Miner 2049'er

Miner 2049'er

Game No.	95
Voting	7.52 points, 27 votes
Developer	Bill Hogue
Company	Big Five Software
Publisher	U.S. Gold, Reston Software
Release	1983
Platform	Apple II, Atari2600, Atari800/XL/XE, C64, MS-DOS
Genre	Arcade, Platformer (Single Screen)
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language
Information	Successor: Bounty Bob Strikes Back!

Description[edit | edit source]

With Miner 2049'er Bill Hogue created a game that set new standards for computer games due to its arcade quality concerning the action, paired with for 1983 excellent sound and outstanding graphics. On ten screens the story of Bounty Bob is presented, a member of the famous Royal Canadian Mounted Police that chases the rogue Yukon Yohan. This scoundrel hides in a huge mine that once belonged to Nuclear Ned. Here one should not forget that the event takes place in the year 2049. And while the player slaps from one screen to the next, he encounters game elements such as conveyor belts, hydraulic hoists, yes even a canon the can transport Bounty Bob to the highest platform in the last level. Every mine gallery is guarded by mutants, which are perilous for Bob. The aim of this challange, in which elements from climbing and labyrinth games are interwoven, is to search through the different platforms in all ten galleries step by step. As soon as Bounty Bob has completely searched the last platform of a level (or has redyed the last part of the rack by walking over it), the game automatically continues in the next level. Furthermore the player is confronted with totally new problems. The "labyrinth" element enters the game, when Bob e.g. has to search an item with which he can neutralise the mutants for seconds, the get past the without harm. Despite this "borrowing", Miner 2049'er was seen as whole an original to the core.

Design[edit | edit source]

... Level 1 ...

... Level 3 ...

The game is displayed in high-resolution detailled graphics without depth effect. Each of the one screen-sized ten different levels is furnished with different enemies and obstacles, that give the courageous policeman a hard time. For each level an own strategy needs to be developed. As with all games of this early "platform genre" pixel-precise jumping is necessary.

Hints[edit | edit source]

Controls

With the joystick the moving direction of Bounty Bob is controlled. The fire button steers its jumps.
After the fire button was pressed, Bounty Bob jumps in the moving direction.
To climb up or down a ladder, just stop directly in front of it and pull the joystick forwards or backwards. The ladder can only be left at the upper or lower end.
To use a slide just go to the place where the slide starts, the rest is done by gravity.
If Bounty Bob walks over the end of a platform he will fall. He only survives small differences in height.

Special means of transport

Transmitter - (level 3 and 7) Bounty Bob needs to stand inside it with his whole body. Then press the fire button. As long as the transmitters are red, they are not ready for operation.

The lift - (level 8) It is important to end the level. First you jump on the lift. To activate it press the fire button and it will start to flash red. The lift is controlled by pressing the joystick into every direction (horizontally, vertically). With another press of the fire button the lift control is aborted.

The canon - (level 10) In this level - in order to get upwards - you need to shoot yourself there with a canon. First you need to get the amount of TNT that you need to reach the right height. Every TNT-can contains 10 units (tons) of TNT. You need 10 units for each height difference. After that you climb with Bounty Bob on the ladder and let him fall into the canon. To fire it press the fire button. After the shot, the canon goes back to its original position.

Solution[edit | edit source]

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Load original programme, enter POKE 2652,165 and start with RUN
Press space bar for a few seconds to make a level jump to the next level

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
7.52 points at 27 votes (rank 250). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	8	19th May 2013 - "super" - 5713 downs
Lemon64	7,5	19th May 2013 - 69 votes
Ready64	7,5	19th May 2013 - 2 votes
Rombach	7	1984 - "Vote 3"

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Rombach: "Miner 2049 was celebrated by different computer magazines as game sensation at its release. Today there are many games with similar quality and Miner 2049 is nothing special any more. A climbing and collecting game where the difficulty level is in due proportion to the chance of success. The frustrating feeling not to be able to cope with the game is spared the user but on the other hand it is not too easy. Well suited for the occasional player. Voting: 3"

Shakermaker303: "The version on the Atari 800XL was better playable. Average game, but not more in my opinion."

blubarju: "I think this game is done very successfully. The grade of difficulty is also well-balanced and does not frustrate, as many another game of this genre. 8 points."

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Trivia[edit | edit source]

Bill Hogue: "The basis of the 2049'er game was a chase in whose centre was a bounty hunter. I came to this by an at that time very popular TV series "The Fall Guy" that I liked watching. So we started to let a guy catch another. But then it showed that the resemblance with Donkey Kong was very high. So we refrained from the climbing up thing and modified the idea that a kind of framing needs to be filled. Somehow the word "Bounty" suited our hero well so we named him Bounty Bob.".

Miner 2049er was offered for a various number of systems. So the adventures of Bounty Bob could be played on the Atari 2600 and the Atari 5200, the Odyssey (Philips System) and Coleco Vision. Added to it were the handheld versions and table machines. Bob as computer software was availabe for Atari, Apple, IBM, Texas Instruments, Sinclair, Commodore and three Tandy computers. Eight different firms were enganged in this project.