Review: Boulder Dash-XL

Boulder Dash-XL is the newest, and first offering for the Xbox LIVE Arcade from the little known developer Catnip Games, and was published by Kalypso Media who also published such games as The First Templar, Tropico 3 and Disciples 3.

Right off the bat when you start Boulder Dash-XL you’ll be presented to your two main characters of the game, Rockford and Crystal who are mining robots out to collect gems and squash cave monsters, and while that’s the only real story you get for the characters that’s pretty much all you need for this type of pick up and play arcade game which is by no means meant to present a solid storyline. While this game lacks story, it does not lack game-play one bit with a total of five single player only game modes spanning a few hundred levels in between all of the modes, all as unforgiving as the last.

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Starting off with Arcade mode, you’ll be presented with a fairly large room filled with breakable dirt blocks, boulders, enemies, and precious gems. You go through the levels collecting a set amount of gems over a specific time limit for the level. You dig through all the dirt blocks and avoiding being smashed by the various boulders scattered around, all while trying to either trap or smash the varied enemies such as Fireflies, Butterflies and Amoebas while trying to find your exit from the cave. While this may seem like an easy task, I can assure you as you progress from the easy first few levels in the game mode you’ll be planning out your strategy on the later maps in order to make the time limit, avoid all the perfectly placed boulders and collect the set amount of gems. For the brave few, if you manage to collect all the gems in an arcade level you’ll be awarded with a nice boost in score for the leaderboards. Plus, if you get too stressed with the time limits being forced down on you, you can go to the Zen game mode to replay Arcade levels without any time limit or leaderboards to relax and have fun.

After Arcade mode comes the Puzzle mode, you’re placed in a much smaller map with no time limit, and very few gems to collect. Easy, right? Not so much, as the developers made some intimidating boulder traps you’ll be falling into near countless times to collect the gem and proceed to the exit. While the Puzzle mode shares the same basic elements of the Arcade mode, you’ll be thinking much more about how to navigate the dirt paths in order to keep your poor robot alive. If you’re looking for a solid challenge, without the stress of a time limit being imposed on you, this is the mode to go to.

The third mode is Score Attack with maps specifically designed to rack up as many points as possible within the allotted time limit, with a score boost incentive to play through the levels within the time limits given. Think of this mode as frantic, and fast paced like the Arcade mode but requiring the strategy of the Puzzle mode to rack up the most points based on the amount of time you take. Unless you’re looking to become famous on the online leaderboards, or challenge yourself to the game mode this might not be the best mode for you, it can take up a huge amount of time going back to the levels to keep improving on your score and time.

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Finally, on to the Retro mode which is hands down the most challenging of all the game modes. The retro mode has the same premise as the Arcade mode, but with completely different graphics, levels, and ups the challenge tenfold. For some background information on why there’s a retro mode we’ll need to look at the history of the game series with the original Boulder Dash and this arcade game being a follow up of sorts, so the developer wanted to more or less recreate the original game in the retro mode. That said, the retro mode boasts a modern 3D 8-bit look which applies to every model in the game including the main character which is a nice addition to mix it up from the regular style of the game, it makes the retro mode stick out not only for its difficulty but for the love letter to the original game.

As mentioned above the graphics overall look great from the varied themes for the levels, the colorful bricks and sparkly gems make this game a real pleasure to look at no matter how long you play it (no really go look at the screen shots) The graphics in the game really could have made or broken the game, they add to the experience making every different level feel unique in its own way. Kudos to the graphic team for the game, as this was a really great and unique element throughout even with the limited themes for the levels. 

Over to the sound department which I felt was another enjoyable part of the game with the quirky musical style of a mad scientist, all brought together with a full band. While the themes for the game may come off as childish, they fit perfectly for the atmosphere in every way, from the menu selection music to the level theme music each with upbeat, fast-paced, and adventurous tracks all around. I actually enjoyed the in-game music so much I’m wondering if they have it for sale online, as the tracks included are a little too good, but you can be the judge for yourself if you pick up the trial linked below.

Overall, this game is perfect for anyone ranging from casual gamers looking to pick up and play for a few minutes at a time, to the hardcore gamers looking for a challenge in the retro and puzzle modes. While Boulder Dash-XL can be difficult at times there’s nothing more rewarding than dying ten, twenty, or thirty times to see the sweet sign of victory in a troublesome cave. So if you’re looking for a good action-adventure puzzler with a dash of challenge mixed in – your money will be well spent on this title.

You can purchase the game, or check out the free trial here on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.