Museum of the Game ®

International Arcade Museum® — Killer List of Videogames®

Lode Runner

Description

This raster game is very similar to the home computer game by Broderbund. Your commando runs around a vertical maze of tunnels made of brick and dirt. Use your blaster to dig holes, collect gold nuggets, and escape to the next level.

Lode Runner was produced by Irem in 1984.

Irem released 90 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1978. Irem was based in Japan.

Other machines made by Irem during the time period Lode Runner was produced include: Tropical Angel, Zippy Race, Traverse USA, Moon Patrol, Red Alert, Kung Fu, Spartan X, Lode Runner - The Bungeling Strikes Back, Battle-Road, and Lode Runner - Golden Labyrinth

Specs

Name	Lode Runner
Developer	Irem (Japan)
Year	1984
Type	Videogame
KLOV/MOG #	8441
Class	Wide Release
Genre	Platform
Monitor	Orientation: Horizontal Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Color: Color
Conversion Class	Irem
Game Specific	Lode Runner Pinout
Dipswitch Settings	Lode Runner Dipswitch Settings (user contributed)
# Simultaneous Players	1
# Maximum Players	1
Game Play	Single
Control Panel Layout	Single Player Ambidextrous
Controls	Joystick: 4-way (up, down, left, right) Buttons: 2 - Dig LeftDig Right
Sound	Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles	Upright/Standard

Video Clips

Let's Play Lode Runner Episode 4

Game Play

The object of the game is to collect all gold pieces from a maze of tunnels, ladders, ropes, and rooms. Persuing you is a number of monsters. The player navigates the maze with the joystick, climbing ladders, hanging from ropes, jumping off cliffs, or creating new tunnels with the blaster. Once all gold pieces are collected, an escape ladder appears. When the player gets to the top of it, he will move on to the next level -- a different maze. There are three levels per block. Each block has a different kind of monster.

There is also a timer for each level. If time expires before reaching the top of the escape ladder, the player dies. When the player loses a life, that level must be repeated from the start. When the level is finished, the remaining time is added to the score. If the level is finished in less than half of the allotted time, 2x of the remainder is awarded.

If a monster touches the player, he dies. The player has three lives with a one-time bonus life earned at 50000. The monsters can be delayed by blasting a hole in front of them. They fall in and are delayed by a few seconds. If a blasted hole fills in while the player or monster is in it, they will die. The monsters are recreated at the top of the screen so there is always the same number.

Monsters can carry gold. When they are carrying a gold piece, they will flash. They will randomly drop them. They will always drop them when they fall in a hole.

If a level is finished without entrapping a monster in a hole, the player will earn 20000 points. If monsters are entrapped but none are killed, 10000 points are awarded. Also, if all monsters are sealed into a room or pit permanently, 10000 points are earned.

A neat Easter egg: there is a hidden monster from the next block on every level where digging is allowed some levels have only stone, thus, the blaster cannot make holes. The monster can be uncovered by blasting the dirt that it is hiding in. Once it is uncovered, it will join in persuing the player. If it is entrapped, it will leave behind a bonus of 3000 to 8000 points. Its entrappment will not count against the 20000 entrappment bonus.

Lode Runner KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 2.75 (3 votes)

Fun Factor: 2.67

Overall Like	3.33
Fun (Social)	1.33
Fun (Solo)	3.33
Collector Desire	2.00

Technical Rating: 2.83

Gameplay	3.67
Graphics	2.67
Originality	3.33
Sound/Music	1.67

Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, Like carries a little more weight than the other factors.

Images

Cabinet Information

The sides of this game's cabinet are plain wood-grain.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Lode Runner Census

There are 15,264 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,669 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,973 machines (7,000 unique titles).

Common - There are 24 known instances of this machine owned by Lode Runner collectors who are active members. Of these, 7 of them are original dedicated machines. 2 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet. 15 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

For Sale - There is one active VAPS member with a Lode Runner machine for sale.

Wanted - There are 3 active VAPS members currently looking for Lode Runner. There is one active VAPS member looking for a Lode Runner circuit board set.

This game ranks a 6 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

This game ranks a 5 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Flyers

Legacy

Manuals

Operating Manual - Lode Runner Manual — **Operating Manual**
(13 pages, 566 kB File)

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