217. Dig Dug II (Namco, Famicom, 1986)

Dig Dug II is a Famicom port of the arcade sequel to Dig Dug, originally released in arcades a year prior in 1985. Like Donkey Kong 3, Dig Dug II is a sequel that tries to shake things up by significantly changing the base gameplay, though it is still an arcade action game, so they didn't quite go Pac-Man 2 with it.

While the objective of each level is to clear the screen of all enemies, just like in the original Dig Dug, the sequel differentiates itself  most notably by the viewpoint: instead of digging down, you are on top of various islands, and can dig in order to send pieces of the island crumbling into the sea. I found this to be much more engaging than dropping rocks on enemies heads in the first Dig Dug. Though it was not immediately obvious to me which island section was going to be cut away, Dig Dug II does give you a small window where you are dangling over the edge to climb back to solid ground, a kindness that I really appreciated. You can also cut a path that doesn't cause a section of the island to fall down, and this stops enemies from crossing the path while still leaving you with access.

Levels also have way  more variety and need to be approached differently based on their layout. Some are even multiple screens wide, which is a nice change of pace, and many are shaped like different letters. After every death there's a nice little ready screen that shows you the remaining enemies. If you die by cutting yourself off the island, you still respawn on the same island, which can be a problem if you've inadvertently trapped yourself on a tiny island with multiple enemies. It's just ironic that there is more depth here than the original Dig Dug, since Dig Dug II isn't even set underground.

4/5, a very cool evolution of the Dig Dug formula