Dig Dug Deluxe

The demise of the mining industry in Britain shouldn't have been as turbulent as it was, what with the unions striking, entire populations of towns being made unemployed and the onset of a decline in heavy industry. The people involved should have been glad it was all over.

That's if Dig Dug Deluxe presents an accurate portrayal of mining, anyway, and as we've never been down a pit, it's all we've got to go on.

We had thought collapsing shafts, floods, and suffocation were the worst a miner had to contend with, but according to Dig Dug Deluxe, fire-breathing monsters and the like pose a much greater threat.

The game has you playing a little chap with a penchant for tunnelling. You start the game underground in a narrow passage and must not only survive, but also get rid of the fearsome inhabitants of the neighbouring chambers.

You can see off your ugly foes in one of three ways. The most effective is to dig underneath a boulder so that it drops on anything with big teeth that happens to be following you. (Actually, the boulder will drop on anything with or without teeth – it's not dental-specific).

The second way is to have at them with your harpoon, though this only works if you're above your foe. Which is pretty tricky as far as timing's concerned, because if the beastie in question gets too close, you're going to loose a life.

The third weapon in your arsenal is a bicycle pump, which can, rather comically, be used to inflate a target enemy like a balloon until it pops. Which is, perhaps, evidence that Dig Dug Deluxe isn't that closely based on reality.

But hey – when it's this much fun, who cares?

Dig Dug Deluxe mines a rich seam of old – and we mean, old – school action that's reminiscent of games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders. It's a simple game in concept and execution but it manages to hook you with its puzzle / platform combination.

In fact, the game's sole concession to modern mobile phone gaming is the titular Deluxe playing mode. One of two modes, it retains the same Dig Dug action of the primary colour-hued Classic game but relocates it to a more richly detailed, less garish setting.

This adherence to the original game is both a blessing and a curse, though: while the Deluxe mode looks pretty enough, it can be seen as a wasted opportunity to introduce some new gameplay elements, such as new monsters, weapons or puzzles.

Granted, these additions might have made matters worse, but what you have with Dig Dug Deluxe is two versions of the same game. Yes, it's a good game, but it can get repetitive if you're used to more complex fare.

When all that changes between levels is the number and type (and, occasionally, the background) of the monsters in the level with you, it takes a certain type of person to keep pressing on.

It's an easy nugget of truth to dig out, but if you're the sort who finds immense pride in topping the high scores table and that's motivation enough to carry on, then Dig Dug Deluxe is exactly your vein of coal.

To anyone else, it's an accomplished, entertaining but ultimately short-lived enterprise.