Dig Dug II: Trouble in Paradise (NES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Bandai's 1989 action game for the NES, Dig Dug II: Trouble in Paradise.

Namco's 1982 arcade hit Dig Dug is widely considered a classic of video gaming's first so-called "golden age," so it shouldn't really come as much of a surprise that it had a sequel.

However, this 1989 release no doubt puzzled many fans of the original game. The original Dig Dug's Famicom conversion never appeared outside of Japan, and the arcade version of Dig Dug II didn't see a US release until 2005 when it was included in the Namco Museum Battle Collection for the PSP.

Before 2005, this NES cart was the sole official release of the game to reach American shores. It also formed the basis of the Famicom Disk System conversion that was released in Japan in 1990.

Thankfully, like Pac-Man (   • Pac-Man (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete  ), the NES conversion of Dig Dug II is pretty good. The aspect ratio is different, the sprites have been simplified, and the music sounds a bit thinner, but those minor compromises aside, it's faithful to the arcade original.

The gameplay marks a big departure from the original Dig Dug. Dig Dug II takes place on a series of islands swarming with pookas (the red things wearing goggles) and fygars (the fire-breathing dragons with the creepy eyes), and the goal in each of the seventy-two rounds is to kill the monsters.

This can be done in two ways. You can fire a hose into an enemy and pump air into it until it pops, which always struck me as a bit gruesome, or you can drop a part of the island into the sea, drowning whatever poor creature happens to be standing on it at the time.

You carve the islands up by using your jackhammer to create cracks. Carving a series of cracks to separate a chunk from the main land mass will cause the smaller portion to collapse, and you're awarded points based on how many enemies you take out in a single drop.

It starts out simple, but don't let the first dozen rounds lull you into a false sense of complacency. As the island layouts become increasingly complex and the enemies speed up, Dig Dug II starts to bear its teeth. This is one tough game to clear.

There are strategies to make it more manageable: your air hose can temporarily stun the bad guys and a carefully placed crack can temporarily slow their pursuit, but self-preservation is the most important thing to keep in mind. There aren't any continues, and the fidgety controls take a little bit to get used to.

I'm a big fan of Dug Dug II. I really got into back in the late 90s, and I actually came to like more than the original game. It's not as mindless as it first appears and it becomes super addictive as you become more familiar with its nuances.

It's undoubtedly retro, even by NES standards, but I guarantee you'll find a lot to dig into if you give it a chance.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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