Dig Dug
Dig Dug is a maze arcade video game developed by Namco in 1981 and released in 1982, distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player controls Dig Dug to defeat all enemies per stage, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rocks.
| Dig Dug | |
|---|---|
Advertising flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Designer(s) | Masahisa Ikegami Shigeru Yokoyama |
| Programmer(s) | Shouichi Fukatani Toshio Sakai |
| Artist(s) | Hiroshi Ono |
| Composer(s) | Yuriko Keino |
| Series | Dig Dug |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, Apple II, PV-1000, LCD, MSX, NES, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit, X68000, Game Boy, Mobile phone, Game Boy Advance, iOS, Xbox 360 |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Maze |
| Mode(s) | 1-2 players alternating turns |
Dig Dug was planned and designed by Masahisa Ikegami, with help from Galaga creator Shigeru Yokoyama. It was programmed for the Namco Galaga arcade board by Shouichi Fukatani, who worked on many of Namco's earlier arcade games, along with Toshio Sakai. Music was composed by Yuriko Keino, including the character movement jingle at executives' request, as her first Namco game. Namco heavily marketed it as a "strategic digging game".
Upon release, Dig Dug was well received by critics for its addictive gameplay, cute characters, and strategy. During the golden age of arcade video games, it was globally successful, including as the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 in Japan. It prompted a long series of sequels and spin-offs, including the Mr. Driller series, for several platforms. It is in many Namco video game compilations for many systems.