Dig Dug II: Trouble in Paradise (NES) review "Hey, the subtitle stole my tagline!"

“I don't remember it being this bad...”

The story of my life... Well, of my adult life, anyway. Once I got my hands on an NES, I started renting games regularly. My parents thought I was wasting my allowance, stating that I could save my money up and own games rather than pay a paltry sum to keep them for a day or two. The way I saw it, I got to experience such a variety of works that I was able to define and refine my tastes, all while unknowingly generating a list of titles for me to revisit and reminisce upon as I grew older. Of course, most of these works would end up playing better in memory than in modern practice.

Dig Dug II: Trouble in Paradise, for example...

It was one of the first carts I rented after receiving an NES for Christmas. I had hoped to nab the original Dig Dug, not realizing the NES port was a Japan exclusive. Thankfully, Premier Video sort of had me covered with its sequel. Wait, there was a sequel? Why am I only now finding this out? Well, younger me, there's a probably a reason for that. I know I'm being unfair in judging the coin-op iteration without having played it, but if it's anything like its NES cousin, it's probably also a huge letdown...

The first one offered a simple, addictive premise. You tunneled underground, fired a harpoon attached to an air pump at cartoony monsters, and filled them up with gas until they exploded. You saw a pleasant little pop before they vanished, moving to the next stage when all are eliminated. Freedom was always the coolest thing about Dig Dug, as you weren't confined to a collection of platforms that required climbing or jumping. You could dig and roam pretty much anywhere on the screen, provided you took care around enemies and crushing rocks. Oh, and you could use the rocks to smash your adversaries for bonus points.

The second offering could easily have repeated its older sibling's mechanics with a healthy helping of new features and creatures. However, Dug II took a different, more compelling approach. You weren't digging in the ground any longer, instead cruising the sea and landing on various islands inhabited by the same beasts you fought of in the prior engagement. Red, ball-like Pookas have returned, chasing you in the utmost and being pesky by surrounding you en masse. Their partners, for the love of God, just call them dragons because that's basically what they are the Fygars, have also come back to singe you, but only horizontally. Something about facing north or south of them prevents them from cutting loose a tongue of flames. Gotta love game logic...

The rules remain more or less the same here. You roam around a 2D environment, launch a harpoon into your opponents, and viciously/adorably rupture their bodies with an air compressor. For points. God bless old-school games. Here, though, you don't create a network of passageways or dislodge boulders to pump up your score. Our hero brought a jackhammer this time, which he uses to expose the fault lines of each island, represented by dots and lines on the ground. With a little ground pounding and cutting, he breaks off bits of each land, sending them crumbling into the sea. Any hapless Pooka or Fyg—screw it, dragon—caught in the ensuing quake also plummets into the cold, salty water to drown and feed the scavenging sea life.

Folks, if you're going to produce a sequel and you want to avoid retreading the same concept, this is theoretically how you do it. Dug II's premise is simple, potentially addictive, unique, and fascinating. The promise of venturing to numerous isles so you can plunge a bunch of cute critters into the sea to watch them sink and suck down lungfuls of salt water is gripping enough to at least get you to try this one out. Hell, on a conceptual level, I can't fault this one at all. It's a terrific idea!

And then the play control comes to ruin everything...

Dug II operates like a stilted arcade game designed to munch pocket change. It thrusts you into an affair that demands precision, but refuses to give you mechanics that make precision possible. Any time you change directions while walking, you have to spin completely around, sometimes ultimately heading in a completely different path than intended. In the time it takes you to fully course correct, your adversaries get the advantage and pounce on you. Mark my words: you will die a lot, typically while attempting to change directions.

For instance, I would begin some forays moseying north. I would then shift to the west, only to watch in frustration as I continued northward. Vice-versa would occur just as often, producing a chorus of foul language.

Oh, and sometimes the jackhammer doesn't respond when you attempt to cut a fault line. You could be right on top of a cutting point, clearly hammering away, and no line appears. This is crucial because not only do these slices in the ground allow you to break away land, but they also serve as barriers that slow your opponents. Failing to cut some trenches only leads to your demise, all because Dug II apparently decided it didn't like the way you pressed the button.

The nice thing is this title offers something of a continue system, where you can select which levels you wish to play. Granted, you have to finish a stage in order to “unlock” it, and they relock whenever you turn the NES off, but the feature is there for anyone who dislikes their free time. If you can persevere and make it through all seventy-two rounds, the game loops around to stage one again. It's hardly worth the effort and migraine, even if all you're attempting to do is enjoy this one's score-attack elements.

The further you advance, the more the experience sours. Not only do you have to contend with the previously discussed wonky mechanics, but also with enemy hordes growing rapidly. Oh, and there are some levels where the opposition becomes enraged quickly, causing them to chase you relentlessly. That's not all: after a while, the island-cutting gimmick that made this sequel special becomes steadily dialed back to the point that its inclusion comes across as a bait and switch. Why include such a strong selling point only to stop utilizing it to its fullest after a dozen or so stages? That defeats the purpose of giving this installment its own identity.

The thing is I don't remember this game being so irritating and needlessly clumsy. I recall liking it quite a bit and putting it on a list of games I want. Now, though? I'm glad I didn't waste my allowance. Sure, this one somewhat scratches the “kill cute creatures in hilarious inefficient ways” arcade category itch, but not enough that you should go out of your way to hunt this one down. I recommend saving it for a time when your curiosity grows too strong to ignore. Otherwise, there are so many other titles similar to this one that provide hours of adorable violence.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (November 02, 2024) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.