Lode Runner(NES) FAQ
by Andrew Schultz
[email protected]
version 1.0.0, copyright 2005
This FAQ is copyright 2005 by Andrew Schultz. Although it was LODES(ba-dum-
bum-CRASH) of fun to make, it also took, er, lots of time to write. Therefore,
please do not re-distribute for profit without my prior consent(i.e. please
ask nicely to use my materials first with SPECIFIC queries and use my name
please.
For access to graphical(Apple-wise, because simpler is better)
representations of these maps, go to (segue to SHAMELESS PROMOTION:)
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/loderunner/lodemaps.htm where you
can check out whichever level map you please of both Lode Runner and
Championship Lode Runner on the Apple. Other platforms should have only minor
differences though the NES chops off the top two rows for Lode Runner.
================================
OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS
3. SCORING
4. ENEMY AI, STRATEGIES, ETC.
5. LEVEL WALKTHROUGHS
5-X. WALKTHROUGH FOR LEVEL X(1-50)
6. VERSIONS
7. CREDITS
================================
1. INTRODUCTION
If you want to go ROM fishing, you'll want a Lode Runner that shows walls on
both sides at the start of the level. I'm not giving any advice as to where.
But there are bad copies out there, most notably the pirated one.
1-1. WHAT IT'S ABOUT
The object of Lode Runner is to pick up all the gold pieces on a screen and
then get to the top, where you have another level. There are basic pieces for
Lode Runner as well--ten of them.
EMPTY SPACE: you can walk through it.
BRICK: you can run across it. You can also dig into it, to create an
impression that lasts six seconds or so. You or enemies can fall in. Enemies
are trapped once they fall, but you can freefall into the space below. When
it fills in, it can kill you--or enemies, who regenerate in various places at
the top of the screen.
CEMENT: you can run across it but can't dig it. Very dangerous without brick
around, or...
LADDERS: you can climb up these and often shuck and jive your enemies on them.
You can also fall off them to the side, fool bad guys coming at you from
below. You cannot dig a brick under a ladder.
ROPE: you can't dig a brick under a rope, but you can walk across a rope when
there's no brick under. You can fall off them, down to the ground below.
FALSE BRICK: you will fall through this unless there's a rope or ladder
directly above. Then you have the choice to fall in. These can trap you
quickly, or they can provide you with a hidden secret passage to make things
easier. Because they look like bricks, you need to learn how to map these out.
GOLD CHEST: you can't dig under a gold chest, but you get points for
collecting it. Once every gold chest is collected, you can reach the top of
the level to advance to the next one. Enemies can pick up gold chests or
release them, and if they drop into a brick-hole with a brick-hole right
about it, the gold chest doesn't appear, but it gets counted as collected.
ENEMIES: reddish guys keeping you from your goal, although sometimes you can
make them fall into pits and use them as bridges.
YOU: self-explanatory. The guy that needs to collect all the gold and then
get to the top.
1-2. LODE RUNNER FRANCHISE
Championship Lode Runner was the second title in the Lode Runner series of
games. It started with Lode Runner, which had 150 levels on the Apple
including an editor(and a high score list! That drove me wild!) before moving
to a shorter, tougher game with 50 levels. Not counting various ports, which
feature many of the rather easy levels from the original Lode Runner copied
over, there was then Lode Runner (Returns) for the PS/PSX and Lode Runner
Extra, which featured bombs and other weapons and even timers and backgrounds
that actually WORKED. Lode Runner Online allowed people to share levels made
with the Lode Runner Extra/Returns engine, and Lode Runner 2 was an
intriguing 3-d version that sadly did not achieve commercial success. Each
one contained creative puzzles but Championship Lode Runner may well have
packed the nastiest, simplest ones of all. Perhaps it was just that I had
stick figures and a green screen to work with. It seemed so abstract and a
puzzle and maybe even stick figures flopping around on the PSX made the
future Lode Runners seem too much like a regular game for me. But apparently
it still doesn't feel too regular to most normal gamers.
1-3. APPLE/NES DIFFERENCES
The NES only has 50 levels, although they are comparable to the Apple's 50
levels. The interface for starting on levels is a bit easier but
unfortunately there's no way to get past the stupid opening music. The big
difference though is that the top two lines of a level are cut off, thus
making the NES levels a lot simpler than their Apple counterparts. Oh, the
NES has different scoring too.
Occasionally I'll refer to N/S/E/W which should be equivalent to U/D/R/L
i.e. Up down right left. I'll use one-letter abbreviations and 2L means two
left, SSE means DDL or 2D 1L, and sometimes I'll call your enemies robots,
monks, guys, or whatever. Chests may be coins or whatever. It should be clear,
but then again you don't need any more distractions when learning how to beat
this tough game.
A 1-rope also refers to a rope of length one, and similarly for an x-ladder.
There's also a distinction between the top of the ladder(how far you can go)
and the top rung. Also you need to watch for the distinction between digging
right and digging from the right(just the opposite.)
A 4-3-2-1 dig means dig 4 holes, then 3 in the space you created, then 2
below that, then 1. Dig-R means dig right, etc.
1-4. FAQ SHORTHAND
2. CONTROLS
A=dig right
B=dig left
directions=move that way if you can
down=fall through false brick or off rope
select=change to a different level. You can even restart the one you are on
without losing a guy. Just push start right after.
start=pause screen to look around(the NES only shows part of the screen at
once and in fact is very nasty about not showing you what's to the left or
right--which ever direction you're going. So often you have to track where
monsters are and it breaks the flow of the game.) You can't scroll
around(this was fixed in Championship Lode Runner,) but you can push start to
get the game going again.
You can hold left/right and push a dig button to move one square, dig, etc.
To move up/down and dig you need to hold both but release up/down to dig.
Push select and start to bypass the annoying level-start music. This saves a
lot of time. There's no way to save yourself from the panorama view of the
level or the pause before the new level, but you can also look at it as a
slap on the wrist for restarting a level you know you can't win.
3. SCORING
You only get points at the end, 100 for each enemy trapped in a hole, and 100
for each pile of gold, 0 if they are sunk. You only get points if you solve a
level. No end-of-level bonus. Also, you only get a maximum of nine lives.
There's a latent bug where if you get over 10000 points, the score can roll
mistakenly. The bug seems to be:
Score 64000
Get 16000 on this level
New score = 7*000 where * is (character 0) + 10. A similar bug is seen with
lives in Super Mario Bros. The bug seems to go away when you flip the tens
digit again without scoring 10000+ points.
4. ENEMY AI, STRATEGIES, ETC.
The major level-winning strategies consist of finding where to stay to make
the bad guys chase the wrong way. You can try to go plowing through them, but
you’ll probably take more time than hiding and waiting. There’s some
trepidation over when you can’t see them, but you can usually guess.
You should also note basic math stuff, like if you have three enemies and are
stuck in the center, two will be on one side of you and one on the other. Run
to the side with one less guy. Give yourself enough time(2 spaces) to dig a
hole. And note that enemies can flip-flop as you climb a ladder. This is
based on how high up you are—use it to your advantage.
Note that you can't walk over a solitary enemy running below you as easily on
the NES as on the Apple. It's also harder to play chicken with an enemy. And
if you start a level falling on an enemy, you have to tap down-right-down-
right to go run to the side. It’s also a bit tougher to run over two dug
enemies. They need to be right in a row.
Enemy AI: They generally go to the left when they don’t know where to go.
Enemies are about half as fast as you are. They even fall half as fast. If
you are digging as you move, you both go at equal speed. Enemies also try to
get on a level with you, where they could walk over and get you if no blocks
were in the way. So if an enemy is in a pit and you're on the left and
another enemy's on the right, they won't try to reach you. But if there's a
wall between you at the bottom of the level, they'll run at you.
A bizarre bug allows monks to stick gold in a place you can't reach. Say
they're circling a ladder at the top, with a rope left of the top rung. One
can release a gold chest when falling off to the left. The monks can get it
back as they circle around, but it's darned annoying.
Although monks always pick up gold they run by, they also tend to leave gold
chests at random, but if you can get them to run across a long stretch you
can usually get them to give theirs up. Also one monk moving around a ladder
and running in circles should eventually leave the gold at the top of the
ladder--monks can't pick up gold where there's a turn from the top of a
ladder to brick. This is useful to know if you seem to have gotten all the
gold in a level and don't know who might have the last one. It's a lazy man's
way to get monks to cough things up.
5. LEVEL WALKTHROUGHS
5-1. Level 1:
$ h
XXXXXXXHXXXXXXX h
H~~~~~~~~~~h $
H XXH XXXXXXXHXX
- H XXH $- H
XXHXXXXX XXXXXXXXHXXXXXXX
H - H
XXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXH
H H
$ H~~~~~~~~~~H $
HXXXXXX XXXXXXXH
H + $ H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
This level is a pretty simple introduction to the world of Lode Runner. You
can go right to get the gold chest and wait for the bad guys to fall down.
Then dig right and left. This will allow you to cross right and now it is
just a footrace as you climb up the ladder to the right, back left for
another gold chest, and up the ladders on the left side. A monster may
regenerate on the top, but you can dig a hole to drop him in and go past.
Climb to the top and you may have to wait to fall off to the right to get the
final chest on the right, but there's little risk. If anyone follows you to
the top, that's fewer monsters hanging around the bottom.
Basically you can run circles around the enemy to pick up all the gold you
want, or if one regenerates in front of you, dig to kick him out of the way.
5-2. Level 2:
$ $ H
H**X**H HXXXXXXXXXH $ H
H $ - H H HXXXXVH
HX*X*XH H H h
H H~~~~H~~~~~~ -H h
H H H $ HXXX******H
H - H $ HXXXXXH H
*XXX*XX*XX*H HXXXHXX
*XXX* H H H
*$ * H ~~~~~~H H $
XXXXXXXXHXXX**** H XXXX
H + H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
In this level you need to dig around a bit, and the best way to get started
is to climb up the ladder to the left, dig a hole for the guy above you to
fall in, and cross over him to the stairs. If you're quick enough you can run
across the cement to the left and dig left, then dig right to slow trailing
bad guys down.
