Any reader of Zzap! will know about the little stick person, Rockford, cavorting about in the margins. In this, Melbourne House's conversion of their own arcade game (under the Arcadia banner), he has a more human form, but holds on to the style of play found in Boulder Dash.
Rockford, in his new shape, must travel to far locations to retrieve lost treasures, from the hidden land of El Dorado to the cold blackness of outer space (Oooh!) - one of five quests may be selected on the opening page.
All the nasties of the original Boulder Dash series are here, depicted in a separate graphic style for each location (for example, the rocks of the original are planets in space). If Rockford collects enough treasure, he can leave the location and travel elsewhere.
In the coin-op, and so in this conversion, the in-game Rockford appears as a smaller version of his previous title screen appearances in the Boulder Dash series, and in a number of different outfits. I much preferred his original look - in Rockford, the game, he is sickeningly cute instead of endearingly so. The game itself is just the usual series of Boulder Dash caves with diamonds, boulders and nasties adapted to be visually appropriate to the level scenario. The graphics are well detailed, especially for their size, and add a new slant to the trusted formula without distracting you. Fans of the 64 versions will find this hard to resist, and newcomers will warm to the addictive play.
The Boulder Dash theme, I thought, was running a bit thin by the time of Boulder Dash 3, and when I heard about the release of an arcade game, it seemed to be a bit of a joke. However, the game did reasonably well, so a home version looked to be very much on the cards. Rockford is nicely presented, with pretty graphics and a chirpy overall sense of humour, but there is still that feeling of déja-vu lurking in the background. There are only a few games of the type on the Amiga, and 16-bit owners may wish to have at least one clone in their collection - but when all is said and done, it comes down to just how sick you are of this format.