Boulder Dash for Prizes Hands-On

Atlas Mobile has made a name for itself as a one-stop shop for online mobile gaming tournaments with less-than-fabulous prizes. The team has now applied this proven formula to the Commodore 64 classic Boulder Dash, a game involving gem excavation and, as its name suggests, boulder evasion. Atlas seems to have provided a straight port of the retro favorite, adding only the prize element into the mix.

In Boulder Dash for Prizes, gamers can throw down in daily or weekly tournaments, with the latter type offering marginally better prizes (usually $30 gift certificates to chain stores). Each player is allowed to dig his or her way through a few levels of the original game, collecting gems and avoiding the sting of the falling rocks let loose when you clear the dirt supporting them. The player who completes these levels the quickest, and is therefore awarded the highest score, will win some rentals at Blockbuster Video, or something along those lines.

At the CTIA mobile data and entertainment convention, we've seen quite a few "new" retro games, probably because these tend to sell well in a market where brand recognition is key. The only thing harder for Americans to resist than a Boulder Dash port is probably the promise of free stuff, so Atlas might have a good formula here. We'll let you know when we test-drive the game after it goes live later this year.