Now for your first time digging down. Dig 1 from the left, then 2. Drop into
the 2-wide pit you created and dig left. You'll fall in to get a gold chest.
The diagram below shows what to dig, in what order.
X21
XX3
Now there may be enemies waiting for you as you come down the ladder. If
three of them are there, move right, then hold A as you move left. That'll
kill the guys. Dig more than you need.
Quarters are a bit tighter in this level, so if you see a gold chest being
guarded you may have to outrun the bad guys to the top and dig a hole to drop
through. When they're near, run/fall around them. You also want to make sure
you don't get stuck on the cement. When in doubt, reach for higher ground,
dig, and fall under your opponents. The best place for starting this is the
top center since the top left has a lot of cement.
The level also has a nasty trick with the ladder to the top. The square left
of it is a false brick, which isn't a problem if no enemies are around or
below. But if they are, it could stick you. Remember to approach the ladder
on the cement, unless the enemies are trailing you so badly that they can't
catch up.
5-3. Level 3:
~~~~~~~~~~ $ h
H $ HXXXXXXXXXXH h
XXXXXH - H $ HX******
HXXXXXXHXXXXXHXX
$ H H H ~~
XXXXHX H - H ~~
H HXXXXXXHXX ~~$
H~~~~H H - X
H HXXXXXXXXXH
XXXHXXXXXXXXXX $ XXXXXHX
XXXHXXXXXXXXXX HXXXH XXXXXHX
H + HXXXH $ H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Seeing as how the bad guys all go left to start, you can just proceed right
and wait for them to go down the ladder. Then you can go over the hill and
right. This should render one of the enemies useless, as he is stuck on the
ladder for good in an area that doesn't matter. Leaves you open to climb to
the top and have time to get the two chests in the top center and use the
rope to get to the UL. If you don't make it in time, you can have the bad
guys run after you. Digging is a risky proposition as a bad guy may appear
where you're walking and you'll fall in.
But when you get to the UL you can drop on top of one gold chest and dig to
get to the next one. If the enemies close in on you, just dig to the left
again and fall down. You can then go to the right and your goal is to get to
the UR. You can sucker enemies into either falling behind or in front of you,
probably by just staying near the ladder on the left.
In the UR, dig the brick next to the cement and fall to the right. This
should be all the gold chests--a ladder will appear in the UR if it is. If
not, search the board for gold and then make a note of digging holes for your
enemies to cough up. You're rather safe in the far right and in fact you can
wait for your enemies to look for you in the far left to make your climb up
easier. They do go off that way, even if you can't see them.
Then advance back to the top, digging in front of you top take out whoever is
in your way.
5-4. Level 4:
h~~~~~H~~~~~ H
H $ HHH $ X $ X $ HHH $
H HH H HH XXXXX HH H HH
H H HHHHH H H HHHHH H
H H $-$ H H H $-$ H
H HXXXXXH HHH HXXXXXH
H HHHHH HH H HH HHHHH
H H HHHHH H
H $ H $-$ H $
HXXXXXXH HXXXXXH HXXXXXXX
H H HHHHH H
H H + $ H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
You should run right a square and wait a bit until two of your enemies drop
from the crowns onto the ground. Then run to the upper left. It's possible a
regenerated enemy may block your way. Shake him off by dropping to the base
of the left crown and digging a hole for him to get his gold.
Then take the rope at the top right and drop into the small compartment to
get the gold there. Now there are two ways to take your enemies out of
commission. The first is just to sucker them to the base of a crown and dig
around. Enemies often regenerate into the compartment at the top, which makes
it easy for you.
But you can also go to the top of the center crown and drop left. This will
cause enemies to go up the left ladder. Then you can go on the tip of the
crown, causing them to take the rope and fall into the top compartment.
With one enemy left your job is pretty easy. You can outrun him and also,
with a single dig, reverse around him. If all the gold chests are gone and
you climb to the top and nothing happens, then you need to dig right at the
edge of the rope to let the enemies out. They'll release the gold chest even
if you don't dig holes for them. You can even wait for them to hit bottom
before using the middle-crown trick.
5-5. Level 5:
h $
XXX h XXXXHXXXXXXX
XX h XX H
XX h XX H
$- XXX h $XXX H $
XXHXXXX h XXXXHXXXHXXXXXXX
H XX h XX H
H$- XXHXX H $
HXXXH H XHXXHXXX
H H $ - H
H HXXXXXXXHXXXXXXHXXXXXHXX
H + H H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Once again waiting is a good idea to start here. You can dig on each side and
one of the enemies will fall down the partial ladder and into your hole. The
one from the right will get stuck. You can head up to the UR area right now
and get a bunch of gold pieces. If you're lucky, nobody will regenerate and
drop down the big chute in the middle. But if you're not, you can make your
own luck.
$
1X
2X
3X
$4XX
X5XXHX
At the top right of the V, dig 1, drop where it was, dig 2, etc., down to 4.
Get the gold chest and dig right so that you have an alternative to dropping
down into the V where an enemy is waiting.
Once again you can drop to the bottom to fake enemies out, then climb back to
the UL to get the rest of the gold. A ladder will appear inside the V once
you are done. You may have to shake off a regenerated monster climbing down
it, but if all else fails there's waiting in the DL until someone comes at
you.
Getting out of htis level presents problems since so many regenerated
monsters appear in the V, so remember that you want to have bad guys chase
you and try to avoid digging holes unless it is to jump over the other guy.
5-6. Level 6:
XXXX h~~~~~~~~~~ hX
X $ XH $ - XXXX XXX XHX
XXXXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXX XXX XHX
X XXXXXXHXXXXX$$X XXX$XHX
X XXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHX
X X $H $ - $ XHX
X XXXHXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXHXHX
X $XXXH HXXXXXXXHXHX
XHXXVX H + H XX HXHX
XHXXVXHXXXXXHXXXXXXXX$$ HXHX
XHXXVXHXXXXXHXXXXXX$XXXXXXHX
XH- HXX$XXH $ - HX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lots of buried gold here makes this level a serious step up in challenge from
the previous ones. Wait around a bit to notice where the enemies go. Only one
should follow you--the one coming from above. You can get rid of him while
digging for the gold beneath you. Go all the way left and dig right. Now
here's how to dig, always from the right:
123
X45
$67
Then drop in for the gold and run back out. Stay on the bottom for the next
bit. You'll be able to dig a hole to get by the next enemy. Climb to the top.
Dig left at the top of the ladder, go 1D, dig, 1D, dig. Walk in for the gold
and dig over where it was. Go into the chamber below for two more gold pieces.
Things get a bit more subjective from here on out, but you need to accomplish
the following:
1. Get to the UL and dig left at the 1-ladder. Grab the gold and dig 1L1D of
the 1-ladder to fall onto the gold below.
2. Go to the top and dig 2-1 over the pair of gold pieces
3. Dig out the suspended gold near the bottom.
These can all be tricky, but there is one way to sucker all three enemies
into an area where they can't get out. Let them follow you closely into the
DR and then shoot up the ladder. Dig as you did to get the gold before, and
dig to drop onto the ladder below. They'll be stuck on the right ladder! From
here you can accomplish 1, 2 and 3 pretty easily. They shouldn't fall into
the hole UL of them, but you can concentrate on your digging.
The digging for 3 is tricky. Here's another diagram. Dig from the right for
1-6, from the left for 7. Fall on the gold.
HXX123X
HXX45XX
H 6X
XXXXX
XXX$XXX
If you've got the bad guys trapped on the right, you can go up the left to
solve the level.
5-7. Level 7:
h ~~~~~~~~
h H H
XXXXXHX XHXXX -H $ H
H H XXXHXXXXVXX
- H $ H H
XXXXXHXXXX H H
$ H $ H H
XXHXXXXXXXXXXXXH H XXXX H
H H $ H XXXX H
H $ H~~~~H X $X H
XXXXXXXH H XXXXXH
H + $ H - H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Climb up the left and you may meet an enemy, or actually your going up the
ladder may chase him away. Use that to get up the left(2nd) ladder and dig a
hole for him. Climb up the next ladder and get the gold at the edge of the
platform and wait around for him to come back. Then dig to get the gold right
below.
For the stuff on the right you may want to prepare by falling to the bottom
and leading the robots on a chase to the left. Then you'll need to go up the
long ladder on the right(when falling on the rope coming back right you may
shake your enemies for good--they'll go to the left,) dig the left platform
square, and fall. Then drop over the UR gold chest and 2-1 dig to get the
other gold chest.
The ladder up is in the UL, so you can just again wait for the enemies to
come your way when standing at the bottom of the big ladder. Climb it, take
the rope, go up and take the second ladder up as you go left.
5-8. Level 8:
$ h h $
HXXXXXH~~HXh hXH~~HXXXXXH
HX XH Xh hX HX XH
HX XH Xh hX HX XH
HX $ XH Xh hX HX $ XH
HXXXXXH Xh hX HXXXXXH
HX XH~~~XHXXXXHX~~~HX XH
HX X HXH HXH X XH
HX-$ X HXH $-HXH X $-XH
HXXVXX HX******XH XXVXXH
H V H H V H
H + V H H V H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
You can trap your enemies, but that may kick them to the center, which is a
dangerous place to be. The center is where your final gold piece will be. But
first, proceed immediately left to get to the ladder. You don't have to, but
it saves backing up and digging once to get the enemy out of the way. After
each chest you grab, dig directly under it. There's a false brick under the
bottom one. Once you reach the bottom, be prepared to dig left and run left
over the enemy that falls in your hole. Go to the UL, then right, then down
the ladder. The guy on the left is irrelevant and you didn't have to kill him.
For the guy on the right you can start at the bottom--he'll run towards you,
giving you a crazy head start as you climb up the ladder/rope/ladder. Again
dig on top of where you got the gold. You'll need to scrape by this guy, but
it's a bit tougher than last time. You can take your chances with two guys in
the or you can just climb partially up the stairs, level with the final gold
chest, and your enemy will follow without falling back into his old hole.
From the right, drop in to the center pit. Dig left. Now the bad guy probably
picked up the gold and left it on the UL stair by now but if not you have
time to search around. Grab the chest and stairs should appear to let you
climb out.
