Another classic arcade game hits Microsoft’s arcade network. Is it worth the points, or has it long since dug its own gr

User Rating: 8 | Dig Dug X360
By fagsi | Review Date:
I should start by pointing out that Dig Dug is one of my favorite old arcade games. I’ve had it for multiple systems over the years, so I was obviously excited by the prospect of playing it in my Xbox 360 (because all that processing power is perfect for playing games you can get on a cellphone, I guess). I found out that it would be available at 1:00am, and I downloaded it a few minutes after that. Dig Dug is a 400 point download, working out to about $5. So how does it hold up? Well, the game itself hasn’t changed a bit. You’re still tunneling through brightly colored layers of dirt, inflating the same couple monsters until they explode, lather rinse repeat. The graphics, sound, and gameplay are pretty much indistinguishable from the game I played years ago in the arcades.

The controls, however, like the XBLA Pac-Man before it, seem to have just slightly missed the mark. I think it comes down to the otherwise excellent 360 controller just not being built for these types of games. Neither the analog stick or the D-pad offer perfect control on these types of games, so I found myself tunneling up when I tried to go left, and running right into a creature and my death. The button works fine for shooting your air hose, but the directional controls are just a little off. I found the same problem with Pac-Man when I downloaded that; I’d push up on the pad or the stick and he’d just keep going in a straight line (there’s been a recent update to that game, and I’ve noticed the controls are a little better since then). Mad Catz is coming out with their XBLA arcade game joystick this holiday season. Hopefully these games will get easier to play with that. It’s wired, but supposedly it offers classic joystick control, which is just what these games need.

Oh, a note on the Achievements: There’s only really one that’s tough, the rest will just take perseverance. I’ve gotten five since I downloaded it this morning, and that’s only in a couple of plays. On each level, when you drop two rocks (whether or not they hit something), a vegetable appears in the center. For the first time you get each unique vegetable, you’ll get an Achievement. Most of the Achievements concern getting veggies. There’s also one for killing two monsters with one rock, which just takes timing. The only real weird one is digging out an entire board, which may take a few tries.

If you’ve downloaded Pac-Man, Frogger and the like already, you’ll have more of the same fun with Dig Dug, once you get past the less-than-perfect controls that plague all these games. Granted, that is more of an issue with the actual Xbox 360 control pad than it is with the software. If you’re looking to be wowed with a modern update to a classic, though, then dig right past this and keep looking.

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