One of the banes of sci-fi movies is that at one point or another, you’ll have to muscle through some exposition delivered by some third-stringer who will also likely end up dying as another way to advance the plot.
And yet, sometimes it’s not so bad. Sometimes, it’s an interesting perspective provided along the way towards the MacGuffin or the Big Bad.
The only thing I ever remember about the Howard the Duck film is that I should try to never mention it again, and that it had a neat piece of exposition to provide background on its main character that was completely unnecessary.
Some scientist in the film explained that Howard was from an alternate universe where ducks were the dominant life-form on their planet. Instead of apes evolving into humans like on Earth, this sci-fi premise has ducks turning into a planet of Howards, and all of the infinite possibilities that represents.
It was much more interesting to think of what else could have been of this movie; it’s the same of thinking about what could have been if Lode Runner became the dominant third-person action title of its time.
Needless to say, it didn’t. The gameplay mechanic of digging left and right to dispose of enemies didn’t catch on the way that jumping has. And how could it: Jumping is how protagonists in 2D scrollers become heroes by transcending that other rule about platformers–gravity.
However, history affords us the indulgence for making other assumptions. As we already know how it’s going to turn out, it’s great to imagine what video games would have been like if violent confrontations weren’t solved by jumping, but by digging holes for your enemy to fall into.
A Super Mario Bros where Mario trades in his plumber’s wrench with a shovel. A Devil May Cry where Dante digs tunnels around his enemies instead of double jumping. And then, the rocket jumping in Quake would be replaced by “rocket digging”.
Obviously, the digging mechanic introduced by Lode Runner didn’t become the industry wide standard. However, that still hasn’t diminished this game’s status as a classic for being a puzzle game you solve while enemies chase after you in real time.
For effectively creating a game mechanic that still stands on its own decades later, Lode Runner is as explosive as a Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-Cherry Bomb.
How far I got in half an hour: the fifth or sixth screen. I had trouble with digging through two levels.
Would I play this again after this year is over: I didn’t play this on the Apple IIc, so I don’t need to start now.
Days so far into the Year of the Play-a-DayStation: 9
Play-a-Daystation 