5-9. Level 9:
h~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HX X X X
H XXXXX XXXXX
H X XXX X$XXX
H XXXXX - - - XXXXX
H XXX XVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X
H XXXXXVXXX $XX $XXXXXXXXHX
H XXXXXVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHX
H XXXXXVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHX
H XXXXXVXXXX $HXXXXXXXXHX
H XXXXH~~~~~~~~HX
H ****
H + ****
Here's a digging bonanza. There's a false brick cascade on the left, so your
enemies will run after you. On the bright side, it's easier to get them
trapped. Bad guys tend to regenerate in the castle towers here so you can
just circle around the UL to the center top. When the first one is over the
castle tower, drop down. The other two guys will follow you to the pit where
you can just drop down when the next enemy gets in play. If you wait just
right of the cascade, you can drop left just in time to lead them on another
goose chase around the UL and drop the next one, etc., without digging. It's
a bit of a risk to dig holes to get rid of your enemies so they pop up in the
towers--fortunately bad guys don't appear in the right tower, and intensive
digging could kill one off, but why take that risk?
With them out of commission there's the problem of how to get the gold chests.
The one in the right tower is the toughest so we'll get that last.
XXX12XXX
X $37 $X
XX5489XX
XXX60XXX
XX $HX
aXXXH~
First time through, dig 1-2-3-4-5-6. 1 and 2 from the right, 4 and 5 from the
left. Then dig a to get out. That will bad the gold without you getting
trapped. Next time, 1-2-7-8-9-0 and a to get out.
The tower is a bit tougher. Getting the gold is easy but the trap is nasty.
XX321
X$45X
XXX6X
XXX X
Dig 1-2-3 from the left, 4-5 from the right, and fall down after digging 6.
You should be able to navigate the rope and ladders to get back. Dig hole
a(previous diagram) to escape and go to the top.
5-10. Level 10:
$ h $ h
XXXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXhXXXXXHXXhh
- $ H h H
XXXXXXXXXXH h - H $
XXXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXX** HXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXH H
XXXXXXXXXXH $ ~~~H
XX XXH XX H
XX $ $$ XXH $ H
XXXXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXH H
H XXXXXXXXH
$ + H H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
There's a big dig to make in that structure on the left. You'll need to
distract your enemies from getting in there and the best wa to do so is to
drag them to the right. If you dig a hole and an enemy gets stuck, he may
reappear in the UL and come charging down as you are digging. However, if you
run from one side to the other you should have time for a 4-3-2-1 dig. You
can leave holes behind you to make sure. You just need time to dig that top
layer and drop down before you're detected.
Once you've cleared everything from there you can search for gold chests and
dig at will to pick everything up. You'll know if you have all the chests
because ladders will appear in the center and UR. As usual you can just wait
on the bottom because there are only two monsters before digging to get
around them and climbing all the way up.
5-11. Level 11:
-$ H $-
HXX $ H $-XXH
H XX HXXXXhHXXXXXH XX H
H HH$ H H
H $HH H H
H HH$ H
H $HH H
H HH$ H
H $HH H
H HH$ H
H $HH H
H + HH$ H
H HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH H
While it looks like you don't have much space to dig your enemies out, and
the climb to the top is tricky, it's actually pretty easy to sucker enemies,
and it's quicker just to climb up the center ladder, go left, and fall, then
climb, go right, and fall. As for getting rid of your enemies, you can fall
off the ladder to the left when they chase after you. Then dig right and go
left. You can shuffle up and down the stairs to change which way they go on
the brick platform, which traps them nicely.
Some chests will be left behind--you can collect them if you want, go up the
stairs, and fall left. The last annoying chest is in the UL and you want to
collect it by going up the left ladder. Wait for your enemies to climb before
jumping down and then dig them out as before, going from the very base up to
the brick platform and back to confuse them.
I picked up a weird cherry tomato worth 1600 points on this level. I don't
know what it was doing there. It just appeared where my guy started. I don't
know why. It was worth 1600 points.
5-12. Level 12:
H~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H h
H $ $ $ H~~~~~H $
XXXXXXXX HXXXXXXXXX HXXX
XXXXXXXXHH H
XXXXXXXHH~~~~~~~H H
X$ $XXHH - H $ - H $
XXXXXHH HXXXX***XXXXHXXX
H H H
-H $ H~~~~~~~~~~~H $
HXXXXXXXXXXXH $ $ HXXX
H H XXXXXXXXX H
H $ + H $ H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Another level where you can just blow off the enemies. Go to the left to get
the gold and wait a bit. Dig left to run over the enemy and then climb up the
zigzag ladders. Run right across the top platform, take the stairs up, and
take the rope left. Now do a 3-2-1 dig over the chamber with two gold in it.
Now take the gold to the right of where you fell and climb up the stairs and
wait for enemies to get close. When they do, go back down the stairs and drop
from the rope to the suspended platform for gold. You should be able to
climb the ladder to the right as well to shake your enemies further.
This should make it easy to crawl up the right side--whenever you stop just
on a level with bricks, bad guys turn away from you. Go up and sneak right
for a gold chest, then move to the next level.
5-13. Level 13:
- h
VHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVh
VHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVHVh
$HXH HXH$HXH HXH$HXH HXH$HXh
VHXHVHXHVHXHVHXHVHXHVHXHVHXh
HXH$HXH HXH$HXH HXH$HXH HXh
VHXHVHXHVHXHVHXHVHXHVHXHVHXh
$H H H H H H H H H H H H HXh
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXh
H $ - $ $ - h
H**************************h
H$ + $h
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Note there's a false brick above and below every gold chest here, so instead
of walking into the chest, walk above it and fall down. However, your first
objective is to get out of the mess at the bottom and the best way to do that
is to go directly left and up. This also gets you a head start on your
enemies. From there you shouldn't have many problems dropping in on each gold
chest. The enemies behind you will follow you up the ladder, and the one
still to your right can be dispatched by digging under a column with no gold.
Just keep climbing and dropping right.
At the end you should be able to sucker everyone right and dig to get to the
cement below. From there you can outrun the bad guys and get to the left
ladder where you can drop in on the far-left suspended gold.
There will be some gold left over and you will probably need to go to the
bottom to dig a bunch of holes to catch your enemy and make it back to the
upper area to gather the gold. When you get the final chest, check to see if
there are any bad guys falling over to the right. If not, dig a hole and run
right on the cement and up. If so, then you can probably run to the DR of the
structure, up, fall right, and climb up to beat them to the top. The
trickiest bit here is when you need to dig like hell at the bottom to make
progress--try to be aware of how many guys are on each side. Without being
able to scroll the view on the NES this can be tricky. You may want to see
what's on the far right and dig a bunch of holes to the left just to be sure
you've killed everyone.
5-14. Level 14:
~H -~H~ ~ ~H H~ h
~ H ~ H ~ ~ ~-H~ H ~ H
$ H ~ H ~ ~ H ~ H ~ H
H~ ~H ~ ~ $ H ~$H ~H
H~ ~ H~ ~ ~ H$ ~H $ H
H ~ ~H$ ~$~ H~~~~~~ ~
H~ ~ ~ H~ ~~H ~ H ~ H ~
H ~- H ~ H ~ H ~H ~
H~ $ ~ H~ ~ H$ ~H ~ H $
H ~H ~ ~ ~H~ ~ H~ ~ H ~
H~ H ~ ~ H ~ ~$ ~ H ~
H ~H ~~~~H~ ~ ~~~~H~
H + $ $ H
Lots of serial dropping off ropes and climbing to the top of a ladder to get
places. Job one is to get to the ladder to the right and force everyone to
the left. Then you can clear out chests one at a time before pushing the
enemies back by retreating to the DR ladder. You can even climb up a few
rungs so everyone else climbs up the ladder and they get very confused.
As for specifics you should note that if you grab for a gold with nobrick
beneath it, you won't get it, so always drop from a rope onto gold--or off
the side of a ladder. Then move back right. You can gather all the gold east
of the center ladder(touches neither the bottom nor top) and you can drop
continually left from the ladder right of it to cross to the left. If you've
done everything right those bozos who should be opposing you more actively
will sit and wait as you climb up another big ladder, fall left, and climb up
the final big ladder to fall left. There'll be one gold left. For that you
can fall right off ropes after getting the UL gold and the enemies will run
at you. Use the far right ladder but this time let them climb and follow you.
Getting the final chest may leave you lost what to do next, but just drop
left to the far left, go up, drop right continually onto a long rope, climb,
drop left and climb the big ladder up.
5-15. Level 15:
hhhh~~~~~~~~H H~~~~~~~~
$ H H $
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXH
$ $H $ $ H$ $
XXXXXXXH $ $XXXXX$ $ HXXXXXX
H XXXX XXXX H
$ H $ H $
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH
H H
H $ $HXXXXXXXH$ $ H
XXXXXXXXXXH HXXXXXXXXX
H + $ $ H
??wrong map
A middling level really where again not attacking the monsters directly
brings dividends. Those gold chests in the DL and DR look like they might be
tough to get with enemies around, so--get the DL at the start, then the DR!
You'll have plenty of time to do so and climb up. And once you do, the
monsters will have run away and you can get to the top. Take the right rope
and fall right.
Someone may have caught up to you by now. Dig to get over him(and if there
are two, you can dig right for a total escape) and work to the top center.
Dig down and get the two gold pieces. Now see which way has only one enemy--
even if you can't see one side, you know there are only three guys, and you
can do the math.
You can escape and go back to the top center and dig again. This time you may
wind up closer to the two guys, but of course you can run away from them
easily. Just dig below the inner of the two chests. In fact, at this point
it's not a bad idea to dig down and get the enemies to follow you down before
you climb back up and use your speed to reach the UL well before they do. You
don't want to go down to the bottom, but you can lead them on a bit to the
platforms just above with all bricks.
From here it's just a scramble in your favor to pick off the remaining gold
chests, and although you may need to stay at the bottom--or sucker enemies
over to the right on the long platform before climbing the stairs--you don't
need to do anything fancy.
