Game:

Minecraft Dungeons (2020)

Duration: 48:46

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12

A 1-credit clear of the arcade game Dangerous Dungeons. Played set 2 (rom ddungeone), using WolfMAME 0.185. Final score: 465,180. More info on the game below, since there's not much documentation on it online.

This game is based on the famous-at-the-time early video game Boulder Dash. On each stage you must collect some number of blue gems (or strawberries, which are worth 3 blue gems) then reach an exit door. Gravity is important: Boulders and pick-ups fall if they have nothing beneath them, and roll to the side if there's nothing to the side and diagonally below. Anything that falls on your head (even treasures!) will kill you. You also die if you stand next to a spider or octopus, or if a gray face-ball runs into you or vice versa.

Monsters die if rocks (but not treasures) fall on top of them. Spiders and face-balls explode into 3x3 grid of gems, octopi explode into a 3x3 grid of strawberries mixed with rocks. Bombs explode if they fall on something or a rock falls on top of them. Destructible walls (dark gray) can be destroyed by an enemy or bomb explosions, indestructible walls (light gray) cannot.

Other gameplay notes:
- Monsters have predictable movement patterns - spiders "hug" the left or right wall, face-balls and octopi zoom straight ahead until they crash into something then turn.
- Exploding bombs and enemies can create impressive chain reactions!
- You can dig up/down/left/right, hold button 1 and push in a direction to pick up or dig the square without moving, tap button 2 to drop a stick of dynamite which makes a 3x3 explosion a couple of seconds later. You're immune to the dynamite explosion if you're standing on top of it (but not if you stand a square away!)
- You have limited time (indicated by a meter at the bottom left), which is refilled by collecting treasures.
- If spiders (but not other monsters) move next to a green slime square, they explode into gems.

Levels and strategy:
The game consists of 32 stages, followed by looping back to stage 1. It re-uses several stages along the way: 18 is a harder version of 3, 23 is a harder version of 11. Some stages repeat earlier stages exactly but might raise the treasure requirement: 27 (from 5), 28 (from 8), 29 (from 13), 30 (from 14), 31 (from 15), 32 (from 16).

On most levels, you have ample time, and lots more treasures available than you need, so you can choose which parts of the level you want to deal with and which to avoid. Several stages, even late stages like 17, can be very easy if you don't worry about getting all the points you can.

Level 30 is the hardest level of all, but I found a consistent strategy for the first part and several mostly-reliable ways to get treasure after the opening. Level 24 is another trouble spot because you must pass through a zone busy with monsters. Levels 31 and 32 have strict treasure requirements but are far easier than 30.

It's very easy to dislodge rocks or treasures and have them fall on your head. Holding button 1 and collecting items from a square away is often useful to avoid creating hazards. It's also very easy to accidentally blow yourself up with bombs.

The control scheme is a little "mushy" - your character doesn't immediately move when you push in a direction, and the framerate is sluggish on some levels. It helps to get in the habit of pushing the direction for your *next* move as you're moving into a square. Pushing rocks and bombs involves an unpredictable-length pause before each scooted square, so you can't count on being able to instantly push.

Stage 18 is the one place I know of where you *need* dynamite - 2 sticks of it at the beginning. On several stages dynamite can open up nice short-cuts. It can also be used in an emergency to clear away rocks that fell in a bad place.

Variants and scores:
Set 2 lists a different city on the title screen (Melbourne versus Anaheim), and rips off music and sound effects from Double Dragon. As far as I can tell, they're identical in terms of gameplay.

This is the world record on Marp as of now - although since set 1 and set 2 appear to play the same, the much higher world record on set 1 is the proper Dangerous Dungeons record. I focused on safely and quickly finishing stages rather than score; I imagine much higher scores are possible on many stages. The second loop appears to be the same as the first, so I think given very good focus over an hour or more, one could rack up a far higher score with repeated loops.

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