Lode Runner

aka: Kong, LR, Lode Runner Classic, Lode Runner for WonderSwan, Miner, Suicide
Moby ID: 243
PC Booter Specs
See Also

Description official descriptions

The Bungeling Empire has stolen a huge cache of gold from its rightful owners, and your mission is to infiltrate its treasury and recapture it. This entails progressing through 150 screens of platforms, ladders and ropes.

The Empire has sent robotic guards down to protect the gold, and contact with any of these will cost you a life. Your method of escaping them is to press fire to dig a hole in their line of movement, thus causing them to fall in briefly, allowing you to move across the gap safely. Once all the gold has been collected, a ladder allowing you to move onto the next screen is added. Completing these screens often requires forward planning and precision.

This was one of the earliest games to include a level editor, allowing the creation of new level designs with no programming skill.

Spellings

  • ロードランナー - Japanese spelling
  • 淘金者 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (PC Booter version)

Original Version
PC Conversion
Cover Artwork

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 76% (based on 29 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 221 ratings with 6 reviews)

Another variant of the "ladder" theme with customizable levels.

The Good
Action was at the center of this game. While Big Top had a slow and dull pace, this one was more satisfying as you were able to fool the bad guys at will by trapping them in the holes you burned in the ground. Thus, instead of simply fleeing them, you were able to trap them. The action was fast enough considering the speed the good old 4.77 Mhz PC was able to offer.

Although a "ladder" game was nothing original back then, there was one special thing this game had: customizable levels. If you ever found that the 150 standard levels were not good enough, you were able to edit your own levels and save them on disk. This might not sound so hot today, but it was the first graphic game that I've personnaly been able to edit myself. This added a lot of pleasure and value.

The Bad
Alhough the game was not bad, it was yet another one based on ladders and small men running everywhere. As it has been the case with 3D shooters for many years now, this style of game have been used ad nauseam in the early 80s and it was harder and harder to be original. No wonder Pac-Man has been such a hit not long afterwards.

The Bottom Line
A traditionnal ladder-and-layer game where you must flee or trap bad guys coming to get you while collecting items that will let you enter the next level. What is particular with this one is the ability to "modify" the layers by burning holes through them (thus avoiding the ladders) and creating your own levels.

Sierra published a remake a few years ago which had full-blown graphics and music. I tried the demo and it was not bad, although I would have waited for the game to be in a bargain bin before buying it.

PC Booter · by Olivier Masse (443) · 1999

A nice MSX game!

The Good
Lode Runner had simple graphics, good gameplay and sound effects. The MSX version is similar to the PC Booter one. It was one of the first games (maybe the first in MSX platform) to feature an edition mode, in which it was possible to create and edit levels.

The Bad
Lode Runner was a bit harder, like any version of this game.

The Bottom Line
Lode Runner for MSX is a nice game. Recommended for any player who likes action and/or puzzle. If possible, get and play it!

MSX · by Gustavo Henrique dos Santos (97) · 2014

Landmark game in video game history!

The Good
This is the first game I can remember playing that successfully combined action and puzzle solving into a compelling experience. Some levels took seconds to solve, later ones minutes. Some I never solved more than once.

But most importantly, this game allowed users--kids like me--to create their own levels. Never before was such a facility included with a computer game before. It included the first true level editor, so players could create and play their own experiences. With the exception of Pinball Construction Set, I can remember no early home computer era game that allowed such a feature.

But even without the level editor, the game provided an addictive challenge despite the limitations of the early home computers.

The Bad
Some of the levels I thought were just too darn hard, especially so early on. The Apple II controls were a bit tricky to get the hang of, but they really couldn't have been implemented better. The Apple II joysticks just weren't great.

The Bottom Line
An addictive rush of treasure grabbing! Puzzle solving and action combined in an early game with lots of polish.

Apple II · by Frecklefoot (188) · 2007

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
RIP Douglas Smith! Pseudo_Intellectual (66274) Sep 14, 2014

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Lode Runner appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Arcade version

The original Lode Runner proved so popular a coin-op version was commissioned and appeared in 1984 housed in its own cabinet and complete with artwork. However it contained only 99 levels instead of original 150 levels.