5-16. Level 16:
h
XXXXXHHXXXXXXHHHHH h
$ HH HX H h
X$ HHX H h
+XXX$ HX H h
XXXXX$ HX H h
XXXXXXXX HX H h
$XXXXX HX H h
XXX HX H h
- HX H - h
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXVXXXXXXXXX h
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX HXh
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX $$$$$$HXX
This is a dopey little level requiring little more than a bit of strategic
thinking and faith that ladders will pick you up once you pick up the DR bit.
First fall left to the edge, dig right and drop onto some gold. Dig to drop
the enemy and get past him, then go up the ladder and left and up. Dig when
over the top gold and fall right but not off the structure. Wait a while. The
bad guy will walk over the top and fall into a pit he can't return from. Drop
right, dig and pass by the enemy. Go up the stairs, right at the top, and
fall down. Dig above the 2-ladder, fall right, and go D-L to get the chests
and R-U. You have extra time to escape before the hole closes, and it's worth
it to make sure you get the farthest gold chest, but don't dawdle. (You can
also buy a bit of time digging right while on the ladder, but you don't need
it.)
The stair at the end is tricky to navigate but there's no danger if you fall.
Just have up held down along with left/right(the direction you need to go)
and you'll move up the zigzag quickly.
5-Z. Level 17:
h h
HXXXVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH
HXXXVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH
H $ XX~~~~~~~~XX H
H XXX $XH $XX H
H X$X XXH XXXXXXXX XXXXXH
XXXXXXXX HX H h
$XXXXX HX H h
XXX HX H h
- HX H - h
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXVXXXXXXXXX h
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX HXh
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX $$$$$$HXX
This is an annoying one-chest-at-a-time deal where you need to make sure you
don't make any big mistakes. And you have to do a few things right, too.
Horrors. Here it's most expedient to drop left and get the enemy to come
TOWARDS you. Here's how: run up the ladder quickly--he'll run away, but when
you run right and fall through the false brick, he'll come back around. When
he's about to fall, step left and dig right. Fall through the hole. You don't
want to kill him, just make him irrelevant by leaving him on the left. By
default, he'll go to the right and help block your escape.
Now quickly fall right, dig right and go up the stairs. Another robot will
greet you. Dig to get past him and go up the two sets of ladders(R-U-L-U) and
across the rope and drop on the gold chest. Dig left, drop down, and climb
down. Dig right and climb up, then dig left. This will cause the enemy on the
right to climb up with you and give you a head start going to the right area.
Fall right and climb the ladder and dig right when the enemy approaches. Dig
behind you to the left to buy some time to clear the structure next to the
right-edge ladder.
XXX12H
XX$3XH
XX4XXH
XX$XXH
This isn't too complex a dig but obviously you can't wait all day to do it as
you'll get trapped, or your enemy will come around. When you fall through
you'll have you enemy to contend with again and then you'll have to go back
to the UL. Fortunately the last dig is pretty simple, just a 3-2-1 above the
final gold chest.
X123X
X45XX
6X~~
$XH
You'll need to fall through and deal with the two enemies again before making
it to the UR and the next level. Note that you may have to dig the center
enemy twice--once when you enter and once after you climb onto the middle
platform so you have time to take out the right enemy when you enter his area.
5-Z. Level 18:
h $ $ $
HVXH HXXXH HXXXHX XH
H XXXXXX HXXXXXH H $ H
H$ - H H XXXX H
HVXXXX XXXH H
H *XXXX XX HX H
H *XXXXX XX $ HXH H
H *XXXXXXXXXXX XXX H XX
H * $ XXXXXXX - H -$
H *XXXXXXX$XXXXHXXXXXXH XX
H H H XX
H + H XX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The false brick here allows you an easy way up the ladder--climb right up the
left edge and drop down to get the gold chest when the robot below you starts
climbing. You'll have to dig a couple of holes to get to the right, but once
you do, go UR until you fall and that will get you to the UR-edge ladder.
Climb it and fall L and go U/L to pick up whatever treasure you can.
Now there will be some gold suspended on the left and you may need two trips
to pick it up. If there is an enemy trapped in the v-shaped pit, drop to the
side opposite him and dig a hole. Note you can make extra space for yourself
with digs as follows:
1 1X
X2 2X
XX3 3X
XXXXXXXXX
You can even dig two squares on the left. But you should have enough time
here to dig a hole, then dig behind yourself and then dig a 2-1 over the gold
which you can fall on.
Note that, once you've gotten the suspended chest, it's a-ok to drop robots
into holes, wherever. If they turn up in the pit, great!
Next you'll need to go back to the right and make that long adventure. When
you do you'll want to get the chest on the left. Here's how. Dig from the
left.
X321
*X654
*XX87X
*XXX9X
* $ X
*XXXXX
Then there's the dig left of the UR ladder to get the chest below it, and you
have the ladder you must fall down to get the gold below. None of this is
esoteric.
There's a lot of walking including from the UR back to the UL to get out of
this level, but it's all risk free.
5-Z. Level 19:
H~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H h
H $ $ $ H~~~~~H $
XXXXXXXX HXXXXXXXXX HXXX
XXXXXXXXHH H H
H $HH H H
H HH$ H
H $HH H
H HH$ H
H $HH H
H HH$ H
H $HH H
H + HH$ H
H HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH H
??wrong extracted map
This pyramid level is nowhere near as daunting as it looks. For starters you
can just wait at the bottom because the bad guys will cycle left and down and
right. Once they do, it's going to be hard for them to move back around to
cover the middle row, and you can just climb up and pick everything up. If
you're really quick you can make it back left and climb to the top before
you're cut off, but if you want to play it slow and safe, note that one or
two might follow you up the stairs, but you can afford to take the path of
least resistance here. Because there are only three enemies blocking two
routes, only one enemy blocks one escape route. Go that way.
The main thing to guard against is overconfidence. Take your time and let
your enemies cycle. And when you don't see any chests around any more, go to
the bottom and start digging. It may be worthwhile to goad one or two guys
left, then dig a square or two and run back over them. While they regenerate
you'll be able to collect the gold chests, and then you can dig to get by and
climb to the top easily.
5-Z. Level 20:
~H -~H~ ~ ~H H~ h
~ H ~ H ~ ~ ~ H~ H ~ H
$ H ~ H ~ ~ H ~ H ~ H
H~ ~H ~ ~ $ H ~$H ~H
H~ ~ H~ ~ ~ H$ ~H $ H
H ~ ~H$ ~$~ H~~~~~~ ~
H~ ~ ~ H~ ~~H ~ H ~ H ~
H ~ H ~ H ~ H ~H ~
H~ $ ~ H~ ~ H$ ~H ~ H $
H ~H ~ ~ ~H~ ~ H~ ~ H ~
H~ H ~ ~ H ~ ~$ ~ H ~
H ~H ~~~~H~ ~ ~~~~H~
H $ $ H
??MAP
The main difficulty with this level is getting to the top bit. From there
your enemies will be running after you. But for starters you need to pay
attention to the false brick UR of you. go UR to get a gold chest and then
dig a hole when your enemy circles around, so you can get his gold. Drop
right. If you are lucky another enemy will drop nearby and see you drop.
He'll go off to the left to follow you down, making your path right much
easier. (If not, there's just heavy digging ahead.)
You can then head right, climb, and go to the same false brick you fell
through originally. But wait to do so. You'll be followed. An enemy will
probably meet you at or before the right ladder. Dig to get past him then go
up the long ladder. Clear out the area to the right. This should confuse the
enemies and you can dig to get the gold on the suspended platform.
Someone may come back but you can dig a hole to get him and then run left and
up. There's a little more gold to clear out, and the enemies may approach you
after you jump from the UL(if you can't bait them up there,) but you can
shake them by digging a few holes. Go back up to the UL to take the ladder to
advance.
5-Z. Level 21:
H~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HhhhX
H H XX - $ Hh$ X
H H XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHX
H H XXX $ HX
H H X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
H H HX $ X $ X $ X $ X
H H HXXHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
H H H H X XX - X
H H H H~~H X$XXH~~XXXXXXX
H H H H H H XXXXXXX
H H H H H~~H XHXXX $$$ X
H H+ H H -H H HXXXHXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH $$HXXXXX
Run left, up and right along the rope at the top. Drop when you see the enemy
and dig a hole to get past him. Go right and down the ladder. Dig over the
left 3-wide cavern and then dig over the suspended gold. Use the rope to get
over to the one ladder and climb up and sneak in for the gold there. (Note:
if the enemy is too near, drop to the bottom to bait him.) Dig right when the
enemy gets close and fall and run left. Go up the left edge ladder and right
all the way.
Now you can start clearing out the mystical muck on the right. Provided an
enemy is not too close, dig the 4x1 cavern on the right and drop through and
then 2-1 dig below that. (If the enemy is waiting where he'd trap you, dig
the 3x1 cavern above the rope, dig the right square to fall, and then dig
right of the rope 3x. Drop in and dig a hole to catch him.)
In any case you can climb the ladder left of the rope to chase enemies away.
Then you can run down and dig left--not next to your ladder, but 2L of it, so
if there's two guys lumped you can dig another hole. Then sneak over them
using the rope. Pick up the gold chest you missed before on your next trip up
and right. If you're really nervy about avoiding your enemies for the DR, sit
in the DL and get them to come close and then climb up.
5-Z. Level 22:
h
XXXXXHHXXXXXXHHHHH h
$ HH HX H h
X$ HHX H h
+XXX$ HX H h
XXXXX$ HX H h
XXXXXXXX HX H h
$XXXXX HX H h
XXX HX H h
- HX H - h
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXVXXXXXXXXX h
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX HXh
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX $$$$$$HXX
??
As usual it's a good idea to wait around before moving along. Pick up what
gold you can along the bottom and take the right stairs up, go R and D, and
get the chest in there. Then left, 2U and right.
You may encounter some enemies as you go back left and get on the rope. This
is a good time to pedal right ore even drop down the 2-ladder right of the
rope and watch everyone follow you so you can circle around R-U-L. You can
also stay on the top rung of the right ladder to lump enemies, then D-L-D to
get them to drop. That leaves the top open to you. Run across it and get the
gold in the gap, then dig right. Fall and get the gold. Remember the safe-
haven on the right.
