Line #24 VideoGame/DigDug


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_5801.jpeg]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:Killing stuff with an air pump since 1982.]]
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8	->''"In the early days of coal mining, it was dirty, dangerous work, as seen in this sad footage. We lost a lot of good men to inflatable dragons."''
9	-->-- '''Creator/StephenColbert''', ''Series/TheColbertReport''
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11	''Dig Dug'' is a DiggingGame by Creator/{{Namco}}, first released as an UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame in 1982. The objective of the game is for your player (initially just named "Dig Dug", but later changed to [[PunnyName Taizo Hori]]) to dig underground and eliminate all of the monsters on each stage using a special pressure pump to inflate them to bursting. You can also dig out the dirt beneath buried rocks to drop them on enemies. There are two types of foes: Pookas, somewhat harmless round things that bounce around and go about their business, and Fygars, dangerous dragons that can breathe fire. The further down you are when you kill an enemy, the more points you'll receive--and you score double for killing a Fygar horizonally. Throughout each level, you'll sometimes come across vegetables that will boost your score. The enemies can turn into ghosts and slowly work their way through the dirt to close in on you and/or run off the screen.
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13	A few sequels have been released (''Dig Dug II'', the PC-only ''Dig Dug Deeper'', ''Dig Dug: [[SuperTitle64Advance Digging Strike]]'', and ''Dig Dug Online'') as well as a spinoff series in ''VideoGame/MrDriller''. Taizo himself appears in two Platform/ShiftyLook properties, ''VideoGame/NamcoHigh'' and ''WebAnimation/{{Mappy}}'', oddly still being referred to as Dig Dug.
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15	Taizo Hori himself appears in the turn-based strategy RPG ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'', his backstory [[AdaptationalBadass portraying him]] as a [[RetiredBadass retired soldier]] who now works as a [[VideoGame/MegaManLegends Digger]]. His ex-wife, [[MeaningfulName Toby]] [[InSeriesNickname "Kissy"]] [[SamusIsAGirl Masuyo]] from ''VideoGame/{{Baraduke}}'' (who is teamed up with ''Burning Force'''s Hiromi Tengenji), is also playable in the same game, [[WorkingWithTheEx still apparently holding a grudge against Taizo]]. The characters are respectively voiced by Creator/ToshioFurukawa (Taizo), Creator/YukoMizutani (Toby), and Creator/ChisaYokoyama (Hiromi).
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17	Has nothing to do with [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Diglett or Dugtrio]].
18	----
19	!! Tropes used in Dig Dug:
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21	* ActionBomb: One of the enemy varieties in the original ''Arrangement'' is a red robot that explodes when burst, taking any other enemy with it. This is also used on half the bosses.
22	* ArmlessBiped: Most artwork depicts the Fygars having visible arms which are just hidden in-game by [[GraphicsInducedSuperDeformed the simple graphics]], but they have occasionally been officially depicted as not having arms, such as in the ''Namco Museum Battle Collection'' edition of ''Arrangement''.
23	* AttractMode: It was one of the earliest arcade games to include a "demo sound" feature in which (some of) the game's sound effects can be heard during the gameplay demo, although without the music.
24	* BreathWeapon: Fygars have a fire breath, which is signaled by them flashing their red wings. In some home computer ports, the breath fires instantly with no cooldown or charge time.
25	* TheCameo: In the original ''Arrangement'', Cosmos from Namco's ''Cosmo Gang'' series appear as enemies in the Moon levels. The spheres used to clear Cosmos in ''Cosmo Gang the Puzzle'' also appear in early levels, serving as a special type of boulder (including playing the same sound effects).
26	* ColorCodedMultiplayer: In ''Arrangement'', the two Taizos are colored white/blue and yellow/white respectively.
27	* CuteIsEvil: The Pookas and Fygars are rather adorable, but still they are enemies.
28	* DigAttack: While a monster is moving around on the surface your character can tunnel up below him and attack through the surface of the ground, pumping the monster full of air and destroying it.
29	* EasierThanEasy: "Teddy bear" difficulty.
30	* EasterEgg: A GameMod of ''VideoGame/TronDeadlyDiscs'' called ''Deadly Dogs'' (where all the enemy warriors are replaced with hot dogs from ''VideoGame/BurgerTime'') is hidden in the code of the Intellivision version.
31	* EliteMook: Sequels added stronger variations of the Pooka and Fygar species, determined by [[PaletteSwap their color]]. Elite Pookas were either faster or required more pumps to burst, and Elite Fygars could shoot their flames upwards, with even stronger Fygars in ''Deeper'' that had longer and steerable fire.
32	* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: "Bloop!"
33	* FastTunnelling: The main character does this at walking speed, the tunnel's dirt goes nowhere.
34	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Happens if you turn downward after digging out a rock - it falls and kills ''you'' along with any enemies it hits.
35	** Exaggerated in the original ''Arrangement'', where a text pops up saying [[TakeThatAudience "PoorPlay!"]]
36	* IdiotHero: Taizo, in ''Digging Strike'', the first and only game to use the ''VideoGame/MrDriller'' art style and character personalities.
