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{{short description|1984 video game}}

factoids

NAFirst Star Software>EU|Mirrorsoft}}Peter Liepa|Chris Gray}}Kazunori IshiguriHisatada Ohta (1990 arcade)}}|artist = Azusa Hara|Fuse (1990 arcade)}}title={{noboldAtari 8-bit{{Video game releaseMarch 1984YEAR-END INDEX >MAGAZINE=COMPUTER ENTERTAINER VOLUME=3 PAGE=156 UKC64{{Video game releaseApril 19841984}}Apple II{{Video game release>NAPC-88{{Video game releaseOctober 1984}}FM-7{{Video game release>JPColecoVision{{Video game releaseDecember 1984}}Arcade{{Video game release>NAJPJPIBM PCZX Spectrum{{Video game release1984}}CPC{{Video game release>UKMSXSuper Cassette Vision{{Video game release1985}}BBC, Electron{{Video game release>UKNES{{Video game releaseMarch 23, 1990June 19901990}}Game Boy{{Video game release>JPEUAtari 2600Intellivision{{Video game releaseMarch 18, 2015}}}}Puzzle video game>Puzzle, maze|modes = Single-playertitle={{noboldAtari 8-bit computers>Atari 8-bit}}|Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Arcade, Atari 2600, BBC Micro, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, FM-7, Game Boy, IBM PC, Intellivision, iOS, MSX, NES, PC-88, PMD 85, Super Cassette Vision, ZX SpectrumWEB, Boulder Dash,weblink First Star Software, }}}}Boulder Dash is a 2D maze-puzzle video game released in 1984 by First Star Software for Atari 8-bit computers.WEB, Weber, Arno, Interview: Peter Liepa, Boulder-dash.nl, November 2005,weblink March 8, 2024, It was created by Canadian developers Peter Liepa and Chris Gray. The player controls Rockford, who collects treasures while evading hazards.WEB, Boulder Dash,weblink October 6, 2013, The International Arcade Museum, Boulder Dash was ported to many 8-bit and 16-bit systems and turned into a coin-operated arcade video game. It was followed by multiple sequels and re-releases and influenced games such as Repton and direct clones such as Emerald Mine.As of January 2018, BBG Entertainment GmbH owns the intellectual property rights to Boulder Dash.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}The game's name is a pun on balderdash.

Gameplay

Boulder Dash takes place in a series of caves, each of which is laid out as rectangular grid of blocks. The player guides the player character, Rockford, with a joystick or arrow keys. In each cave, Rockford has to collect as many diamonds as are needed and avoid dangers, such as falling rocks. When enough diamonds have been collected, the exit door opens, and going through this exit door completes the cave.

Development

As an aspiring game developer, Peter Liepa reached out to a local publisher called Inhome Software. They put him in touch with a young man—Chris Gray—who had submitted a game programmed in BASIC that was not commercial quality, but had potential.{{sfn|Liepa|loc=7:05}} The project began with the intention of converting this game to machine language and releasing it through Inhome, but according to Liepa, the game was very primitive.{{sfn|Liepa|loc=7:48}} He decided to expand the concept and add more interesting dynamics, and he wrote the new version in Forth{{sfn|Liepa|loc=5:09}} in about six months.{{sfn|Liepa|loc=10:28}} When it became clear that the game was worth releasing, Liepa rewrote Boulder Dash in 6502 assembly language.{{sfn|Liepa|loc=5:15}}Dissatisfied with the lack of a contact from Inhome Software, Liepa searched for a new publisher.{{sfn|Liepa|loc=12:37}} He settled on First Star Software, which, according to him, was very happy to publish the game.{{sfn|Liepa|loc=14:00}}

Ports

The game was licensed by Exidy for use with their Max-A-Flex arcade cabinet. Released in 1984, it allows buying 30 seconds of game time.JOURNAL, Campbell, Stuart, Stuart Campbell (blogger), 2008, The Definitive Boulder Dash, Retro Gamer, 53, 32–41, This was the first home computer game to be converted to an arcade console.