If you've got all the chests a ladder will appear in the UR but if not you
may just need to dig randomly for a bit. Peek out from the UR ladder and dig
holes for enemies to fall in and see who's got a chest. If you need to get
something in the left, move D-L-D to get peope to fall and have them follow
you. Then fall down once yhey're upstairs and you've snuck around to their
left.
If things are OK though you just need to sneak left, up and right.
5-Z. Level 23:
* $$- XH - h$**
**XXHXXXXXXXXXXXHXX***XHXXXX
*XXHHHX~~~~~~~XHHHX~~~~H~~~H
*XXH HX $ XH HX H
*XXH HX+ XH HX $ $ H
*XXH$HXXXXHXXXXH$HX H
*XXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH
* XXHHHXX $ $ $ H
*~~~~~~XHH HH~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H
* $ XH H - H
* H H XXXXXXXXXXX H
**** H H XXX $XX $ XXH
*XXXXXX*H$ $H XXXXXXXXXXXXX
This level requires several tricks and some fancy digging. It's convenient to
get rid of the DL gold first. Dig to get to the line: 3-2-1 under where you
are, always facing left. Drop onto the line and get the gold. You can wait
here for an enemy to arrive and then dig to get his gold, walk across him,
climb the ladder, and reach the structure with two golds entombed.
Here's how to get the left and leave safely:
12XXX
X43 $X
5XXXX
(Be quick when you leave so the enemy doesn't chase you)
And the right:
XXXXX1 H
X $ 23H
XXXXXXXX
Walk in and get the gold and walk out. Now you can get the gold in the right
chamber with the suspended gold below it. Climb to the top, wait, and when
your enemy comes by, dig. Go left and down for another gold and dig over the
suspended gold. Fall in. Here you can trap the enemy in the UR wedge if you
dig him often enough. But it's more important just to get by him. Then climb
down one. Watch where he materializes--if just above, drop down quickly and
dig--but otherwise you can climb up the 1-ladder to dig L, down, dig L and
dig right too to fend the enemy off.
You can eventually clear out the top row this way--the guy to the left or the
one to the right. Wait for your chance and you should be able to cross over.
The only problem arises if there is a guy waiting around near the gold in the
air below the rope. Then you'll have to dig as follows, which may not be easy
until you kill any bad guy wandering around with you. The guy also may
reappear in your area, in which case, make one hole, let him fall in, and dig
over the gold.
XH21
HHH3
H H4
H H5
H H6 <-he'll fall and stick here
The coast should be clear to go to the right edge and up.
5-Z. Level 24:
h
XXXXXHHXXXXXXHHHHH h
$ HH HX H h
X$ HHX H h
XXXXXXXH $ $XXXXX$ $ HXXXXXX
H XXXX XXXX H
$ H - $ H $
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH
H H
H $ $HXXXXXXXH$ $ H
XXXXXXXXXXH HXXXXXXXXX
$ + H H $
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*
??Map
This looks a bit helter skelter but the solution is straightforward. Go up
the ladder and dig left, D, dig left, drop in. Stay at the bottom of the
ladder until the enemy is 2L, then climb up and dig left. When he falls in,
climb over him, up and fall left to the top of the battleship. At the top of
the first ladder, dig left, D, dig left. Go left, come back right and dig
right to fall onto--or next to--the gold below. Go onto the top rung of the
ladder to the right, putting the guy to the right out of commission.
The next part requires moderately fluid movements. If you like you can
distract your opponent on the right by suckering him up to the top and
digging a hole for him so it takes forever to get back out--but you'll have
to un-trap him later. So here's the quicker way.
D, L, U and nip in to get the gold chest before retreating and digging left.
Go L-U-L and wait for the enemy to leave his hole. Dig right, walk right over
him, and dig left at the top of the stairs, D, dig left, get the chest.
Bounce back up and go right and down, digging right to catch the enemy. Up
the big ladder, fall left, and climb to the top.
5-Z. Level 25:
h h
HXXXVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH
HXXXVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH
H $ XX~~~~~~~~XX H
H XXX $XH $XX H
H X$X XXH XXXXXXXX XXXXXH
XXXXXXXX HX H h
$XXXXX HX H h
XXX HX H h
- HX H - h
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXVXXXXXXXXX h
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX HXh
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX $$$$$$HXX
??map
The bad guys are out of the equation for most of this as long as you dig a
hole from where you start for five seconds. Fall onto the rope and you won't
be able to see it, but one enemy falls through a false brick and goes right.
This lets you take out the gold at the top, dig, and fall into the center
well. Dig there and fall and then dig the right brick at the bottom to get
out. You don't need to rush to climb back up to the top.
Pass the inverted C on the rope above for one gold chest. Then dig to get the
one 2R2D of that. Come back around and drop from the rope and dig above the
gold chest. There's one more gold chest suspended below that. When 4U of it
dig left, fall through, dig right and fall through. Wait for the two enemies
to come at you. It's a close thing but you need them to follow you up the
ladder and you have to flee when they're very close--one to two squares--but
play it safe so that if they run back, you can just climb down and try again
soon.
Shift right and up when they're both on the ladder and then fall down the
ladder to the right--there's a false brick at the bottom. Run all the way
right.
On the right side there's gold in the UR and also one left of a ladder where
you need to fall into it. You can just wait where you land and your enemies
will come back right.
Well, they should, and if they don't I find climbing the big right ladder and
falling down the well left of the smaller ladder works well. Get to the
bottom so your enemies see you and let them chase you at close range. Go left
at the platform and dig left to loop around them. The stairs up are in the UL
corner. You need to climb up where the top rope is, go left, fall through the
false brick, and L/U.
5-Z. Level 26:
h
- $ h
HXXXXXXXXXXH - $ XXXHXXX
H $ $ HXXXXXH H
H X XXX X H $$ *H - H
H X XXX X H ** *XXXXXXXXX**
H X XXX X H ** *$
H X$ XXX X H *~~~~~~~ $ *H
H XXXXX X H *$ XXXXH*H
H XXXXXXXX H ** $ H H
H H ** XXXXXX HXX
H********X***** H
H + H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It's easy enough to get the enemies to run away from you. Climb a rung up the
left ladder and watch them run to the middle one. Then go up the ladder and
dig down to the zigzag structure in the center, alternately from the left and
right, as follows:
X X21 X
X 34X X
X X65 X
X 78X X
XXXX9 X
XXXXXXaX
The enemies will run off to the right, and you can run up the center stairs
and 1L to dig left and drop on the right chest. It's just as easy to drop on
the left chest. Then climb up the center ladder again, go 1R and dig right.
FAll right and get the chest in the niche in the cement. Walk all the way
right to find a ladder to clean more stuff up.
5-Z. Level 27:
h
~~~~~~~~~~ h
*XXXHXXX* *XXXHXXX* h
*$ $H $ * $ $* $ H$X$*hh
* XXX H XX* *XXXXXH X Xh*
* H + * $* H X $*
* HXXXXX*HX*XX $H XX X*
* $ - H - H XXH *
*HXXXXH *XXHXXX* H XH*
H* $ H X H $ X H -*H
H*XX H XXX H XXX H XX*H
H $* H *$ H $* H *$ H
H XXX H XXX H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It's useful to keep your one enemy around on the left while you go about
digging holes and dropping on gold chests. The best place to slow him down is
where you start--or more precisely 2R of that. Dig left, walk over him when
he falls in, and dig right to slow him a bit more. Then you can dig pretty
much anywhere above a gold chest and pick them off one at a time.
Once Everything's cleared you can get the gold chest on the lower center bit.
Dig left from your niche, walk over the guy, and dig left to drop down. Dig
over the gold chest and then dig the guy in the center who comes after you.
You should be able to dispatch him to the left with a few traps. If he goes
to the right then just go up the center ladder to shake him out back to
either the center or far right.
Your first two trips to the right, you'll want to collect gold in the center
top by dropping down the rope, but after that you can dig above gold chests
with impunity.
5-Z. Level 28:
h
~~~~~~~~~~~ h $ $
$ $ *H **********H
X*X*X*X***** $ *H -$
*******H **XXXXH
~~~~~~~~H ** H- XXXXH
H ** XXXXXXXXH XXXXH
$ $ H ** X XH XXXXH
XXX- X H ** X $ XH XX$XH
XXXXXXX H ** XXXXXXXXH XX XH
H X $ XH XH
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX HXXH XXXXXXXH
+ H $H H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Go left, loop for the two gold, and only dig one hole to get by the enemy.
Dig it away from the ladder so you have time to reach the right ladder, wait
for the hole to heal, and climb up one rung when he's near. He'll go back
left and won't be a factor.
To get the suspended gold on the right, just
12H
34H
56H
7XH
Drop through 7. Dig the wall left of the ladder you go up to sneak in for
another gold. Then go back right, dig and climb a rung up the right ladder so
your one enemy is stuck. Go along the top. Dig over the right edge of the pit
with the two enemies in it. Fall right. Drop over the other gold and 2-1 dig
from the right to escape. Avoid your pal at the bottom one more time to
advance.
5-Z. Level 29:
h
- ~~ ~ h -
XXXX H ~ h XXH
XXXX H XX ~ -h ~XXH
X$$X H XX~ XXXXXXX ~H
XXXX H XXXXXXX H HXXX
H~~~ XXXXXXX H X$X
~ H XXXXXXX H XXX
XXXX H XX$$$XX H
~ XXXX H XXXXXXX H
XXX~ X$$X H~ ~ ~H
X$X XXXX H ~ + ~ H XXXX
XXX H XXX H X$$X
XX H H HXXX
You can trap one guy pretty quickly, or even just get people out of the way,
by waiting at the base of the ladder to the right. He'll walk right--into a
pit. You can repeat the process by dragging an enemy over to the right, 3U 5R
dig-L and go over him and fall down. He'll mistakenly go right, too. But the
third guy just gets confused and falls back in his hole.
Dig above and below the left gold in the DR, UL and L of the gold in the
right, a 4-3-2-1 dig in the center rectangle, a 2-1 in the UL, and UR and R
of the gold in the DL. For all of these the enemy won't be in play much but
the 3x4 rectangle in the DL is a different matter. Have your enemy follow you
to the top, then dig as follows.
