Review: Cave Dig 3

Reviewed By: Kirk Hiner

Review Date: January 28, 2002

Genre: Arcade

Format: Shareware

Developer: Foxchange Software

System Requirements: Mac OS 8, 200MHz PowerPC, 10MB RAM, 10MB hard disk space, 640x480 display at 256 colors, Apple Game Sprockets and QuickTime

Network Feature: No

3D Support: No

Mac OS X Compatible: Classic (native under development)

Retail Price: $15

Availability: Out Now

Imagine my shock back in 1984 at learning that Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo was being released. Imagine how frightened and confused I was. At the time, I was seeing many movies. I was watching Night Tracks on WTBS and sometimes caught the end of Entertainment Tonight while waiting for something worthwhile to come on TV. And yet somehow, by a cruel spin of Fortune's wheel, I completely missed Breakin'.

It was only after years of therapy and the support of my community that I came to terms with having missed the original Breakin'. Well, that and the fact that I still haven't seen Electric Boogaloo. Well, that and that and the fact that both movies were originally released in 1984. What kind of sequel is released in the same year as its predecessor? Such behavior isn't natural, so there was no need for me to get all worked up about it.

And now there's Cave Dig 3. My first reaction upon hearing about this game was to wonder what happened to Cave Dig and Cave Dig II: Electric Boogaloo, but a relapse at this point in my life could be fatal. As my therapist recommended, I just accepted it and moved on.

So, here we have Cave Dig 3 from Foxchange Software. In it, you control Simon the Fox. Already I'm pleased because the character's not named Freddie the Fox or Foxy the Fox or Furry the Fox. Nothing drives me mad moreso than the complete and total lack of creativity indicated by giving a character a name inspired by the first letter of what he is. Ollie the Olive at the Olive Garden. Tony the Tiger on the cereal box. Geri the Giraffe at anyplace with a giraffe. It makes me want to...

Never mind. My therapist might be reading.

So anyway, you've got this Fox named simon. In an opening sequence that took me back to the wonderful days of the Nintendo Entertainment System, we learn that Simon, after an unsuccessful early morning hunt, is kidnapped by humans and wrongly imprisoned. They conduct tests on him which somehow make him stronger and smarter. It's sort of like the plot of Deep Blue Sea, only that Simon's newfound intelligence doesn't make him want to eat L.L. Cool J. What it does make him want to do is dig his way out of caves...perhaps to then eat L.L. Cool J. We most likely won't know until Cave Dig 4.

From this point forward, Cave Dig 3 plays a lot like...dang, I can't recall the game. I think there was a penguin and he had to push things around to get out of rooms. Maybe I'm combining two games into one. I don't know. Is it fair to say a game plays like a game that may not have even existed? I think so, since from about 1984 to 1989 every arcade game played the same anyway.

Simon's woefully unarmed for his adventure, and must rely on his newfound wits to make his way through the caves and to freedom. By "cave," I mean 50 screens populated by hazards ranging from falling rocks to Flash Devils to Cat Nips. Each screen has a door that Simon must reach, which begs the question, who's putting doors in these caves? Of course, if you answer this, you'll also have to answer who put the balloons, bubbles and warps and such in there as well. As my therapist would say, "It's best to not worry about that which you can't control."

Cave Dig 3 plays more like a puzzle game than an action game, although the time sequences do require action-type reflexes. Simon must manipulate his environment to reach the goal, and this quite often takes multiple strategies and multiple tries. I enjoyed listening to my wife play this game; the words she used would've made a teenaged, middle-class, white, rap music fan blush at the Taco Bell. Every couple minutes or so she would vehemently declare how much she hated the game, yet she'd continue to play it for the next hour or two.

Cave Dig 3 is that kind of game. Looking at it, one would think it'd be simple and, quite frankly, somewhat dull. It's not. Figuring out how to reach the door can prove quite daunting. Getting there, doubly so. Perhaps this is why the game's developer, Matthew Beedle, built in the hint feature. Pulling this up shows a quick movie of the best way to get from point A to point B, and I shamefully had to use this quite often. Of course, the movie always made it look so easy. If it's still proving too difficult, the speed of the game can be slowed down. More game developers should include that feature, I think.

The graphics in Cave Dig 3 are whimsical. As mentioned earlier, they harken back to the original Nintendo Entertainment System days, and those are fun days back to which we can harken. It's the kind of game where even the enemies are cute--especially the Spookys, which look more like footed marshmallows than ghosts. The music also fits that era, seemingly inspired by the adventure games of the time. It all comes together quite well.

The question of whether or not this will be enjoyable to gamers depends upon if this is an era to which they'd want to return. In these OpenGL punctuated days, even what used to be simple puzzle games have become graphic feasts. And yet, there's always something oddly entertaining about games such as Cave Dig 3. I don't want to call it nostalgia, because I don't often long for the days when video games were all about foxes trying to dig their way from caves. But, while playing Cave Dig 3, I could picture one guy staying up well into infomerical hours to work on this idea he had for a game. I like that. There's something romantic about it. Not roses and chocolates romantic, but running off to join the circus romantic.

Cave Dig 3 is a good game. Nothing more, nothing less. It's fun for just as long as it needs to be for you to finish it, then you'll back it up onto a Zip or something and not think of it for two or three years. You'll stumble across then and--having no recollection of it--reinstall the game and find it to be good all over again. Sort of like Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo would be had it ever been good in the first place...I think. As I mentioned, I've never seen it.

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