Reception

{{Video game reviewsZX Spectrum)ARCHIVE - MAGAZINE VIEWER ACCESS-DATE=DECEMBER 6, 2012, World of Spectrum, ACCESS-DATE=DECEMBER 6, 2012 COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES >DATE=16 OCTOBER 1989 PAGES=46–77,weblink ACCESS-DATE=DECEMBER 6, 2012, World of Spectrum, URL-STATUS=DEAD ARCHIVE-DATE=JUNE 16, 2013 PUBLISHER=YSRNRY.CO.UK, ACCESS-DATE=DECEMBER 6, 2012, Zzap!64, | rev1 = Computer Games| rev1Score = B+ (home computers)| rev2 = Home Computing WeeklyACCESS-DATE=DECEMBER 6, 2012, World of Spectrum, }}II Computing said that "bright, colorful animation coupled with a breezy story line make this game more than just a momentary diversion".NEWS, Shapiro, Neil, Oct–Nov 1985, Of Jewels and Ghouls and Butterflies and Strategies of War, 24–26, II Computing,weblink January 28, 2015, Computer Games magazine called it an "incredible addicting maze game" along the lines of Dig Dug, but faster and more exciting.MAGAZINE, 1985 Software Buyer's Guide, Computer Games, February 1985, 3, 5, Carnegie Publications, United States, 11–8, 51–8,weblink Mean Machines gave the Game Boy port of Boulder Dash a score of 90%, praising it as "one of the finest video games ever written", describing the game as "one to buy as soon as possible" and noting its faithfulness to the original Commodore 64 version.JOURNAL, Rignall, Julian, Julian Rignall, Richard Leadbetter, June 1991, Boulderdash review,weblink dead, Mean Machines, 9,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20161221000613weblink">weblink December 21, 2016, June 4, 2009, The same publication reviewed the NES version favourably, stating that it was "an extremely impressive title" and "one of the greatest games ever written". It was given a 92% rating.WEB,weblink Boulderdash - Nintendo Entertainment System - Mean Machines review, www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071027010727weblink">weblink 2007-10-27, The ZX Spectrum version was placed ninth in the Your Sinclair Top 100 Speccy Games Of All Time (Ever) by journalist Stuart Campbell.NEWS, Campbell, Stuart, Stuart Campbell (game journalist), January 1992, The YS Top 100 Speccy Games Of All Time (Ever) - Number 24 to 2, Your Sinclair, Future Publishing, 73,weblink 10 May 2018, In 1993, Commodore Force ranked the game at number 17 on its list of the top 100 Commodore 64 games.WEB, Top Ton!,weblink Commodore Force, Autumn 1993, 2017-09-03, 33, IGN reviewed the Virtual Console release of the Commodore 64 version. Although the graphics and sound were both found to be dated they enjoyed the game stating that it "still feels as fresh as it did in 1984". They concluded by stating "though it doesn't look like much, Boulder Dash rocks".WEB,weblink Boulder Dash Review, 23 June 2009, Boulder Dash was included in the top 30 Commodore 64 games by C't Magazin in Germany.WEB,weblink C't-Auswahl: Die 30 besten Spiele für den Commodore 64, 4 August 2017, The game sold more than 500,000 copies by August 1994.WEB,weblink Video game industry set to out-glitz Hollywood, Edmonton Journal, August 25, 1994, 56, August 24, 2021, Newspapers.com,

Legacy

Boulder Dash was the first in a long series of games:

• Boulder Dash (1985 – Arcade) – in 1985 another arcade version was released on Data East's "DECO Cassette System", with improved graphics but a reduced display grid on a vertical monitor.
• Boulder Dash II (1985) – published under several different titles; Rockford's Riot on the MSX, Rockford's Revenge on the C64. The second release in Japan was titled Champion Boulder Dash, but it is not a port of the western game.WEB, Oh! FM-7 Museum,weblink December 6, 2012, Retropc.net,
• Boulder Dash 3 (1986 – Apple II, C64, Spectrum, PC) – monochrome space-themed graphics and poorly designed levels made this a critical failure.
• Boulder Dash Construction Kit (1986 – Apple II, C64, Spectrum, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari ST) – this release included a small number of levels (12 caves and 3 intermission levels),Boulder Dash Construction Kit manual page 6 but was titled Boulder Dash IV – The Game for the Spectrum re-release. The title allowed players access to tools which allowed them to design their own levels.
• Super Boulder Dash (1986 – Apple II, C64, PC) – a compilation of Boulder Dash and Boulder Dash II published by Electronic Arts.WEB, Super Boulder Dash Manual,weblink June 1, 2019, Electronic Arts,
• Rockford (1988 – Arcade, Amiga, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Arcade, Spectrum,WEB, Rockford,weblink November 23, 2008, World of Spectrum, Amstrad, C64) - Rockford was originally a licensed arcade game produced by Arcadia Systems, and later converted to various home computer formats.
• Boulder Dash Part 2 (1990 – Arcade)
• Boulder Dash (1990 - Game Boy)
• Boulder Dash (1990 - NES)
• Boulder Dash EX (2002 – Game Boy Advance) - this one has a new "EX mode" and "Classic mode" which is a direct port of the 1984 PC version.
• Boulder Dash Xmas 2002 Edition (2002 – PC)
• GemJam Gold (2003 – PC) – the game's credits claim this is based on Boulder Dash, and is licensed by First Star.
• Boulder Dash – Treasure Pleasure (2003 – PC)
• (Boulder Dash: Rocks!) (2007 – DS, iOS)
• Boulder Dash Vol 1 (2009 – iOS)
• Boulder Dash-XL (2011 - Xbox Live Arcade, PC, iOS, 3DS)WEB, November 9, 2010, Boulder Dash XL Announced,weblink Bluesnews,
• Boulder Dash - The Collection! (2011 – Android)WEB, Boulder Dash - The Collection for Android Announced,weblink 2011-09-24, 2011-09-26,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110926005820weblink">weblink dead,
• Boulder Dash (2011 – Atari 2600) - limited edition of 250 copies.WEB,weblink First Star Software's Boulder Dash Is Heading To The Atari 2600 {{!, RetroCollect |website=www.retrocollect.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214015135weblink |archive-date=2013-12-14}}
• Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary (2014 – iOS, Android, Switch, PC, Mac) - co-published by TapStar Interactive and First Star Software, Inc., with a world designed by the original creator Peter Liepa as well as another world by TapStar CEO, Chris Gray. This sequel was developed in collaboration by TapStar Interactive, First Star Software, SoMa Play Inc. and Katsu Entertainment LLC (2014 - Android, iOS) as both a premium (paid) and a freemium game.MAGAZINE, Hilliard, Kyle, January 21, 2014, Original Boulder Dash Creators Team-Up For Mobile Remake,weblink January 21, 2014, Game Informer, GameStop,
• Boulder Dash (2015 – Intellivision) – co-published by First Star Software, Inc. and Classic Game Publishers, Inc./ElektroniteWEB, Boulder Dash Officially Released for Intellivision 30 Years Later &124; RetroCollect,weblink dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160318182233weblink">weblink 2016-03-18, 2019-08-03,
• Boulder Dash Deluxe (2021 – Switch, Xbox, Atari VCS, Steam (PC and Mac), Windows Store and Mac Store) – developed and published by BBG Entertainment with a world designed by the original creator Peter Liepa and a Retro world with the 20 original levels from 1984.WEB,weblink Boulder Dash Deluxe Launches First on Atari VCS &124; BBG-Entertainment, 10 February 2021, WEB,weblink Boulder Dash Deluxe launches September 9 for Xbox One, Switch, and PC, 12 August 2021,
• Boulder Dash Ultimate Collection (2022 – Switch)

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

• AV MEDIA,weblink ANTIC Interview 66 - Peter Liepa, Boulder Dash, 16 Jun 2015, Kevin Savetz, Peter Liepa, ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast, CITEREFLiepa,

External links

• Official website
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20040209221855weblink">Archived website
• {{MobyGames | /4632/boulder-dash/}}
• Boulder Dash for the Atari 8-bit family at Atari Mania
• {{lemon64 game|id=349}}
• Fan site with mechanics, implementation details
• Photos of packaging
• "Between a Rock and a Hard Diamond" Electron Dance, July 2011
• Review in GAMES Magazine

{{Boulder Dash series}}