X321
XXXX
X$$X
XXXX
you should have the time to dig beneath 2 or 3 and then dig under. If you
wait too long he will loop around just right of you and while it's possible
to get out(dig, then wait 'til he's on the rope) the timing needs to be exact.
5-Z. Level 30:
h
$$$$- - + ~~~h
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX H
H H
~ * $ $ $ $* H
H *XXXXXXVXXXXXXXXVXXXX* H
H H
~ * $ $ $ * H
H *XXVXXXXXXXVXXXXX* H
H H
~~ * $ $ $* H
**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX* H
$$$$ - H* H
XXXXXXXXXX******XXXXXXX*** H
Keep the enemies in order and you'll be fine here, I've found that if you
move left, dig, stand on the fallen guy, and dig left, you can run left with
no problem. Get all the gold and dig down. Get the two gold below and dig
over the left gold on the next bracketed level. The false brick below allows
you to collect all the gold on the bottom. Hide so that you can dig in the
left corner and leave when the enemies get close. Grab the gold on the left
and wait for the other enemy to come left. Dig once to get around him.
Back up to the top. Dig over the first remaining gold you see(should be about
1/3-1/2 across the screen) and then 2L and dig to fall on another gold. Run
back right to fall on a false brick and go to the right corner to dig. Wait
for the enemies to get close and bail.
Dig once around the guard at the bottom and then, at the top, dig down so
that you will wind up on the left of the bottom bracket but not the left edge.
You will need to dig holes for the enemies to get in, but there's no point
wasting time running at them. Get the gold they leave behind and it should be
a straight run past the bottom guardian up the UR ladder.
5-Z. Level 31:
h
X$ ~~~~~~~~~~h~~~~~~~~~ $X
XXHH - $ HHXX
XXXH H~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~H HXXX
XXXXHH $ HHXXXX
XXXXXH H~~~~~~ ~~~~~H-HVXXXX
XXXXXVHH $ HHXVXXXX
XXXXXVXH H~~~ ~~~~H HXXVXXXX
XXXXXVXXHH $ HHXXXVXXXX
XXXXXVXXXH H~~ ~H HXXXXVXXXX
XXXXXVXXXXHH HHXXXXXVXXXX
XXXXXVXXXXXH HXXXXXXVXXXX
XXXXXVXXXXXXH+$HXXXXXXXVXXXX
XXXX- HXXH XXXX
This level is really just a footrace. You need to get the gold next to you
and climb UL. The enemy will fall through the false bricks to chase you.
Climb to the top and get all the gold. Walk across the rope to the right.
Fall at the edge. Wait for a robot to come from the right. Drop down two
ropes and go right and up, collecting gold as you go. At the top a ladder
will in the center when you get the final gold. Cut back left to get on it
and climb up.
5-Z. Level 32:
~ - ~~~ -
HX HXXXXXHXXXXHX X H
HXXXX XXXXXHXXXXHX XXXXHX
H X~~~~H~~~~HX X$ H
H +X XH$X$H$XH$HX X~ H
XHXX XXXXXXXXHXXX X H$
H $X $HH X XXHXXX
H XX XXXH X H
H $X X H X$ HXXXXX
H X X $ H XX H
H$X X HXXXXXXH X X$H
HX $ X HX $ XH XH
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
This is another level where you can push your enemies around 'til they're
irrelevant. Climb up to the top. Stand on the ladder that opens to a big drop
below. When the enemy gets close, drop down and then fall left. Stay on the
ladder's second rung. The enemy will look off to the right and eventually
fall there. That leaves the left and center as easy pickings. Dig right and
go right/left for the gold in the triangle. You can even do so once the enemy
passes the ladder. The only remotely tough gold in the center is at the
bottom. Dig left of each right ladder rung at the bottom and wait for the
squares to heal.
Now you can be a bit mean in the next bit, dropping right of the structure
for gold and waiting for enemies to come by, again at the 2nd-bottom ladder
rung. Dig left and walk back into the center structure. Let them follow you
closely. Wham, easy to take out the right, even if only one is suckered. As
you can outmaneuver one guy, you can just fall right off the rope at the top
and dig right to land on the gold and run down the stairs quickly. You can
even get rid of this guy and dig left twice from the bottom ladder to create
an unescapable hole.
The trek back to the UL may have some interruptions but it's hardly
impossible.
5-Z. Level 33:
XXXXXh
Xhhhhh -
Xh $~~~XXXXHXXXXXXXXHXXXX
XXXXXXX X XHXXXXXXXXHX XX
- XHXXX XX XHX$ X
HXXXXXXXHXH$ XHXXX XX XHXXXX
H HXXXXXHXXX$ X XHXX X
H XXXXHXXXXXX XHXX$X
H $ X H H X
HXXXHXXXXHX*X*X*X*X*X*XHX*X*
HXXXHXXXXHXXXXXX XXXXXH
H H HXXXXXXX XXXXH
HXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXX$ XXXXXXXH
H + H $ XXXXXX - H
You can cycle monsters around the top in this level, which makes things a lot
easier. Run right to get the chest and then back left and up and left. Dig to
push the monster back and then climb up the left stair, then right to get the
gold. Dig 2-1 to escape and climb up the ladder that's right there. 2-1 dig
over the L-shaped enclosure with the gold and fall and go left under the
ladder. Wait for company, run up, and run right. Dig over the smaller L, drop,
dig right, and again wait at the ladder base. Up, left, down, and dig over
the zigzag with the gold chest and go through the chute, right and up. This
is the most dangerous part. But having that hole dug will stop the enemies
just enough.
You should now be able to go across the top, drop on the rope to the left,
and get the final gold chest. If an enemy got it after reforming, you may
have to muddle in the DL but then you can just head U/R and dig down and make
it back easily.
5-Z. Level 34:
h h
h~~~~~~~~$$XXXXXX$$~~~~~~~~h
H $XXXHHHHXXX$ H
H $XXHHH--HHHXX$ H
H $XXHH$ $HHXX$ H
H XXHH$ $HHXX H
H XHH$$ $$HHX H
H XHH$$ $$HHX H
H XXHH$ $HHXX H
H XVHH$$ $$HHVX H
H VXHHH$$HHHXV H
H XXXHHHHXXX H
H+ - XXXXXX H
XXXXXXXXXH HXXXXXXXXX
Not one of the tougher levels out there. You need to climb on the O twice but
only dig into it once. First, clear out the left, Dig three holes to catch
the guy right of you, then climb halfway up the stairs and drop down. This
will cause your enemies to fall down the false bricks and onto your side. Dig
up the left for whatever they have and then go to the top where you can dig
your way into the O.
$$XX
$1XX
$2X
$3X
X4
Now it is a matter of reaching the top ladders and falling in the right
places. Then you can go to the right, above the false brick(4-tall ladder)
and run right and dig and retreat. You can cause the monsters to flinch by
climbing down the ladder and back up, thus assuring they'll die, you can walk
past them, and you can clear out the stuff on the upper right part of the O.
You may have to drop down and get by them again, but it's not hard to do it
again.
5-Z. Level 35:
h h
*X*X*X*X*X*Xh**hX*X*X*X*X*X*
$ - $ HXXH $ $
H*X*X*X*X*X*X**X*X*X*X*X*X*H
H $ $ XX $ $ H
*X*X*X*X*X*XH**HX*X*X*X*X*X*
$-$ HXXH $-$
H*X*X*X*X*X*X**X*X*X*X*X*X*H
H $ $ XX $ $ H
*X*X*X*X*X*XH**HX*X*X*X*X*X*
$ $ HXXH $ $
H*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*XH
H + H
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*
This level looks bad but as long as you dig your holes in advance you should
be ok.
It's a bit less tedious to start on the left but there's some risk an enemy
may appear when you go to climb to the top for the final chests on the left.
I suppose you could just keep digging holes below until the enemies carry
their chests down, but it might take some time. It's also possible to make it
to the top if you spaced your digs far enough apart. Then clearing out the
right is as easy as discussed below.
Going to the right first is less risky. There's only one enemy there, and
trapping/digging will kick him over to the left. That actually makes things
more straightforward. After getting the last gold you can dig down, drop, dig,
etc. and go left and 1U to lump the bad guys together. Then 1D, right, and
circle around the bad guys when they get near.
Note this assumes that they drop any gold they collected, so you may need to
climb back down, clear them out and go back up the right.
5-Z. Level 36:
h h
$ h $ $ h -$
HXXXXXXXHXXX XXXHXXX XXXXXH
H H ~ H H
H H ~ ~ H H
~~~~~~ H ~ ~ H ~~~~~~~~ H
- H ~ ~ H H
XXXXXX H ~ ~ H -$ $ H
XX XXX H ~ ~ H ~XXX***
$ $ H ~ H ~XXX***
XXXXXX H ~ ~ H ~XXX***
XXXX X H~~ ~~H ~XX$$**
$ $ H + $ H $ ******
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The key to making this level less difficult is to use the crossing ropes to
keep your enemies off the ground. Before going up the ladders run left, dig
1L of the ladder(from the left) and right--wait for the guy to fall in--to
get the DL gold. Then up the stairs, pick up the gold at the top, and wait
for the guy to follow. Drop down the UL ladder and go 1R. When he falls, dig
right and then wait at the bottom of the stairs for everyone to follow you
again.
Zigzag up and when everyone's on the stairs, take the rope to the right. Fall
all the way down and zigzag up the right stairs. Everyone will be stuck at
the top. Fall right and climb up the far right stairs for a gold, dig and
drop. Here's how to get the entombed gold.
~12X*
~43X*
~65X*
~87$$
If you're lucky your enemies won't have any gold, but if not, just run left,
dig and climb up two sets of stairs and back down to make the monsters flip
flop. You should be able to grab loose gold although if it is on the left
stair you may have to dig and trap several times before there is a clear path
up. Use the crossing ropes to get an easy path up the right if necessary.
