Miner 2049er
PC Booter version
1983 stand out
The Good
Arcade games from that era were mostly one level and infinite waves in that level, where every following wave was harder than previous one (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Galaxian, etc..). Exceptions were titles like Donkey Kong (4 levels but again, repeating them with increasing difficulty) or Lode Runner.
Miner 2049er brought something fresh into arcading. There are 10 unique levels, but every level is "well thought". You have to figure out how to beat the level as starting from level 2 it's really not obvious. Easy you can say, but hey, it's 1983, no saving, there's time running out, so nope. When you reach level N, it will take many attempts to figure out how to beat it and reach level N+1. So I would define the game as puzzle/arcade. Every level is really quite unique as there's some new mechanics not seen in previous levels (slides, elevators, etc..). Graphics is ok, gameplay is very good and game design is standing out compared to other titles from that year. In my personal opinion it's much better than more famous Donkey Kong.
The Bad
Nothing. Probably a bit difficult for today's standards, but if you're interested in old DOS games, then probably it's no problem for you anyway.
The Bottom Line
In my opinion, it's the best 1983 PC game (at least when taking into account arcade titles).
by Vladimir Dienes on April 28, 2023