37	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Taizo uses a pressure pump to ''inflate his enemies until they explode.'' He can also excavate the dirt underneath a rock so that it falls and crushes an enemy.
38	* InflatingBodyGag: Every enemy is defeated by inflating them until they burst. In ''Arrangement'', it extends to where the players can do this to each other.
39	* {{Intangibility}}: Pookas and Fygars normally walk around in their pocket. Eventually, they'll switch to ghostly eyes or faces to travel through the soil and rematerialize when they reach a tunnel.
40	* InvincibleMinorMinion: The Ghost Fygars in ''Digging Strike''. They cannot be popped (instead remaining at their biggest size), and dropping rocks on them only stuns them.
41	* KillScreen: If you manage to complete round 255 of the original game, you'll be taken to round 0, a glitchy level that has enemies in the dirt, no tunnels (aside from the starting tunnel) and most notably places a Pooka directly on top of you. This Pooka will proceed to kill you repeatedly until you run out of lives.
42	** This happens only if you're experienced enough to make it to level 255 (which, since the game uses only a single byte to keep track of the level, wraps around internally to level 0). The game takes the level number and converts it to a number between 0 and 14. It then multiplies this number to create an offset into the tables that tell the game where to draw the tunnels, rocks, and enemies. Since the subroutine was not expecting level 0, it generates an offset that points somewhere in the middle of the game's program code instead of the tables. As it turns out, one of the values in that location causes a Pooka to be drawn right on top of Dig Dug. Interestingly, the Dig Dug ROM contains code to fix the problem by looping back to round 156 upon the completion of round 255. The Atari version of Dig Dug calls this code but the Namco version doesn't - implying that for some bizarre reason, Namco was aware of Dig Dug's kill screen and chose to leave it in.[[http://donhodges.com/How_Deep_Can_You_Dig_Dug.htm Don Hodges analyzed this bug in detail on his website.]]
43	* MascotMook:
44	** There's a lot of Pooka merchandise. They even appear as enemies in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros for 3DS''[='=] Smash Run.
45	** Fygars can fit the bill as well, due to them being the only enemy other than Pookas to appear in every game of the series.
46	* MusicalGameplay:
47	** In the original arcade game and ''Digging Strike'', the music stops whenever you let go of the joystick/directional pad.
48	** The arcade version of the original Arrangement will stop the percussion of the music when you stop moving, implying that the drumbeats are Taizo's steps.
49	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Fygars. The original ''Arrangement'' adds one more type of dragon that hurls fireballs, capable of digging through dirt.
50	* PopGoesTheHuman: Or in this case, the Pooka or the Fygar. The protagonist typically dispatches his adversaries by inflating them with air until they burst like a balloon. Played straight in the original ''Arrangement'' where an EvilKnockoff of Taizo exists, armed with its own pump to inflate and explode Taizo with, and in two-player co-op, the two Taizos can do this to ''each other'', for 5,000 points for each betrayal.
51	* PunnyName: Taizo's name is a pun on the Japanese phrase "ほりたいぞ!"(horitai zo!) ("I want to dig!")
52	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Sometimes, if there's only one enemy remaining, it will try to run away from the stage. Whether you manage to catch it or not, the level is complete.
53	* SharedUniverse: As mentioned already, this series shares continuity with ''Baraduke'' and ''Mr. Driller''.
54	* SirCameosALot: Pookas tend to appear in other Creator/{{Namco}} games, especially games in the ''VideoGame/PacMan'' series.
55	* SleepyEnemy: One of the enemies in the Battle Collection version of ''Arrangement'' is a snake-like creature that typically starts the round asleep, but wakes up if it hears a loud sound (such as an enemy popping) nearby.
56	* SpinOffspring: ''Mr. Driller'', starring Taizo's son Susumu.
57	%%* SuperDeformed
58	* SuperTitle64Advance: ''Dig Dug: '''D'''igging '''S'''trike'', for the Nintendo '''DS'''.
59	* ThisIsADrill: In ''Dig Dug II'', your character gets a jackhammer, which can be used to knock out large sections of the island you're on to eliminate multiple enemies at once. (Less dramatically, you can create more fissures, which they can only cross in ghost form.)
60	* ThrowTheDogABone: This happens at the secret ending of ''Digging Strike'' when Taizo finally got the fame he's been seeking for and his son not stealing it this time. [[spoiler:Only for his ex to [[YankTheDogsChain drag him away from it all]] for bailing on their appointment together.]]
61	* TunnelKing: Taizo Hori, who can dig out the entire underground without taking much time.
62	* UndergroundLevel: Every level in the original is underground, with the player making their own tunnels. ''Dig Dug II'' simply uses islands instead.
63	* UndergroundMonkey: Games such as ''Arrangement'', ''Deeper'', and ''Digging Strike'' added multiple variants of Pooka and Fygar.
64	* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Who ''hasn't'' tortured the last mook by trapping it in a continuous inflation/deflation cycle at least once?
65	* WaddlingHead: The Pookas, red balloon-like enemies with tiny limbs.

Context VideoGame / DigDug