Lode Runner 2

"Jake and Jane ran round the plane and dug and looked for treasure. Monks got fooled, the puzzled ruled, and playing was a pleasure."

A green-haired stooge in checkerboard spandex graces the Lode Runner 2(LR2) CD case. On the install splash screen he is accompanied by a woman in matching garb, a thinking man's Lara Croft. LR2 provides many nice surprises of this sort although it promises even more--in this case you have only eight colors to choose for Jane's body suit with no designs. Perhaps more seriously there are 125 levels instead of 150, but twenty are easy tutorials. One gets the feeling LR2 was aborted, or deadlines prompted cutting out some levels or puzzles or ideas. But it's still vastly entertaining and true to its roots. I know when I considered what future Lode Runners past the Apple would be like, I considered nothing like this game. I'm glad someone else did.

The major upgrade from the classic versions is that it's now legitimately 3-d. You can move around on planes diagonally(which along with the reasoning bit gives a Q*Berty feel to it all,) with stairs pointing up, as you run to collect gold and avoid enemies and find the teleporter to get out. It's all still roughly grid-based, as when you try to dig a hole there are only certain cubes that you can take out. But this introduces several new challenges: first of all, if you dig several holes, you can't quite see yourself and need to have a certain spatial intuition to dig lower. Often you'll have to dig and drop several levels before turning out where you want, but other times you'll need to make good use of bombs or other items such as gas cans.

The other part, which emphasizes technique in a game that's perhaps a bit easy for Lode Runner, is about bringing two areas together by digging the right holes. Although you get an extra life for passing each, there's a low-time list for every level, and finding an elegant solution where you can get two chests that looked separated previously is thrilling. The excitement can even carry over to when the computer decides to make your margin of error to beat its default times small. Often you'll need to delay picking up gold that would seem easy to get right away, or there will be a long ladder you think you need to climb three times, but later you find you can do it twice. There's even some skill to moving around and digging--saving two squares off your path can make a difference. The best levels are when the obvious and safe approach doesn't pan out, and you can run through them missing the best time by five seconds, but you're not sure you can take on the responsibility of further cuts.

This is very intense for action puzzle lovers but the main hurdle to enjoyment will be the controls. You can still dive in, but to learn details that seem arbitrary you'll have to get out of your ivory tower and read the manual and practice the controls. You've got a lot to do, and although some actions are only critical at certain points in puzzles, there's a lot to forget and many ways to misplace your fingers if you use the keyboard. While you get to define your own keys the defaults are really as sensible as you could hope. Lode Runner for me has always meant stretching out with a keyboard and mucking around, which I know may not be for everybody.

KEYBOARD KAPERS

In fact if Shockwave's version of Robotron leaves you crying then LR2 is certainly not for you. At times it seems like you're controlling a tank and not a svelte woman(You aren't playing with that stooge Jake? C'mon,) who cartwheels off the side of a ladder. You must move diagonally to climb up stairs and the number pad is the control of choice. It takes a while to get used to the 1-3-7-9 spaced out as such, and then you'll need to master Q-A-S-W as directions to dig. But you'll need to go beyond this solipsism in short order, and you'll probably muck up 0(get/drop an item,) the control key(place a bomb,) tab(toggle bomb type to use,) space(use an item,) and the shift key(fall from a rope) plenty after taking time to figure one level. Whenever I replay the game looking for a faster time on certain levels, I have to brush up. It's not terribly intuitive, but it keeps close to the minimum necessary keys. And after some time you learn to pre-empt keys you need in a pattern anyway.

The game tries to make up for this by pointing out yellow targets where you drop from where you are, but offsetting this convenience is how you'll often find yourself turning off one square before you wanted to(especially on a huge plain) or running into a wall you don't want to. Also in a 3-d structure there is potential to fall off, but the computer only allows falling at the edges. You'll spend a lot of time watching Jane bash into an invisible barrier or wall you didn't want to hit. Then when you forget what the barriers are there for, you'll drop into the void and have a new reason to curse. Stupid mistakes will plague you when you learn and when you need to think about tougher puzzles, and you'll need an exceptionally tough skin since once you understand a puzzle the instructions you want to give do seem relatively simple.

