Rocky Original

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Beform you say wearily, "Oh no, not another Repton-type game", let me put the record straight. Boulder Dash has the enviable reputation of being the game which inspired Repton and all its clones all those years ago.

So why is it finally being released for the BBC Micro market, which by now must surely be saturated to bursting point with diamond-digging maze games? The answer is, as ever, that the original is usually the best. Not always, but in this case it is certainly true.

I, like many others, cracked my maze-digging teeth on Repton long before I ever heard of Boulder Dash.

Little did I know that this newcomer actually pre-dated my favourite by quite a stretch.

Well, here it is at last and jolly good it is too. You play the part of Rockford, a cute little character who is a right little hoarder, and addicted to those big glistening diamonds scattered about the place just waiting to be scooped up.

Unfortunately, opposition to Rockford's greed lies in the form of hundreds of lethal boulders, deadly butterflies and a rapidly-growing, pulsating amoeba.

Most obviously dangerous are the boulders. Although this doesn't need explaining to Repton fans, they are imbedded in earth and digging for diamonds undermines their support. If a boulder falls on Rockford, it's curtains.

A large element of strategy is involved in turning things to your advantage. Boulders may be pushed either left or right, and as they will topple off the edge of a precipice - which can be dug carefully to suit your requirements - traps can be laid for the mutant butterflies.

Dropping a boulder on a butterfly mutates it into nine separate diamonds. As a set quota of these has to be collected, you'll find butterfly crushing is a necessary pastime - especially on levels deliberately low in their supplies of diamonds.

Collecting the full quota for a given screen causes a door somewhere in the maze to be activated. It won't always be near you, so when you hear the bang which signifies its opening, a quick dash is indicated, especially if time is running short - there is a time limit for each level.

The green amoeba encountered on later levels is a real pain. It grows at a phenomenal rate and after a certain point it will turn into hundreds of boulders, which will then rain destruction on Rockford's head. Another incentive to hurry things up.

My only niggle, oddly enough, was in the keyboard control. Rockford simply would not stop smartly on the spot when I released the keys.

Instead - during what were usually tightly calculated manoeuvres - he would plough ahead for one more move, totally mucking up the strategy and sometimes getting himself crushed under a deadly impromptu rockfall.

My verdict is that Boulder Dash is the original diamond digging game and it's still the best ever. Buy it, even if you are an unshakeable Repton fan - you'll be amazed at just how addictive it canbe and certainly won't be disappointed.

Chris Nixon