Why it's on the list: Yet another game coasting into the list on its "arcade classic" status.

How I played it: Xbox One download.

When I played it: Last quarter of 2016.

How far I got:

180/1000 Achievement Points

What I thought:

I found it kind of boring.

So here's the thing with old games like Dig Dug - some of them, like Pac-Man, I find supremely entertaining. But all of them are much, much harder than what I'm used to. Of course, in the case of arcade classics like this one, that's because the developers were trying to make you die as frequently as possible without forcing you away, in an effort to shake every last quarter out of your pockets (a method every bit as exploitative as any microtransaction in Destiny 2). Now, my threshold for that (and I say this as someone who has finished Super Meat Boy twice - ladies, back off) is much lower. My time/reward ratio requirements are much different than that of an 80s arcade kid. And that's without putting in a coin after every death. I'm going to get into this a bit more in my next post, but for now, suffice to say my relationship with old games like this one is troubled at best.

And, of course, to some degree, these games are more basic, less polished, than more recent ones. By and large, game developers know what they're doing now. They mostly know how to make a game light up the right parts of your brain. As someone who has been spoilt by that, old games like Dig Dug are hard to revisit. Back then, they were still working things out. So while I'm not Dig Dug's biggest fan, I think it's worthwhile to go back and check these things out (hence this damned list).

⇦ Ms. Pac-Man

The Checklist

Lunar Jetman ⇨