Earth Shaker - Great Spectrum 'Boulderdash Clone' on XBLIG

[ChipTune]

This has been out a while but I only found it the other day. It was originally released for the ZX Spectrum in 1990 and it has been ported by the author to the indie channel on Xbox Live.

It's really good fun, mashing the standard Boulderdash format with some new ideas (well new at the time I guess).

I recommend it to anyone who likes speccy games or boulderdash style games (and I know there are a good number of you on the RG forum)

Also I am stuck on level 9 (i think) and I need other players to get involved and let me know how to beat it

[markopoloman]

That looks great. Nice find.

How much is it?

[Mire Mare]

That does look good. I'll have a go later tonight if I get onto the Xbox.

80ms points, marko.

[Mire Mare]

Played the demo last night and downloaded the full version today. Super wee game! More elements to it than Boulderdash making it a bit more complex, but just as much fun.

Another indie bargain

[Antiriad2097]

Good find, but I'm surprised it was posted by someone who wrote:

Sick to death of the spectrum coverage.. I never liked them really

Not everyone reading the mag is an old fart clinging on to rose tinted nostalgia over the spectrum... It is a historic artifact that deserves respect but played today it is a pile of gubbins.

Revising your opinion of it any?

[ChipTune]

Played the demo last night and downloaded the full version today. Super wee game! More elements to it than Boulderdash making it a bit more complex, but just as much fun.

Another indie bargain

If you get past level 9 could you help me out please? I cant get pat the room on the right of the high tower of boulders / diamonds that you make come down in a single line so you can get the diamonds.. do you know what I mean?

[ChipTune]

Good find, but I'm surprised it was posted by someone who wrote:

Sick to death of the spectrum coverage.. I never liked them really

Not everyone reading the mag is an old fart clinging on to rose tinted nostalgia over the spectrum... It is a historic artifact that deserves respect but played today it is a pile of gubbins.

Revising your opinion of it any?

Not really as it is still an modern indie title that looks and sounds like a spectrum game. downloaded a ZX emulator for my DSi and played a few games.. some of the games weren't so bad (still looked utterly awful though), I liked REX and the Monty mole games (which I had on c64 back in the day).

One thing I don't get is why Manic Miner is so highly regarded.. I found it to be a bit pants to be honest.. and jet set willy wasnt much better.. (also read in RG this had a game breaking bug in it), so not sure why these games get so much praise and attention.

[markopoloman]

Horses for courses. I love JSW & MM - two of my all time fave games.

[The Beans]

There's a port of Manic Miner from Elite Systems currently in peer review on XBLIG, with more Spectrum games to follow if sales of MM are decent.

Probably old news around here.

[QuantumCrayons]

Not really as it is still an modern indie title that looks and sounds like a spectrum game.

Thought it was a Spectrum game that was ported?

[JazzFunk]

I'll grab this very shortly, and if the Manic Miner port is 80pts, I'll be getting that too.

I'd love it if there were more 8-bit ports on XBLIG, just a pity it's mainly really decent twinstick shooters but little else.

[TMR]

Good find, but I'm surprised it was posted by someone who wrote:

Sick to death of the spectrum coverage.. I never liked them really

Not everyone reading the mag is an old fart clinging on to rose tinted nostalgia over the spectrum... It is a historic artifact that deserves respect but played today it is a pile of gubbins.

Revising your opinion of it any?

Not really as it is still an modern indie title that looks and sounds like a spectrum game.

Yes really since, as you pointed out, it's a remake by the original coder of Earth Shaker, a Spectrum game released as a covermount by Your Sinclair over two decades ago...



...and therefore fits into the "pile of gubbins" you mentioned previously.

One thing I don't get is why Manic Miner is so highly regarded.. I found it to be a bit pants to be honest.. and jet set willy wasnt much better.. (also read in RG this had a game breaking bug in it), so not sure why these games get so much praise and attention.

Part of that is because they came first, at least for the UK market and it's only possible to understand' that success if you keep it in context; many of the platformers that followed took inspiration from how MM and JSW work and the "quirky British humour" that evolved into Spectrum games and indeed the community as a whole owe a massive debt to those two titles.

And, once the tough first ascent of the difficulty curve is out of the way both games are very playable too, although it does help to be trying them on real hardware to get the "atmosphere" so if you were trying to get into them on a DSi that probably won't have helped matters either.

[Freestyler]

I could never "get into" Boulderdash. To me it felt like I should be playing it like the superb Dig Dug, but every time I did I got stuck. Maybe I should give it a go?

[ChipTune]

Has anyone bought this game then? I need some help on level 9 if anyone would be so kind.. cant get any further

[Mire Mare]

Has anyone bought this game then? I need some help on level 9 if anyone would be so kind.. cant get any further

I bought it. Level 9 you say. .. .. .. .. that's as far as I've managed to get too I'll be trying again though. Hate to be defeated by a puzzle!