Lode Runner is often considered to be one of the best games of the home computing era, if not all time. The game and its sequels have reached more than 20 different computing platforms, but the main concept and goals always remain the same. For the series’ 25th anniversary, Tozai Games and Southpeak Interactive got together to produce a new version for Xbox Live Arcade with fancy graphics, new modes and online play (though that wondrous Xbox Live Arcade certification process pushed the game out of its anniversary year). Lode Runner hasn’t lost any of its lustre on the way to the 360, but the new visual style is out of place and price tag seems particularly high.

The core concept of Lode Runner remains the same for the Xbox 360 version; for those of you who, like me, were in a pre-life state at the time of its original release, that means you control a young man who runs around platform/maze-like structures collecting gold. Collect all of the gold on a level, and you move onto the next one. That’s easier said than done, of course, since you are constantly pursued by enemies. Fortunately, you can dig small holes to temporarily trap enemies while you steal their booty. You’re limited to digging either side of your character, so the basic challenge is to fool the enemies into falling into your pits without getting stuck yourself and dying when the hole fills in.


It might sound like a fairly simple idea, but it is a whole lot of fun once you’ve got the basics down. The Xbox Live Arcade version of the game does change a few minor things, the most notable of which is the game’s overall aesthetic. The game has this whole futuristic look going, and the game environments switch between ruins, caverns and volcanic settings. The game uses 3D models on a 2D plane, which frankly looks too advanced for the underlying gameplay. Lode Runner probably would have worked better if they’d stuck to sprites, or perhaps even included a retro graphics mode. In its current state, it feels like there’s a disconnect between the complexity of the graphics on-screen and the simplicity of Lode Runner’s gameplay.

Not all changes in the Xbox Live Arcade version of Lode Runner are skin deep. Later levels in the game add new features like special blocks that create avalanches or drop stalactites on enemies, and bombs which can be picked up and used to eliminate a whole section of blocks at once. These changes add some extra variety, but might anger players looking for a more pure Lode Runner experience.


Lode Runner comes with a whole heap of gameplay modes, though probably not quite enough to justify its 1,200 Microsoft Point price tag. Journey is the meat and potatoes of the game, replicating the original Lode Runner experience over the course of a metric ton of levels. You’ve got a limited number of lives, but the game is forgiving enough to merely let you restart the level when you exhaust your supply (at the cost of your score). Hang On is a survival mode where players are placed into a level with a load of gold, the caveat being that the more gold you collect, the more enemies spawn into the arena. Puzzle mode, on the other hand, removes the enemies from the equation but has much more taxing situations. Online and offline multiplayer modes are available, with specific levels designed for multiple players in the Journey and Puzzle modes, along with a Last Man Standing competitive mode.

Perhaps the greatest asset of the original Lode Runner was the game’s level editor, and fortunately, that’s come across intact into the Xbox Live Arcade version. The editor is easy to use, and lets you incorporate all of the features new to this version of the game. The only real problem with the editor is that the developers have not created any kind of central map server to allow you to download others’ created levels quickly and painlessly. Instead, players need to join a map lobby before they can share their creations. It’s a pretty patchy system, though it’s better than nothing.


Lode Runner for Xbox Live Arcade is essentially the same game you all know and love with a few new gameplay ideas, some extra modes to mix things up and a graphical upgrade that’s completely out of place. The core gameplay is still thoroughly enjoyable, and the new game types and multiplayer types fit in quite well. The problem is that you’re essentially forking over twenty bucks to play a 26 year old home computer game with an unnecessary visual face lift. Had Lode Runner come in at 800 Microsoft Points, it would be an immediate recommendation, but at 1,200 points, you might need to think this one over before committing.