HOT CROSS BOMBS

Fortunately the items you'll see most of involve lots of explosions, balancing Lode Runner's general greed with violence. Bombs don't count as official power-ups but that's little consolation to the monks and bricks you'll blow up. You place a bomb, it beeps, and a bit later it takes out all but the sturdiest looking squares(they generally have manholes over them) in the direction its shape indicates. Your device is even color coded to Jane's outfit and you can drop it while on the run or even hold a gas can to increase its radius. Bombs go along any of the three axes, or they can combine (X-Y and X-Y-Z) or take out a radius. Sometimes it'll be transparent when to use a bomb, but other times you'll need to figure ways to dig a hole and drop one in. Chain reactions are even possible, but you can also get killed by the afterblast. And while Jane is considerably more graceful in explosion than a Spinal Tap drummer, realizing you hurried too much isn't too sexy.

The second most common item would be an extra life, but sadly the rest of the power-ups aren't used much at all--there's one that lets you morph into a wall for a while, and I was able to draw up an easy starter puzzle that never came into play(one day I'll use the level editor to make it. What's Lode Runner without a level editor?) Then invisibility is rather fun but the use does seem a bit forced. There are also switches that toggle walkways--some only last a few seconds--and there's also a beach ball that lets you destroy monks you run through. Don't feel too sorry for them. Being religious to gods who break the rules and all, they get to reappear after a bit.

THREE BLIND MONKS

But now they're no longer uniform. There are three types--blind(who have a set pattern,) wild(who track you when you get close,) and death(they know where you are.) Each one has a different spot-color theme to his robe which would probably be better suited for wizards and has a different geebling and babbling. The monks had always been faceless killers until now, but when you see them teeter on a hole you dug you'll find they get as frustrated as you probably do. Sometimes they seem to act or appear randomly to disrupt you but it's surprising how part of many best solutions minimize this logically. Plus they have several different ways to kill you once they catch you. And given the 2-d environment they find odd ways to run at you and even try some spin moves, but they can also be suckered into letting you run past or even running into each other and getting into prolonged shoving matches. Boys! Boys! We're all worshipping the same God here...c'mon, now.

LODE-ING TIMES

So--you, the monks, and five different worlds to play in. To get the full ending you must play all the levels in order but you can always drop in anywhere to try to break a personal record. There's no excuse to feel too stuck. And some of the levels hint at possible greater creativity, and others you'll just be glad to solve before pinpointing a quick way to get chests that seemed too tough once. You'll also face a good blend of levels where you need to find, say, eight of ten one-second shortcuts with others where you can cut twenty seconds off by climbing a ladder one less time.

Even the starter levels to each world pose a challenge--there are no obstacles, and they emphasize not bumping into sides and quick runs, but you'll need to find a good way to pick up gold that's to the side. There are levels that aren't very pretty and feel like general scrambles, but they make for nice challenges. And you'll see plenty of pyramid-type structures.

But there are also wild levels--where running on an island to the left paints an island to the right, and if you do things right the monks over there will helplessly watch you zoom by. But that's not the quickest way. Another features disappearing blocks in a too-brief cameo(I mean, they don't just fall quickly, the concept doesn't appear again) on 5x5 islands which gives some quick interesting mathematical parity puzzles. There's an homage to Q*Bert(the game's diagonality reminds me of it anyway) where you jump down to the bottom the same way. You have some that consist of high dives and leaps of faith and although there are a few that rely on precision turning for best times, you'll probably be more caught up in keeping monks entrapped until the right times. Or descending into a pit with only seconds before your way up is blocked, or only being able to see your shadow as you dig with an obstructed view.

By the end the game is almost spectacular, with a 3-d Escher-inspired shape and other levels where you need to follow a blind monk closely or goad smarter monks from a critical area. For some levels you'll need to flip and un-flip switches in the right order, and near the end(sadly, the last one's a dud) you can kill enemies easily to make a clear path at the start, but they'll appear on the catwalk to the exit. Entitled 'Revenge of the Dead' this level parodies bad horror movies while veering into a game of espionage and stealth. And that is when Lode Runner is at its best--the levels encompass a puzzle concept and still feel like something else.

