Dig Dug II (New Ver.)

Arcade Video game published 39 years ago:

Dig Dug II (c) 1985 Namco.

For this sequel to the 1982 classic, "Dig Dug", Namco changed the game's perspective from a cutaway side-on viewpoint to an overhead one. The action now takes place on a series of small islands, the gameplay itself retains much from its predecessor, with Dig Dug still being chased by the 'Pookas' (round, goggle-wearing red enemies) and the 'Fygers' (green, fire-breathing dragons).

As with the first game, Dig Dug is still armed with a pump that allows him to inflate and burst the enemies. For the sequel, however, he is also armed with a jackhammer. This can be used at the round ground-pegs scattered around each island to create and connect up fault lines in the ground. If both ends of a system of faults reaches the water, the ground surrounded by them will sink into the ocean killing all creatures on it, including Dig Dug himself if he is standing on the destroyed section of land.

The Pookas and Fygers cannot cross any fault lines while in solid monster form but as with the first game, they can take on a ghost form and move wherever they wish.

Once three pieces of land have been cut off an island, a bonus vegetable will appear somewhere on the remaining land, this can be eaten for extra points. When only one, two or (on later rounds) three enemies remain on the island, they will eventually head for the edge of the island and jump into the water, killing themselves and costing the player points.

- TECHNICAL -

Game ID : D2

Main CPU : Motorola M6809 (@ 1.536 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Motorola M6809 (@ 1.536 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Namco 8-channel WSG

Players : 2
Control : 4-way joystick
Buttons : 2
= > [1] Pump, [2] Drill

- TRIVIA -

Dig Dug II was released in March 1985 in Japan.

The main character of Dig Dug has a name in Japan, 'Taizo Hori', a pun based on the phrase 'Horitai zo', or 'I want to dig!'.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Learn the lay of the land: On your first visit to any island, try to take as much time to study it as possible. Concentrate on eliminating enemies with your pump, and try to leave at least two enemies until you are done studying the island. Look for ground pegs that you can take advantage of, and create landslides with. Once you have played any island at least twice, you should be familiar enough with it to execute your plan to create a landslide as soon as you start. If you miss the opportunity to do it early on, you may have to spend more time luring enemies away from the site and bring them back when you are ready.

* Landslides are easier in the beginning: The early rounds are obviously easier than the later ones, and they are designed to maximize landslide opportunities. As you are playing further in the game, you will begin to notice that it will become harder to find an obvious landslide situation and you will have to become more creative. When you are familiar with the early rounds, take advantage of the easy landslide setups to give your score a nice boost. And don't forget, three landslides earns you a bonus vegetable which helps your score out as well. As you progress through the game, switch to relying on your pump for easier kills.

* Cracks are your best defense: You should remember that unless Pookas or Fygars become ghosts, they cannot cross over the cracks. Even if you cannot necessarily use a peg to create a landslide, you can still use them to create cracks in the ground and generally make it more difficult for enemies to get around. In some cases, you can use cracks to break up a pack of Pookas that have bunched together. In other cases, you can create a "fence" of cracks, and leave one section alone as a "gate". Then you can lure all of the enemies behind the fence and close the gate by creating the last crack and watch them all drown in the sea as the point value you earned for doing so flies across the screen. Remember, however, that a determined enemy can become a ghost and begin floating over a crack very slowly. Always be on the lookout and never stay in one section for too long. Dig Dug is never totally safe.

* Later rounds: It takes more skill than strategy to win in the later rounds. Landslide opportunities are severely limited, and the multitude of enemies start coming at you very quickly. You must use the pegs to create cracks that you can use as a line of defense. The enemies will gather together, and you may need to use the pump stall technique learned in the first Dig Dug (where you had to pump up an enemy to stall them and safely pass through them) in order to get away a lot of the time. When you put some distance between you and the pack of enemies, find a crack to stand behind and pump enemies from behind the line until one becomes a ghost. If you're fast enough, you can kill one enemy, and start pumping the ghost before it reaches you. If not, or if there are too many ghosts coming at you, you should prepare to run away, and find another hiding spot. Thorough knowledge of the island layout can help you set up two safety zones if you need to run back and forth, but you should always be careful not to accidentally run into any enemies.


* Easter Egg (works on the new version only, old version doesn't have it) :
1) Enter service mode.
2) Select sound 1B.
3) Press the service switch to display the grid and enter the following sequence : Down(x2), Right, Left(x2), Down(x2), Left(x3), Up(x2).
4)Press the service switch again. Some music will play and 'DIGDUGII (c) 1985 NAMCO LTD.' will be slowly drawn on the screen.

* Pause/Resume : When the 'freeze' dip switch is on, at the beginning of the game select starting level with joystick Up/Down, then press the Drill button. During the game, press the Start button to pause/resume.

- SERIES -

1. Dig Dug (1982, ARC)
2. Dig Dug II (1985, ARC)
3. Dig Dug Arrangement (1996, ARC): part of "Namco Classics Collection Vol.2"
4. Dig Dug Deeper (2001, PC)
5. Dig Dug Arrangement (2005, PSP): part of "Namco Museum Battle Collection"
6. Dig Dug - Digging Strike (2005, DS)

- STAFF -

Music by : Junko Ozawa

- PORTS -

* CONSOLES:
[JP] Nintendo Famicom (apr.18, 1986) "Dig Dug II [Model NDDII-4500]"
[US] Nintendo NES (dec.1989) "Dig Dug II - Trouble in Paradise [Model NES-I2-USA]"
[JP] Nintendo Famicom Disk System (aug.31, 1990) "Dig Dug II [Model NDS-DD2]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.4, 2008) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 21022]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (may.15, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[AU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (june.4, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.5, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 2RD-00001]"
[US] Nintendo Wii (nov.16, 2010) "Namco Museum Megamix"

* HANDHELDS:
[US] Sony PSP (aug.23, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model ULUS-10035]"
[EU] Sony PSP (dec.9, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model UCES-00116]"
[JP] Sony PSP (feb.23, 2006) "Namco Museum Vol.2 [Model ULJS-00047]"
[US] Nintendo DS (sept.18, 2007) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNME-USA]"
[JP] Nintendo DS (oct.11, 2007) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNMJ-JPN]"
[KO] Sony PSP (nov.8, 2007) "Namco Museum Vol.2"
[EU] Nintendo DS (feb.29, 2008) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNMP-EUR]"

* COMPUTERS:
[JP] Sharp X68000 (feb.24, 1995) "Dig Dug I & II"
[JP] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (june.9, 1998) "Namco History Vol.3"

* OTHERS: