Hyper Lode Runner

Hyper Lode Runner is a video game for the Nintendo Game Boy.

Release

Bandai released Hyper Lode Runner for Game Boy in September 1989. It was based on Lode Runner, a very popular home computer game, which was released in 1983 by Broderbund.

Graphics

The graphics are actually updated from the original, and have bigger sprites with a Japanese anime feel compare to the original. As a result the visible playing area is limited and the game has to scroll, while the original Lode Runner featured the entire level on a single screen. Upon clearing the screen a kusudama opens up and drops streamers on Lode Runner.

Sound

The theme music is different from that found in the computer version. It is in stereo, if headphones are used. The sound effects are basic, and functional, in that they alert the player to what is needed.

Storyline and Gameplay

The story line from the instruction booklet reads:

"Earthdate 2264: These are troubled times for the planet. After centuries of peace, the renegade Red Lord of Darkness had led his cyborg fanatics in a bloody revolution that has overthrown the United World governments. Millions of political prisoners are being tortured in his infamous Labyrinth of Doom far beneath the surface of the planet. Very little is known about this subterranean maze of brick-walled catacombs. Just vague rumors about hidden millions in stolen gold guarded by a ruthless army of mutant cyborg zombies commanded by the merciless General Zod, governor of the Red Lord’s death camps. Only one thing is sure…none of your predecessors have ever come out of this dreaded place alive. But, you must find a way with a lode of gold big enough to launch the counter-revolution. You are the last hope; the last of the great Lode Runners."

Your objective is to gather gold that is scattered on the brick platforms, which are connected by ladders. You are chased by robots (cyborgs) that end your character's life if they catch him, though you can stand on their heads. Your main weapon is the ability to dig both to the left and right of your character. The holes you dig are only temporary and fill themselves in. A robot that falls into one of your holes will be destroyed if the hole fills in before it can escape. Your character can also suffer this same fate, ending his life. Destroyed robots are replaced with new ones that appear from the top of the screen. The robots can also carry gold which they drop if they fall into a hole. The robot's movements are dependent on yours, and a significant facet of the game play is figuring out how to use the robot's movements to your advantage in clearing a stage. Besides bricks and ladders, levels also consist of blocks (which can't be dug into), rope (to traverse platform chasms) and crumbling bricks (which you fall through). Once all gold has been retrieved a missing segment of ladder will appear allowing your character to escape to the next level. Some levels contain keys and doors which provide an alternate way to leave a level.

The game is an example of the "trap-em-up" genre, which also includes games like Heiankyo Alien (1979), Space Panic (1980), and Lode Runner (1983).

External links

• The Lode Runner Museum