Emerald Mine
| Developer: N/A | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Kingsoft | Sound: |
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| Year: 1987 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Heavenly Jerusalem | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 2 simultaneous | Rating: |
92 4    ++ | |
Emerald Mine! My precious! The greatest game of all time in the universe!
For a general overview of this kind of games, I refer you to the page on Boulderdash C64. Emerald Mine is the quintessence of the genre, the absolute best! Its difficulty level is approachable and more or less progressive, the levels are particularly varied, and of course, you can play it with two players.
If Mega Man is my drug, then Emerald Mine is my religion! It’s especially one of my very first games, one of those that shaped my youth and turned me into a passionate gamer. But one day, the disk died, and suddenly, it was all over. I could no longer hear the melodious voice of the yams nor the sweet sound of emeralds clinking together…
Exalted childhood memories and prolonged deprivation—imagine my state when I finally had the joy of rediscovering “my dear boulder” years later, thanks to emulators…
Since then, I’ve made up for my five years of frustration by tackling dozens of clones I found on the Internet. My only regret: never finding a decent boulderdasher to finish them in teamwork.
Now for some controversy! My childhood game was simply called Boulder Dash, but the levels were the same as those in Emerald Mine (all except the first and last, oddly enough). Upon checking, it was indeed published by Kingsoft, the score panel wasn’t at the bottom of the screen but in the top left corner, and the dynamite stick was represented by a sort of gray cross… I suppose it was the same game, just in a primitive version. Perhaps First Star, the developer of the real Boulder Dash for the Commodore 64, requested the name change? I’d love to know if anyone has information on this fundamental matter…
I’ve noticed on the Internet (at least back in 2000…) that I’m not the only die-hard fan of this type of game. That’s great! Where I disagree, though, is that most players seem to find Emerald Mine ugly! Oh, that’s just not true! My baby…
No, honestly, with its gray walls and brown earth, I find it visually more harmonious than all the clones that came out afterward, with their garish colours. Just look at Supaplex and compare. Okay? Good!
One thing to know if you plan to play it again via emulator: the version found on Emerald Web seems to crash on level 39. I have another one where level 51 has no exit! To avoid such issues, go for my childhood version.
More images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
For your perfect information, the very serious and distinguished (and visionary) magazine AmigaWorld voted Emerald Mine the “number one Amiga game of all time” in 1988. And I forbid you to check out their Top 20 for the following year.
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