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Remember the arcade game Mr Do? Microdeal do — and they have just released a version of this extremely popular arcade game for the 64. And despite our reservations about this sort of idea — copying — Mr Dig is a very playable game.

The object of the game is to guide Mr Dig around a maze-style screen picking cherries and avoiding the various meanies who come out to get you. Simple — but fun!

Pick all the cherries on the screen and you qualify for a crack at the next — more difficult — screen. The game is well presented with nice graphics. The screen also includes an ongoing score read-out plus a hi-score. Also at the top of the screen is a panel which grants bonus scores if you do everything properly. But more of that later.

The meanies start from the centre of each screen. Mr Dig begins the game at bottom centre of the screen. A nice touch are the little boxes at the right hand side of the screen which house your remaining Mr Digs. When you lose a life, the deceased Mr Dig returns to his box with his legs in the air and plays dead until you bring him back for another game!

There are several meanies attempting to prevent Mr Dig getting those cherries. The least dangerous are simply called Meanies – little characters who can only chase Mr Dig. Their touch is deadly but they cannot tunnel after our hero – so you can lead them into dead ends or trap them using one of the apples which also appear on the screen.

The Meanies can mutate into Miners, however, and these creatures are more of a threat to Mr Dig as they can tunnel after him and eat apples.

In the centre of each screen is a "treat" which, when captured by Mr Dig, "freezes" the existing Meanies on screen and releases Letter Monster. And this is where the panel at the top of the screen comes in.

If you manage to destroy the Letter Monster, the letter it carried will be displayed at the top of the screen. Make up the word EXTRA as you go through the game and you'll earn an extra life. The Letter Monster is protected by more meanies called Mallers — if these are destroyed individually, they mutate into apples.

Each Mr Dig is armed with a power orb which can be used to destroy the nasties chasing you. Fire it and it bounces around the screen until it hits something.

All in all, a really nice game from Microdeal, very playable and extremely addictive.

Mr Dig comes with nine levels of play, ranging from "Baby" to "Masochist”, nice graphics and good sound. We liked it — even though it's yet another clone from the arcades.