The year is 1984 and no one’s heard of a pair of Italian plumbers who eat magic mushrooms and go down sewers pipes in an attempt to save a damsel in distress. People have, though, been playing a boulder-based 2D puzzle-maze game on their brand new Atari system with its impressive 8-bit graphics.
Created by two Canadian developers, Peter Liepa and Chris Gray, Boulder Dash took the world by storm surpassing the excitement and speed of its predecessor Dig Dug and dazzled with its colorful animations for the time.
Fast forward nearly four decades, and Boulder Dash has become one of the longest running video game franchises with over 20 versions of the game, on over 20 different platforms, evolving over time to remain a fixture in the retro gaming space and in video game history.
Now, Boulder Dash Deluxe is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows 10, giving players a chance to experience video game development evolution first hand, level by level. It’s a time capsule that will take you back to an 8-bit world and snap you forward to present, allowing you to feel the limitations of gaming then to the vast expanses of development tools we have today to make these amazing products that can literally live on for decades.
As a teenager who flew to Japan with barely enough money to come back, just to see the mecca of video games at the time, never did I think that I would be able to make video games as a career but also be a part of Peter Liepa’s amazing creation and franchise that has lasted so long.
In this latest version, we invite players to explore the refreshed world of Boulder Dash with the game’s influential protagonist, Rockford, and dive headfirst into myriad new and exciting challenges. Players will dig through spectacular caves with modernized 3D elements while avoiding the perils of falling boulders! There’s no shortage of valuable gems to collect, and even more nefarious enemies to conquer along the way; discover treasure chests overflowing with rare collectibles and valuable power-ups as you plow your way through 180 new and challenging levels, 20 of them created by Peter Liepa itself.
It’s a slice of history, a maze of challenges and an absolute gem. We hope you check it out and keep the good times rolling with us for another decade!