the end of you when it comes to these bugs, they don’t like to give you any distance. There are also rocks that if you touch will fall and if you’re beneath them, it’s an instant death. The second level door is blocked by a dinosaur that takes a dozen hits to destroy. These guys become more prevalent later on.
Graphics: 1.5
It’s too monotone with some alright animations, but nothing special.
Sound: 1.5
Kind of a poor use of the Rare sound font on this one. I’m not a huge fan.
Gameplay: 1.5
Digger controls poorly and will float to his death more than you like. The enemies are also far too relentless and will spawn out of nowhere to murder you.
Difficulty: 1.0
I don’t think this is a very fair game to someone that doesn’t spend hours memorizing every level and how to get out.
Fun Factor: 0.5
I really didn’t enjoy my time with this and came back a couple times to give it chances.
Overall Rating: 1.2
Digger and the Legend of the Lost City earns a D+. I can’t recommend giving this one a chance. It’s pretty bad and will frustrate you before you get a taste for it.