The worlds don't seem to be too weighted towards any particular sort of puzzle although the general color themes are well thought out, and certain worlds allow for some creative designs. Each one allows designers to stuff gold away in convincing holes, although they never keep gold out of view(in general, if something feels unfair, it's your fault.) And moving to the next level also changes the time of day. There's no strict reason for any of this, but it's nice to have Lode Runner's 3-d make-over help ease the pain of puzzles and controls. So let's take a brief tour.

The Training Levels are dreadfully boring to look at. Plus you can pass through them without learning the necessary lessons. You have to read the document on the CD for that. Which really pulls its weight making the training levels interesting. Even if it isn't as funny as the CD insert. Maybe it's just a way to motivate you to try the real thing.

Ahem. Jungle World features many pyramid structures and uses weird plants to make sure you don't fall off edges. You've got plenty of stone and grass plateaus, and thatched vine ropes to the side of ladders make the levels, normally shrouded in mist, seem to have a roof. Fountains generally block areas you don't need to bother with, and there's even an inexplicable UFO or two. Many plants have eyeballs as do the transporters--stone idols that open their mouths when you've got all the loot.

The eyeballs are in the walls in Wacky World, the best of them all. And they have cool transporters with big teeth. But the coloring here is masterful and you're left wondering why they didn't half-duplicate this one instead of Gear and Industrial worlds. Lava lamps block your way across more diggable orange and purple checkerboards. Not that normal tiles are easy on the eyes. The background effects are the best here, with some weird organ music like psychedelic 'charge' theme at a pro sports game popping up randomly to offset a neurotically laughing sun and moon. Then there's stuff that has no obligation to make sense--some poor pompadoured soul stuffed in a flowerpot, and outright frowny flowers to go with fruit-slice platforms on walkways and bubble-rain. How can you go wrong?

By switching levels--but it's not too bad. Gear World is a tidy efficient place with pipes and flame jets and more respectable checkerboards(two different shades of brown. With a set of semiprecious chess pieces it'd be quite handsome) Here you'll trigger lots of explosions and are introduced to thin plexiglass floors, a subtle variation on the blocks you generally blast. And the best part is, lab coats aren't required to steal any of the gold.

Mona World features 'classical' designs with viaducts, arches, pools, frescoes, statues and all manner of artsy stuff that's not very functional beyond 1)being something else to get in your way or 2) being something to walk in. It also has a few processions of monks which I found a humorous touch.

The previous two worlds leave Industrial World feeling a bit dry especially since there seem to be a few gears in it. You generally have a lot of switches to flip and the levels get almost too big. I guess it's supposed to feel a bit more futuristic than Gear World. But then again I suppose we could have earth, air, fire and water worlds. These are legitimate and good new ideas, and despite being a puzzle purist(i.e. sacrifice all this for just five more good ones) I'll waffle a bit here and say the creative graphics and puzzles can probably work hand in hand, and I don't understand it all, so why not just enjoy it? And speaking of enjoyment--Jane, here's lookin' at your screenshot, kid. Watching you fix your ponytail was worth waiting a few seconds when I wasn't going to break a record anyway. Pixel-perfect, babe.

Yet at the end of the day(which may extend to 2 AM as LR2 can be addictive while it lasts) LR2 may not be hard enough for dedicated fans of the series, even with time trials, and not accessible enough for a new generation. Which is a pity because it's very colorful, has a fun main character and a neat war room feel. Some of the levels feel as though they are going through the motions, but I found when I came back to the game I could cut down on some times and enjoyed re-learning other strategic details. And there are stupid small inexplicable things like how the game counts off an extra three and a half seconds after you enter a transporter(just lower the best times) and how the second level is VERY hard to get a best time on. But I didn't find any huge annoyance, and LR2 really managed to find a new way to present the whole puzzle series. The 3-d view will make for some agonizing puzzles, but in the end(and it may be, for the series) it's a really unexpected and welcome twist, and it works.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/05/03, Updated 07/05/03