Descpription:
The objective of Dig Dug is to eliminate underground
-dwelling monsters. This can be done by inflating them until they pop or
by dropping rocks on them. There are two kinds of enemies in the game:
Pookas: round red monsters (said to be modeled after tomatoes) who wear yellow goggles. Fygars: green dragons who can breathe fire.
The player's character is Dig Dug, dressed in white and blue, and
able to dig tunnels. Dig Dug is killed if he is caught by either
Pooka or Fygar, burned by a Fygar's fire, or crushed by a rock.
It takes four 'pumps' with the player's action button to inflate a monster until
it bursts. If left partially inflated, the monster will deflate and recover after
a few seconds, but half-inflating is a useful way to stun an enemy for a few
moments, especially to make sure it remains in the path of a falling rock.
You can also pass through the enemy while he is deflating. The monsters
normally crawl through the tunnels in the dirt but can turn into ghostly
eyes and travel slowly through the dirt.
More points are awarded for eliminating an enemy further down in the dirt
(the levels are color coded), and the Fygar is worth more points if it is inflated
horizontally rather than vertically (because it only breathes fire horizontally).
More points are also awarded for dropping rocks on enemies in order to eliminate them
rather than inflating them. If one enemy is killed by the rock, it is worth 1000 points.
The next two add 1500 points each and any after that they add 2000. The act of digging is
itself worth points, giving ten points for each block dug, so some players do as much
of it as possible in situations where the threat from the remaining monsters is minimal.