5-Z. Level 37:
h
hh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H
h $ $ $ $ H
XVXXXHHXHHXXXXXXXX X X H
XHH HHX-**XXXX - H
XHH$HHX * XXXX XXXHXXXXH
XXXXXXX *$XXX H H
H H
+ XHXXXXXH****H
XXHXXXXXXXXHXXX H $$ H H
H H H ** XXH
HXX$X H XXX **XXXXXX H
HXXXX -H $ ** H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**XXXX****
With a good start this level falls by the wayside pretty simply. Run right,
dig right four times, and only then dig left when above the gold chest in the
pit. Dig-r, L, dig-r to get the chest. Now your enemies should have been
slowed down by those pits, if not annihilated. Use the break to go up, right,
and dig right at the edge. Get the gold below there and go back up the stair-
-2nd rung pushes everyone away--and dig right again.
The next bit you can finish mostly unaccosted. Dig above the cement for two
gold pieces. Drop in the UL onto the blocks with gold on them. Go all the way
left to drop onto the gold. Don't fall off the rope to the left--that's death,
as the enemy crowds around there. But sweep back right.
The suspended gold falls as follows:
XX123
**45X
* 6XX
*$XXX
Fall through for it, dig as you did before, and go up the UR.
5-Z. Level 38:
h
~ ~~ h ~~ ~
H XXXXX -h $ XXXXXX H
H XXXXX XHHHHHHHX XXXXXX H
H XXX$X XH*****HX XX$XXX H
H XXXXX XHHHHHHHX XXXXXX H
H ~~~~~~~ H
H - H * H - H
H*****H $***$ H******H
H H ***** H H
HXXXXXH ******* HXXXXXXH
H H $*********$ H H
H*****H *********** H******H
$ H*************H + $
Go L-U-R on the cement. Wait for the enemy to get very close and tumble down
the ladder. He will follow. Circle to the UL and dig 3-2-1 from the right to
get the gold in the rectangle.
XXX123
XXX45X
XX$6XX
XXX7XX
Fake the enemy out again to get to the right and this time fall left off the
rope onto the center bit of ladders. Fall to the rope beneath onto the gold
near the tip of the pyramid and run back and fall on the ladders again. This
time move past the pyramid apex and above the gold on the left. Drop down
when an enemy approaches and then climb onto the brick platform. Start
digging like crazy to exterminate the enemy, which will make it safe to go to
the DL for the tricky gold there. Then dig in the rectangle in the UL(3-2-1
again) for the last gold. Stairs up in the center.
5-Z. Level 39:
h h
h~~ ~ - - ~ ~~h
H HXXX$HXXXXHHXXXXH$XXXX H
HXXX XXHX XHXX XHXX XXXH
HXX XH$ HX $HX XXH
HXXX XXXXHHXXXXHHXXXX XXXH
H XXHX XXHX XHXX XHXX H
H XH XH - $HX HX H
H XXXXHHXXXXHHXXXXHHXXXX H
HXXX XXHX XHXX XHXX XXXH
HXX XH HX HX XXH
HXXX XXXXHHXXXXHHXXXX XXXH
H $ + HH $ HH $ H
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH
An almost embarrassingly easy level where you just have to run right for a
gold, run left, and dig a hole for the bad guy coming down. R-U-R-U-R for one
gold chest, then L-U-L-U for another. Retreat then R-U-R-U-R for two more.
Now while on the ladder, dig R-D-dig R-D-dig R and fall through. Two more
digs to the right and you can fall to near another gold piece. You can just
wait near the bottom of the stairs to dig the enemy coming down, run past and
climb up the UR.
5-Z. Level 40:
hXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXhhXXXXXXX * ~~~~~~X
$ HX $ *H X $ X
HXXXXXXXXX*XXXXXXX *H XXXXXX
H - $ * $ *H XXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXH* XXVXXX *H XXXXXX
$ H* $ *H -
HXXXXXXXXX* XXVVVX XXXXXXXXH
H $ * $ H
XXXXXXXXXH* XXVXXX XXXXX H
$H* $ X $X H
HXXXXXXXXX* XXVVVX HXX H
H - + HX $ H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Run left, dig left and get past the enemy to climb the stairs. You might be
better off having him follow you, so maybe wait to climb. You'll only have to
dig one hole to get to the top that way. At the top, dig R from the 1-ladder
and run right. Dig over each gold piece to avoid the disaster of false
bricks--there are a few you can't help, but if you run to over the gold piece
you won't have to re-run through the winding bit.
Fall right and dig at the top of the ladder and its top rung after getting
the gold. Dig to get by the guy on the right and climb up the stairs. Drop
into the 4-pit and 3-2-1(from the left) out. You can then go 1L, dig left,
and make it out while still trapping your enemy.
Dig the obstructing enemies out of the way before you climb to the top row of
the winding UL path again. Eventually they'll reform on the left and it's
easy sailing to the top.
5-Z. Level 41:
h
h ~~$~~~~~~~~~-~~~~~ ~~~~~
h +H $X$ H~ X ~H $$$
h$H $X X$ H~ XXX ~H $$
XX $X X$ H~ X X ~H $
V X X H~ XX XX ~H
HXX XXX *** X$$$X ~XH
H X X $ HHXXX H
H ~ XXX $H HXXHX H
H ~ X $H H$$H XXXX H
H ~ $H H****H XXXX H
H ~~~H H H XXXX H
H - H$ -$H $XXX H
XXXXXXXX******XXXXXH H
Get the gold to the left and get back on the 2-rope and fall down. Falling
left exposes a false brick--fall left and then go UR up the ladders. Fall
right off them for a huge jump to run past the enemy to the right. Juke him
for th egold on the cement. Stay near the top of the ladder so the far-left
guys don't come after you and then drop for the UR gold. Drop on the near-
square structure and do a 3-2-1 dig from the left to get the gold below.
Back up the stairs, drop to the rope on the right of the diamond with the 3
gold inside. Dig to get in. Dig right and fall right to get out and go up and
UL. Drop on the top gold when you see it and loop back R-UR-L.
Now you may have to fall through the false brick and dig the two enemies to
get a final gold piece. That sort of stinks, especially since you need to
sucker them back around, but dig a couple of holes to trap them, walk over
the ladder and climb up a rung. This lumps everyone together. Move to near
the top and they'll come running. Jump left to avoid them--woohoo--and circle
around again. THe ladder's in the UL.
5-Z. Level 42:
h
h
$ -h $ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XXXXHXXXXXXH $ $ H
H H *XXXX******XXXH
H***** H * $ $- H
X$$*H $ * H * ********* H
X$$***XXX* H * * $ $ * H
XXX***XXX* H * $ * HXXXXH* H
$ $ H **V** H H* H
XXXXXXXXX H * H - H* H
$ $ * H *XXXXXXXX**** H
XXXXXXH ****XXXX* $ $ H
XXXX$XH + HXXXXXXXXX
In this level you can trap all the enemies and waltz through. But you need to
get a quick start. Go left and up, get the gold, and dig the squares just
left of the ladder to get the embedded gold. Fall left to get it and come
back right and you should see an enemy shortly after climbing the stairs. Dig
a hole for him and climb up the ladder to the right. Run left and another
enemy should come from the left and fall. Dig a hiole for him and fall left.
Climb up the ladder and clear the UL. Dig to drop on the suspended gold.
Circle around and dig again to clear that area out.
The second time, stay at the second rung of the ladder. Your enemies will
come by to the left and fall in the pit where the gold was. You've got a free
hand now. Dig over the chest in the left of the box structure on the
right(false brick.) You might not even need to dig a hole to outwit the enemy
in there--wait and dig right and pick up the gold at worst, but don't kill
your enemy off. He's totally useless where he is, so let him chase you and
dig where you can drop. Climb back to the UR and dig left so you fall on the
cement with the two gold pieces remaining.
The walk to the stairs up is tedious, but oh well, the level wasn't too bad.
5-Z. Level 43:
h
h $ $ - $
HXXXHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHXXXH
H H H XXX $ -$ XXH H H H
XXHXXXH HXXXXXXXH HXXXHXX
H H H H H HXXXH H H H H H
HXXXHXXXH H $ H HXXXHXXXH
$ H H H H H-H***H H H H H H$
XXXXHXXXH$H*H***H*H$HXXXHXXX
XXH H H H*H*H***H*H*H H H HX
XXHXX H*H*H*H***H*H*H*H XXHX
XXH H*H*H*H*H***H*H*H*H*H HX
XXH*H H H H H +H H H H H*HX
XXXXXXXXXXXXHX$XHXXXXXXXXXXX
1R, dig left, get the gold and go right. Watch everyone else run to the left.
Climb up and left for a gold chest then fall left twice for another. Go back
to the right and get the gold on the cement and the one at the far right.
RURURU to the top. Get a gold chest and you should have enough of a jump to
get all the way to the left and dig, dig right when the enemy comes running,
go to the left and dig left after he gets out. So he is still stuck and your
job is easier.
Head to the bottom as you did at the start. A slick up and under move should
get you to the promised land. Climb up, fall left, and take the next ladder
up. Wait to dig the brick to the left until someone appears. Jiggle up and
down the ladder to make the monsters go back and forth so that one falls in
and get stuck. It's easy to dig and go over the other one to the far left now.
You can do the same for #2 and when you can't see where the other one is,
he's on the right.
The enemies may bring the final gold chest on the top down, but you can
probably run up to get it anyhow. Stairs up are on the right, 2 in from the
edge.
5-Z. Level 44:
h h
Xh HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH hX
Xh H HHH H HH H -hX
XXXXH HHH HH H HH H HHHXXXX
X H HHH$HH H$HH H $ H X
X - H HHH HH H HH H HHH - X
XXXXH $ H H HH HXXXX
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
H H H H HH H HH H H H
H$H H H H H H H H HHH H H
H HH H$H H$ H$H $H$ H$ HH
H H H H H HH H HH H HHH H H
H H H$ +H HH H HH H H H H
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Ooh, look. It says "Lode Runner." The key here is to get enemies to fall on
top of you so you can run past them to the top. As for getting to the bottom,
it's safest to stand in the middle of the O and drop down. If you need to
sucker an enemy into a hole, go to one of the 3-wides and dig left and right,
so you can catch a possible gold carrier one way and escape the other. There
shouldn't be much of this, though. You have to fall onto most of your gold.
This is a subjective level but it stands to reason that, if you stand in the
middle of a long ladder where enemies can't run at you, you're safe and can
plan your next move. It's also most expedient to work from left to right.
