Lode Runner in HTML5

February 2, 2022 2:46 AM

All the levels from Lode Runner and Championship Lode Runner, in your browser. GitHub, also has further documentation. (DoublesJubilee, Original from 2016)
posted by JHarris (10 comments total)

I'm not sure if I'm doing this quite right, but going over my old posts I was surprised this was still online and working at its original URL, and it's still as great as it was when it was first posted. I figured it could use a reminder that it exists, and to show to people who weren't around back in 2016.
posted by JHarris at 4:55 AM on February 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

This was my favorite Commodore 64 game. I miss it sometimes.
posted by putzface_dickman at 5:21 AM on February 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

I remember my neighbor bringing the NES version over. I think it was the first time I ever used a level editor.

I like how the best Lode Runner levels don't force a particular solution.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:42 AM on February 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Does the jubilee extend to comments? Because I'll highlight again this web port includes the editor mode (it's listed as "custom levels"). Back in 1984 or so when I first played this game it blew my mind the game would come with tools for making more game. Bonus link: scanned manual.
posted by Nelson at 6:07 AM on February 2, 2022 [4 favorites]

AWESOME!! Words of significance fail!! See y'all in a year or two, thank you JHarris!!
posted by riverlife at 7:23 AM on February 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS IN COLOR
posted by hollisimo at 11:26 AM on February 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

This game has aged very well.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:56 AM on February 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

I remember playing Lode Runner: The Legend Returns by Sierra as a kid on the new family Compaq Presario (100 mhz CPU! Swoon!) and... not really liking it. Something about not being able to defeat the monks that chase you. But I did like the level editor it came with and I have a better appreciation for the game as an adult.

Thanks for posting this.
posted by AlSweigart at 4:53 PM on February 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Lode Runner is an interesting thing, absolutely an icon of early microcomputer culture, an important hit for Broderbund, and one of the first games with a solid level editor. In the US, that's big, but it's not huge. But in Japan....

Irem made an arcade version of Lode Runner, with cuter graphics and some minor gameplay changes. Then HudsonSoft licensed it from Broderbund, and their Famicom version was an important early hit for that system, and that gained the status of Japanese cultural artifact. Lode Runner has many more ports and sequels than you might expect. It was one of a small number of Western computer games, like Spelunker, Ultima, and Wizardry, that, imported to Japan during foundational moments of that nation's gaming culture, would go on to earn far more revenue than they gathered in the US.

The enemy character in Famicom Lode Runner will look familiar to anyone who knows NES-era video games: it was the first appearance of the cute robot character now known as Bomberman.
posted by JHarris at 1:30 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also, let us all remember Lode Runner creator Doug Smith, who passed away a bit before the first version of this post went up.
posted by JHarris at 1:46 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]