What was once a drought on the Live Arcade has now become a downpour. Just like film, games are starting to look backwards for inspiration, and well crafted remakes of both forgotten and familiar classic games are popping up with a little of that next gen sheen.

One more game has been inducted into the club of re-imagined modern classics: Lode Runner.

Gameplay

Lode Runner’s gameplay hasn’t changed much over the years. You run through a vertical maze collecting pieces of gold. You still can’t jump and there is still an ever-growing mob of shambling guards chasing you.


But there are some pitfalls you’ll have to avoid on the way. There are a variety of trick platforms that can block your path or disappear beneath you. These add diversity to an already demanding game. So, between having to get each and every last piece of gold in the map and avoiding guards and trick tiles, the game sure delivers the goods.

The controls are tight and the guards’ AI is as ridiculous as it has always been. You can still catch them in an area that they can’t get out of or find a place to plan from where they can’t get you. You are on the clock, however, so stopping will cost you points. To put it simply, this is a very good reinterpretation of Lode Runner gameplay.

Graphics and Sound

Now obviously, there is a slick coat of paint on Lode Runner for XBLA.

Lode Runner’s graphical style borrows a little from Bionic Commando: Rearmed but in a far less gritty way. In serving the fast-paced gameplay, the colour palette stays very vibrant and primary. It’s not hard to distinguish between your enemies and the background they’re walking in front of. You’ll never mistake an obstacle for a wall, unless it’s a trap, and sadly, you’ll never be able to blame the game for missing a guard.


The sound also adds to the game, but isn’t very diverse. Maybe there’s a longer soundtrack and I just haven’t noticed, but it feels really repetitive. It just didn’t stand out that much to me. There isn’t much to hate either and I’m pretty certain that I would notice the music a lot more if it didn’t fit.

Value

The price point has become pretty divisive for this game. There was a bit of a scandal when it was first released on Xbox Live Arcade. While it had been priced at 1200 points (or around 15 dollars) in its original press release, it had been mispriced for the first couple of hours at 800 points (10 dollars) when it hit XBLA.

Some people managed to snag a copy at this price, and a small group of people got really mad when they couldn’t. Unfortunately, since the price was fixed and set back at its true price, there wasn’t any way for them to complain their way to the discounted rate.

Myself, I think that the variety of game modes and being able to customize your own levels makes this a pretty worthwhile purchase at 15 dollars. I mean, given the precedent set by other modern remakes (most priced at 800 Microsoft Points), I would have liked if this were a 10 dollar game but it’s not. It’s a good buy if you like the gameplay, so definitely check out the demo first. It is a fast paced game and a great challenge, so you should know what you’re getting in to.


Conclusion

Lode Runner is a faithful and well constructed platform puzzler remake. It retains the fun, speed, and poor AI of the original while injecting some life into it with new obstacles.

It really is a lot of fun and there is a lot of gameplay to be enjoyed on your own or online.

Note

The Lode Runner franchise has a pretty interesting history. See it for yourself at http://www.tozaigames.com/loderunner/history