Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
One of the more intimidating game genres are the infamous trap-em-ups. Games literally
designed to test your patience, to the point of throwing your fist into
a wall. A measure of how quick you think on your feet, and how many lives you are willing
to lose to clear a stage. Simple, but still maddeningly difficult in practice. The savage
Lode Runner, originally created by architecture student Doug Smith and published by Broderbund,
had its greatest success on the NES and various gaming computers in the eighties with its
150 levels of gold rushing, enemy dodging action. When Bandai took control of the project
in 1989, they did well to release the legendary puzzler into Game Boy format with Hyper Lode
Runner. Core gameplay is the same. You have a gun that shoots to the left or right of
you, and a host of quick, hostile mutant cyborg zombies with a penchant for consumption of
humans, are chasing you all the while, making life hard for Player One. You can trap the
enemies in a hole, use them as stepping stones, and even destroy them when the pit fills back
up, but they will regenerate in a flash and start the whole charade again. And holy crap
are they fast. Pac-man's difficulty might seem like a cakewalk in this immersive puzzler.
Each level is almost humorously constructed, with certain patterns made up of blocks serving
as both the path to victory and defeat. It may behoove you to have a plan in place before
tackling each stage, but with only three lives to begin with and since the penalty for death
is being kicked back to the beginning, you'll have to keep certain maneuvers in mind. In
short, this is hardcore gaming. No nonsense controls and one objective: to get that mooney.
So brace yourself, puzzle gaming fans. Hitch up your courage, and maybe your pants, before
you start filling those pockets with gold in Hyper Lode Runner. You'll need lightning
quick reflexes and wit, but most of all patience, cuz getting out of a trap-em-up like this
isn't gonna be easy. Mo money, mo problems.