Dig Dug — stories left

Namco heavily marketed it as a "strategic digging game".

Hiroshi "Mr. Dotman" Ono, a Namco graphic artist, designed the sprites.

Namco's marketing materials prominently referred to Dig Dug as a "strategic digging game".

Namco released a Game Boy version in North America and Europe in September 1992, with a new game mode called "New Dig Dug", in which the player must collect keys to open an exit door.

In a 2007 retrospective, Eurogamer praised its "perfect" gameplay and strategy, saying it is one of "the most memorable and legendary videogame releases of the past 30 years".

Sega's Borderline (1981), when it was ported to the Atari 2600 as Thunderground in 1983, was mistaken as a "semi-clone" of Dig Dug and Mr. Do!

Taizo appears in the now-defunct web browser game Namco High as the principal of the high school, simply known as "President Dig Dug".

Music was composed by Yuriko Keino, including the character movement jingle at executives' request, as her first Namco game.

The first home versions of Dig Dug were developed and published by Atari for its Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 consoles and released in October 1983.

The Game Boy version was later included in the 1996 Japan-only compilation Namco Gallery Vol. 2, which also includes Galaxian, The Tower of Druaga, and Famista 4.

The first of these, Dig Dug II, was released in Japan in 1985 to less success, opting for an overhead perspective; instead of digging through earth, Dig Dug drills along fault lines to sink pieces of an island into the ocean.

A Nintendo DS sequel, Dig Dug: Digging Strike, was released in 2005, combining elements from the first two games and adding a narrative link to the Mr. Driller series.

Taizo appears as a playable character in Namco Super Wars for the WonderSwan Color and Namco × Capcom for the PlayStation 2, only in Japan.

Dig Dug was a critical and commercial success upon release, and was praised for its gameplay and layered strategy.

In a 2007 retrospective, Eurogamer praised its "perfect" gameplay and strategy, saying it is one of "the most memorable and legendary videogame releases of the past 30 years".

Electronic Fun with Computers & Games praised the Atari 8-bit version for retaining the arcade's entertaining gameplay and for its simple controls.

Some home versions were criticized for quality and lack of exclusive content.

Eurogamer, IGN, and GameSpot all criticized its lack of online multiplayer and for achievements being too easy to unlock, with Eurogamer in particular criticizing the game's controls for sometimes being unresponsive.

1 of the 6 Namco games released at the same time as the M5 console itself.

In 1984 it was released as the 7th entry in the "Namcot Game Center Series", as a game for MSX and home computers (4,500 yen).

The 2004 Famicom Mini release had 58,572 copies sold, and the Xbox Live Arcade version had 222,240 copies by 2011.

It was also included in Dig Dug REMIX for iPhone / iPod touch, released in 2009-5, and in Namco Museum Virtual Arcade for Xbox 360, released on 2009-11-5, but the multiplayer mode present in the PSP version was removed.

Dig Dug was planned and designed in 1981 by Masahisa Ikegami, with help from Shigeru Yokoyama, creator of Galaga.

Gakken released a handheld LCD tabletop game in 1983, which replaced Dig Dug's air pump with a flamethrower to accommodate hardware limitations.

A webcomic adaptation was produced in 2012 by ShiftyLook, a subsidiary of Bandai Namco focused on reviving older Namco franchises, with nearly 200 issues by several different artists, concluding in 2014 following the closure of ShiftyLook.