Bungelings

While they both spawned strings of sequels to lead series of their own, Lode Runner and Choplifter can be considered to share not just human sprite animation, but a "game world" along with Will Wright's Raid on Bungeling Bay. All three games (all published by Brøderbund) ultimately featured the militaristic denizens of the Bungeling Empire as the primary antagonists.

Cancelled ports

  • Lode Runner was being ported to the Atari Lynx but was abandoned while in a fairly advanced state.
  • An Amiga version is mentioned in the French manual, ported by Loriciels' Annecy studio, but beyond that, no information of an official Amiga port exists.
  • A Dragon 32 port is advertised as "coming soon" in an ad in C&VG magazine. Presumably, it was cancelled at a late stage, since programmer Roy Coates, who converted Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for Software Projects, later came out with Beanstalker on his own label.

Competition

One of the biggest ever Lode Runner competitions took place during Japan's World Fair in August 1985. Gameplay was shown on a massive Sony Jumbotron (then the world's largest television at 80x150 feet). Over 3,000 people entered from across Japan and only 50 were selected to try their luck at achieving the highest score within three minutes. 12 year old Yasutaka Fujii was proclaimed the winner.

Development

The development started in 1980 on Commodore PET with ASCII graphics. In 1981 the Doug Smith joined the University of Washington which had VAX computers in their lab, so he continued development there (together with James Steinbeck). When they decided to make it a commercial project, they used Smith's nephew as playtester. Because of his nagging, Smith ported to the game to Apple II; the platform it was eventually released first. Then Smith changed the name to Miner and bought off Steinbeck who could not afford the time for project anymore.

After a rejection by Brøderbund, he continued working on the game on his own money. He especially worked on refining the graphics and the controls. Then he offered it to four companies, Electronic Arts, Epyx, Sirius Software, and Brøderbund. Brøderbund offered him $10,000 and 23% of future profits and he actually rejected an offer of $100,000 without royalties.

When Brøderbund bought the game they demanded that it contain 150 levels. The creative solution Smith came up with was to give the kids in his neighbourhood the level designer, promising to pay each kid who make a good level. One of them was Daron Stinnett, the executive producer of several LucasArts games including Dark Forces and Outlaws.

Message

Strings found in the game code:

If the original MASTER disk fails to run, return it to Broderbund for replacement. COPIES WILL NOT WORK. Thanks for the run. See ya' next time.

Version differences

Lode Runner was enhanced for the Apple Macintosh (and packaged as such). It remains the only 16-bit version of the first game and has possibly the highest resolution at 512x342 pixels on a crisp monochrome display. This version also features added mouse support for in-game configuration within windows, pull-down menus, pop-up dialogue boxes, and level creation. The game itself is played using the keyboard.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #80 on the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
  • Game Informer
    • August 2001 (Issue #100) - #52 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll

Information also contributed by Игги Друге, Erez Schaz, Garcia, John Romero, PCGamer77 and FatherJack

Analytics

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Lode Runner: Legacy
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  • MobyGames ID: 243
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by demonlord.

BBC Micro added by POMAH. NES, Commodore 64 added by PCGamer77. Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. SMC-777, PC-8000, PC-6001, PC-98, Sharp MZ-80K/700/800/1500 added by Infernos. Apple II added by KnockStump. Atari ST added by PAO. SG-1000 added by Sciere. J2ME added by Hervé Piton. Windows Phone, Sharp X1, iPhone, WonderSwan, Android, ZX Spectrum added by Kabushi. Atari 8-bit added by Martin Smith. Wii added by gamewarrior. Arcade added by Pseudo_Intellectual. Antstream added by lights out party. FM-7, PC-88 added by Terok Nor. Amstrad CPC, VIC-20 added by Servo. MSX added by koffiepad. DOS added by wanner jean christophe. Macintosh added by Garcia. Sharp MZ-80B/2000/2500, Hitachi S1 added by Elliot Washington.

Additional contributors: Trixter, Unicorn Lynx, POMAH, Alaka, Opipeuter, Martin Smith, Pseudo_Intellectual, Игги Друге, Parf, vedder, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, Starbuck the Third, FatherJack, ZeTomes.

Game added August 23, 1999. Last modified March 26, 2024.