Hyper Lode Runner: 1989
Developer: Bandai Software
Genre: Action

Your objective is to gather gold that is scattered on the brick platforms, which are connected by ladders. You are chased by robots (cyborgs) that end your character’s life if they catch him, though you can stand on their heads. Your main weapon is the ability to dig both to the left and right of your character. The holes you dig are only temporary and fill themselves in. A robot that falls into one of your holes will be destroyed if the hole fills in before it can escape. Your character can also suffer this same fate, ending his life. Destroyed robots are replaced with new ones that appear from the top of the screen. The robots can also carry gold which they drop if they fall into a hole. The robot’s movements are dependent on yours, and a significant facet of the game play is figuring out how to use the robot’s movements to your advantage in clearing a stage. Besides bricks and ladders, levels also consist of blocks (which can’t be dug into), rope (to traverse platform chasms) and crumbling bricks (which you fall through). Once all gold has been retrieved a missing segment of ladder will appear allowing your character to escape to the next level. Some levels contain keys and doors which provide an alternate way to leave a level.