Originally released in 1984 by Broderbund, Lode Runner would see ports to many platforms. Fans of action puzzle games rocking Apple II, Commodore 64, the Nintendo Entertainment System, IBM PC, Game Boy, have probably played a port of Lode Runner. Oddly enough, The only Atari platform this classic was ported to was the Atari 400 and 800, no official port on the Atari 2600. Until now.
All the classic action is here
Lode Runner features 150 levels for players to traverse. Collect treasure and avoid guards and other hazards the levels present. It is a simply premise, one that lends itself well to minimalist graphics. Your defense is digging holes that will fill back in after a set amount of time passes. Trapping guards in these holes will eliminate them from the level. Stay on your toes as that guard will respawn in a random location in the level. This could easily complicate your progress.
There is a lot of action and levels here, which may be a big reason Lode Runner was never ported to the limited Atari 2600 console. While recent releases, using more memory than was commercially viable during its life, homebrew developers have eeked quite a bit of awesomeness here.
Some tips are made available on the AtariAge store for Lode Runner. Such as plugging in a Sega Genesis controller. This will allow you to shoot left and right. More on their store page.
Miracles take memory
Most Atari 2600 games were miniscule when you think about it. According to Albert Yarusso Atari 2600 Homebrew Games Facebook group, Lode Runner on the Atari 2600 is a 32K Melody based game.
For those that do not know, the Melody board is a special board created to allow for new games to be made for the Atari 2600. Over on the AtariAge store there is a ton of information available that I am not going to waste your time retyping here.
The point is, with modern technology and tricks, Lode Runner is finally available for the Atari 2600 console. This is awesome news.
It is interesting to note that this is an officially licensed port. Unlike most Atari 2600 releases by the homebrew community, Lode Runner is not limited to 100 copies that are soaked up by resellers holding collectors hostage with scalping rates.