Dig Dug

Dig Dug (ディグダグ) is a fondly-remembered game from the early days of the arcade. The game featured bright colorful animation, and a catchy tune that only played as long as Dig Dug was still in motion. After creating an international sensation with Pac-Man, Namco tried to cash in on other maze game concepts, but none of the succeeded quite as well as the original. As an alternative take on the genre, Dig Dug examines how much fun it might be to allow the player to make his or her own mazes. It turned out that many people thought it was a lot of fun.

Another more imaginative aspects of the game was the way in which Dig Dug eliminates his enemies. He attaches a pump to the body of an enemy and pumps them full of air until they pop. Dig Dug has recently been reinvented by Namco due to the popularity of the Mr. Driller series, casting Dig Dug as Taizo Hori, the father of Mr. Driller. But it is yellow goggle wearing tomato character named Pooka that has received the lion's share of popularity in Japan, with cameos and guest appearances in several other Namco games.

To bring this game from Japan to the United States, Namco turned to Atari instead of Bally Midway to whom Namco had licensed the rights to distribute Pac-Man. Atari did a good job promoting the game as one of the highlights in their library, and they brought the game home to several systems to answer the considerable demand.

Dig Dug's vegetable garden is being invaded by mutant mushrooms and fire breathing dragons. He must dig underneath the garden's surface and pump the troublemakers full of air with his trusty pump, and exterminate all of the nuisances before moving on to the next patch.