Just concentrate on one gold at a time. You want most of your movement to be
vertical, to freeze the enemies, and if you really need to send them to one
side of the board, you can outrun them up/down a ladder(preferably up so they
don't pick up gold during an unplanned fall.) To start, just get the gold to
the left, run all the way left and fall off the ladder.
If you want to use a bizarre hiding place then the 2nd-top rung between the O
and D is a great place to hide. The enemies will crowd on the ladder left of
you. If you've cleared out the L-O and the R-U-N then it's easy to pick up
the gold sequentially. Remember to climb to the very top, fall down, repeat
etc. and it's easy. This is a good strategy in any case.
5-Z. Level 45:
h
*~~H H~~~~H
* H $ X$XH- H $ XX
$ XH - H *XH **XXXX*X
*XXH~~~~~~~H~~~~~*H~~~~~~~H*
X$ * H $H*** HX
**XX $$$H H*~~~~ $ HH
* H H*H $ XX*H
XXXXXX H + H*H H
XH~~~~ H*XXX*XXX**H H
XH$ XH HXH *XXXX H
XH*~~XXXH H*H X $ * H
XH XXX*XH - H H X**X**
*XXXXX****XXXXXXXXXXXXXX*XXX
Run left immediately but don't drop to the DL until you see an enemy coming.
Then dig at the DL and get the gold and run U/R/U. He won't follow you. Now
you can go up the center ladder for some gold and fall off the ropes for a
couple more. In the UL, drop off the rope, get the gold, dig R, get the gold,
dig R. There's a gold off to the right, too. Quick UR after you drop keeps
the enemy bottled in. Dig right to descend and then move left, dig right
continually. Once both guys are bagged try to ascend the ladder on the far
right. Fall off the rope, dig over the gold, fall in to get it, dig left and,
if an enemy is on the ladder near you, dig left again.
Run back up the ladder and this time drop to the right and climb up to pick
up the gold there. UL of all this you can drop onto the final gold--your
enemies shouldn't have any unless they were on the right, where you dug holes
for them. Bizarrely any guy stuck on the left will also cower in the DL,
probably when you get the encased gold.
5-Z. Level 46:
h
$ h
XXXXXXXXHXXXXXXH $ - $
$ H HXXXXXXXXXXXX
XHXXXXXXH $ H
H $ H******H $
XHXXXXXXH XXXXXHXXXXXXH
H - $ H H
$ HXXXHXXXXXXX********
XXXHXXXXX H $ $ -
H HXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXX
H~~~~~~~H H
H + H $
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXhXXXX
A quick inspection of the board shows that you'll probably need to get the DR
chest last and hope a ladder appears back to civilization. It should. The
quick way through this is to walk left and climb up to the top rung of the
ladder. Your enemies will bunch off to the right. Wait for this because it's
worth it. You can go U/L/R/D to get the gold chest UL of you and preserve the
status quo. Then climb down the ladder and hang out. They'll drop and now
they're chasing you.
Climb up and right and up. Nip in to the left each time you see gold, then
dig over the ladder to the left and drop down and go back where you were.
Climb down and up and run over the cement this time. You can go to the UR to
get the one tough gold chest and waiting before digging right and going L-D-L
and digging is a good way to get most of the remaining chests.
The enemies might still have one. You can wait for them somewhere below and
dig a row of holes. You should have time to run back to the right, but if not,
you know your safety square. Let them follow you as you head right across the
rope they could've reached before they fell. U-R-dig right.
You can go further out of your way to get to the far right, and you probably
won't have to dig any holes for them, but if you move directly, you may have
to dig something for them before you drop down yourself.
5-Z. Level 47:
h
$ $ $ $ h
XXXHXXXXXXX - H* *H*XXXh
XXXH $ XXXXH H* *H*XXXh
X XXX*XH $ H $ H* *H* $ h
X $ XX*XH HXXX** *H*XXXh
XXXXX - XXX*XH * *H*XXXh
X $ X*HX XX*XXH* *H*$$ h
XXX HXX**X $ *H* *H*XXXh
X X*XXH XXX**X*H* *H*XXXh
X XXX*XXH $ *H* *H* XXh
X HXX $XXX**XHX*H* *H* Xh
X HX + H $H* H $h
X$HX*XXXX*XXXXX*XX**XX*XXXXX
A somewhat uncomfortable level where you need to just keep digging to get out
of the mess in the DL and concentrate on digging holes. Once you do, take the
ladder on the right and then go L-U-L-U to the top, clearing that out.
In the UL corner do a 2-1 dig to drop down through a small chute and get the
gold there. Dig again to the left to get the next gold and dig once again to
fall into the DL. Go up the ladder, dig R, D, dig R.
Go right and up the 2-ladder, L, U, 1L. Dig over the gold chest and drop in
on it. You still have one more chest to get. Go up the 2-ladder again, L-U-L-
U and fall right for the final gold here. You'll need them all before heading
right. Dig your way to the bottom and go up the right side.
Wait until the bad guys are at the top, fall right and go to the right edge.
Be sure to dig left twice so you can run back over them and up the ladder. A
couple 2-1 digs from the top right bit and you should see the ladder up
appear.
5-Z. Level 48:
h
~~~~~~~~~h $ $
H h $ XXXXXXXHXXXXX
H XXXXH H
HXXXXXXH $ H HXXXXXXXXXXH
H H H****-H**********H
H $HX H$ H* $ *H
H HX XXXXH H*H******H*H
H $HX $H$H*H* $ H*H
H HX H**** H*H********H
H HX H $ H*H $ H
HHX XXXXH H***********
HH+ - H -
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Climb up and U-R to get some gold chests, then go to the top rope and drop
right and climb down the ladders. Dig any enemies in the way to climb up the
long ladder to the right. Collect the gold on the top, and then you can keep
digging UR of the cement bit until the enemies are off to the left. There may
be an enemy inside the cement structure. Goad him out by getting on a level
with him and playing chicken--no matter how deep he gets in the spiral, you
can let him follow you near to the closest ladder a few times. Then dig him
out of the way when you get him outside. Go into the center and get out. You
should be able to climb to the top and over your enemies to the ladder that
appears.
5-Z. Level 49:
- h
~ ~h~ ~ $ $
~ ~ ~ ~ H ~ ~ HXXXXXX
~ ~ ~ ~ H ~ ~ H $ -
~ ~ H ~~ H*****H
$ $ $ H ~ H* $ *H
**************H~ $ ~H*H*$*H
* XXX H*H~~~~
+ $* $ - H
HXXXXXXXXXXHXX**XXXXXH
HXXXX XXXXHXX H
H XX$$XXX HX ~~$H XXXX
H $ $XX$ $ HXX HX XHXX$$XX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The tough part is probably getting started and also keeping your enemy in the
DR. Dig right and head into the DR. Then dig left into the compartment and
run to the DL. Thet will get you a lot of gold. But you need to trap your
enemy and get out. To do this, dig right at the top of the left ladder when
he approaches. Dig behind you once, then 2-1 dig right of the right ladder.
Now climb the 1-ladder and climb back down when the enemies are over the pit.
They will fall in. You have a free hand now--climb the big ladder, dig the UR,
get the gold on the cement, R-D onto the rope, L-U-R and fall and drop. Dig
1U1L, 1L and 2L of the entombed gold and now you can get the gold at the UL
rope area before coming back(fall left from the long ladder across a bunch of
ropes.) Walk across your enemies and dig left of them to get them out. Run
right and dig left again. Climb up to the brick platform and dig holes for
them when they come by. You're free to pick up the gold. Drop anyone who
regenerates and follows you into the same pit they were at.
5-Z. Level 50:
~ ~~~~
H H - H*$$$
H $ HXXXX $ $ HXXXXVHHXXX
HXX H XXXXXXXXXX HHXV
H H HHV
H H~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HH
H H $ - $ $H
H~~~ XXXXXH**********XXVXXX
-$ H H~~~
XXXXXXXXXH H $ H~ $
XXXXXH***HXXXX X$XXX
$ + H H XXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXH HXXXXXXXXXX
Run left for the chest and back right. Wait for the enemy to descend and dig
to trap him. Then go all the way to the top. Fall left off the rope and go
left, right and up. Wait for your enemies to go right a bit and then drop
right. Run along the top to the upper right to get all the gold along there--
watch the false brick and climb back up the ladders after falling through it.
You can dig the right side of the UR 3-pit with gold to escape, incidentally.
For the DR, stand on the rope and dig right to release the enemy that's
probably in there, after you walk across him to get the gold on the right. If
he's not there, dig right and R-U-4R to fall and get the gold. Then you can
dig left and drop and dig left to make more space to dig at the bottom if the
enemies are chasing you. If there is/was a guy in that pit, dig to the left
to get rid of anyone coming at you, and you can drop down and dig left if all
three guys come at you quickly.
You should have cleared out all the gold by now but you can have a dig-fest
in the bottom left and when the enemies regenerate you can walk up the UL
to...level 1. Weak last level, weak ending.
End of FAQ proper
================================
6. VERSIONS
1.0.0 submitted to GameFAQs 12/01/2005. Enough to stand alone from Apple Lode
Runner. Pulled some Championship Lode Runner basic instructions too.
7. CREDITS
I N F E R N O on GameFAQs for letting me have the information from his
formative guide. It was hashed up and regurgitated in various sections.
Thanks for doing the tough work I dislike.
The NES FAQ writers for keeping the NES Completion Project long enough that I
gave in and decided to write up this game.
The people who gave me the pirated Lode Runner disks so long ago. (I think
the statute of limitations has expired by now?)
The people who wrote the program that listed Lode Runner moves when you typed
"CATALOG."
The FCEU folks for their general work and, specifically, for the save states
which helped me plot out the levels when the NES binary had them compressed,
which originally confused me.
CJayC for having GameFAQs.
For all the people I've gotten to know since the Apple version of this guide
came out. There are too many to list off the top of my head. Here's a partial
list: bloomer, Retro, falsehead, Snow Dragon, Masters, Sashanan, Lisanne,
Brian Sulpher, ZoopSoul, AdamL and *who knows* who else.
ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net which has the Apple(better) version of Lode Runner.
Doug Smith for creating Lode Runner.
