Miner 2019er (C64)

Miner 2019er (Dan Avery / Psytronik Software) $4.99USD (Digital)/£9.99 to £39.99 (Physical)

Game title: Miner 2019er

Game description: Miner 2019er is a prequel to the original Bounty Bob series. Bob finds himself sent back to 2019 and desperately wants to go back to the future in 2049. Your task in getting Bob back to the future is not going to be an easy one. Miner 2019er features 25 devious levels where you need to guide Bob around platforms until every section is filled with a solid colour. Collecting items will temporarily alter the enemy critters to a form that can be eliminated by having Bob run into them Bob’s jumping mechanism is fixed, so you will need to keep in mind the spot you want to jump off from when navigating across platforms with a smaller gap between them. Miner 2019er contains two different difficulty settings - classic and casual. The Classic difficulty is less forgiving when it comes to the distances you can fall down safely and the level resets when you lose a life. The Casual setting is more forgiving with its safe jumping zones and represents a more modern day sensibility when it comes to its jumping mechanic. This setting also retains any level progress made when losing a life. In addition to filling up platform sections, Bob can collect uranium deposits that appear briefly for big bonus points. While from level 6 onwards, you can collect plutonium canisters that are initially hidden. Collecting all 20 canisters will result in a bonus level being unlocked which will give you the better ending should you complete it. Extra lives are awarded for every 10,000 points you accumulate and you are going to need them. The game also features a speed medal system as an achievement reward to aim for whereby you get a gold, silver or bronze medal based on the total amount of time you have taken to complete all 25 levels.

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  • Production - 60%
    60%
  • Fun - 88%
    88%
  • Depth - 84%
    84%

Summary

Miner 2019er is a well executed platformer that provides a very satisfying old school arcade style game play filled with nostalgia and addictive gaming. It is one tough challenge but Dan Avery should be applauded for including the casual mode, making the game far more accessible to everyone while still retain the tough challenge for more hardened gamers.

I would recommend that players start off using casual mode to build up familiarity with the levels and to obtain a good sense of making progress before moving on to the classic mode. But don’t think that the casual mode is going to be an easy walk through the park. Yes, you are likely to get through more levels at the start but Miner 2019er is not just a standard platform game. There are puzzle elements to many of its levels as the ability to access some platforms is not immediately obvious. Planning and timing are critical with Miner 2019er as well as the countdown timer on a couple of levels is quite tight and you need to be quite efficient with your movement.

Yes, the game graphics and sound hark back from the early phase of C64 gaming and I think it would have been great if an enhanced graphic mode was added as an option but I respect the decision to pay tribute to the original Bounty Bob series by retaining the old graphic style.

I did not expect to enjoy Miner 2019er but the variability of how levels are completed does differentiate the game from many other platform games you play today, making the game quite engaging to play. This one had me hooked when I originally played the beta in 2021 and nothing changed in 2022. Miner 2019er is great fun.

 

Overall
77%
77%
Sending
User Review
3 (2 votes)

Pros

  • Addition of casual mode
  • Clever puzzle elements
  • Well executed platform style gaming
  • Achievement medals

Cons

  • Old style graphics will be a turn off to some
  • Loading times are a little long
  • Minor game bugs can crash the game from time to time.

Game video link:

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