Dig Dug and ... other game come to Virtual Console

by Justin McElroy { Jun 9th 2008 at 11:30AM }

Just when you think you've got Nintendo all figured out, along comes a morning like today. We receive our Wii-kly Update (their name, not ours) and we quickly skip to the new Virtual Console offerings:

Dig Dug (NES, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): Become Dig Dug, the champion of love and justice, as you drill up, down, left and right, defeating any enemies in your path. Avoid the persistent Pooka and the deep-dwelling but whimsical Fygar as you defeat all the enemies in order to clear each stage. Defeat enemies by hitting them with the harpoon and pumping air into them, or by dropping rocks on them from above.

"Oh," we think, "how nice. Dig Dug. Nothing revolutionary, but it's good to see it." Then, our eyes scan further and we land on this:

Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa (NES, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa is an action game released in 1988, but it was never available outside of Japan. Players take on the role of baby Upa, a prince of the Akuyo kingdom. Upa must defeat the enemies he meets along the way by inflating them. Upa can then use these floating enemies to his advantage by bouncing off of or riding on top of them. The prince must also avoid deadly thorns and pits while keeping an eye out for helpful items such as milk (to restore health) and bells (for temporary invincibility) if he hopes to succeed.

...What? A royal, demon-inflating baby? How is that even a paragraph? (Oh, and P.S., he inflates enemies by hitting them with a rattle.) It's like someone put the most insane words they could think of in a refrigerator and set a nuclear bomb off next to it. We love you, Nintendo, but, in the parlance of our times, you so crazy.

Tags: bio-miracle-bokutte-upa, dig-dug, virtual-console, virtualconsolemonday

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

themostsolidsnake @ Jun 9th 2008 11:33AM

why is it 600 points rather than 500???

Ryan @ Jun 9th 2008 11:42AM

I believe that Dig Dug never came out in the US.

baby sea tuna @ Jun 9th 2008 11:36AM

I was wondering the same thing. Did they raise all the VC prices, or is this just a premium? And if so, why? It's frikkin Dig Dug, after all.

Zertoss @ Jun 9th 2008 11:45AM

In their defense, Dig Dug is pretty awesome.

baby sea tuna @ Jun 9th 2008 11:51AM

Except that it's not only available on like 5 different compilations as well as on XBLA for $1 less, cleaned up for HD, and with achievements.

PojoMofo @ Jun 9th 2008 12:43PM

so that they can milk you of some more points.

Im glad on PSN you only pay exactly what the content cost, not "I have to buy 1600 more points because Im 200 points short"

BPM [MKWii: 2578 3585 8392] @ Jun 9th 2008 2:31PM

Odd as it is, the NES version of Dig Dug never did come to America... I never realized this until now!

Even odder, since we did get Dig Dug II for NES...

SonicRift @ Jun 9th 2008 8:01PM

Yeah... On PSN you just have to put preset amounts of cash in a virtual wallet. Totally different.

Burnt Meatloaf @ Jun 10th 2008 5:03AM

Things are worth whatever people will pay for them.

emmzee @ Jun 9th 2008 11:45AM

The "Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa" game was released in a pirated version known as "Mario Baby".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bio_Miracle_Bokutte_Upa

According to Wikipedia (uncited): "Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa had actually been slated for a U.S. release in 1989 - however, Howard Philips of Nintendo turned it down, saying that it wasn't good enough for the American market."

Video of gameplay:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X-gTvlDSH7c

Lemmo @ Jun 9th 2008 12:25PM

This solves a 15-year-long confusion for me. When I was 9, my sitter had actually imported this from Japan and told me it was Mario Baby. From then on, when it never materialized in the US, I had to explain to people that I played this Mario Baby game where you inflate pigs with a rattle, and eat your way through cake levels Dig Dug style.

They all thought I was crazy.

ApolloIV @ Jun 9th 2008 11:53AM

Pretty fucked up picture...

Bigfoot @ Jun 9th 2008 12:22PM

Well, that's what really happens in the game. It's just that back then games couldn't show that much detail.

FOXHOUND @ Jun 9th 2008 12:53PM

Makes you wonder that if DIGDUG were released recently(instead of its original date), would it look like that?

PAC-MAN just got scary.

stoik @ Jun 9th 2008 1:05PM

https://www.awfulmart.com/index.php?crn=210
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/FuzzyShots/supermarioxp7.jpg

Psaakyrn @ Jun 9th 2008 1:37PM

The sad thing is that the Megaman boxart is even worse than this artist's rendition..

Ignatius @ Jun 9th 2008 2:32PM

Um. Wow, thank you Ad-Block for keeping my lunch down from that wonderful (fucking horrible) picture.

Thanks Joystiq.

AwesomeTown @ Jun 9th 2008 11:57AM

Seriously though, would those words even survive in a refrigerator that had a nuclear bomb going off next to it? They must have come up with the name some other way.

AwesomeTown @ Jun 9th 2008 11:59AM

*game

Rask @ Jun 9th 2008 12:07PM

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Dig Dug listed by some developpers as the "shit on XBLA" that wouldn't permeate other comsole's downloadable offering?

Funny and Ironic if you ask me.

NATO_Duke @ Jun 9th 2008 12:05PM

Baby Upa learned everything he knows from Dig Dug - the worst of all domestic terrorists.

Blue_Falcon @ Jun 9th 2008 12:05PM

I got the XBLA version for $2.50 when they did the first XBLA discount sale. I'll stick with that version.

$6 is a scam.

Co @ Jun 9th 2008 1:18PM

Your mom's a scam.

GoonieGooGoo @ Jun 9th 2008 12:19PM

I have to ask....why would I buy a crappy port of Dig Dug for NES....when I can buy an arcade perfect version + 10 or more games for probably less by getting NAMCO Arcade Classics in the used bin??

tommy @ Jun 9th 2008 12:22PM

Dig Dug is a world with far more whimsy and depth than most give it credit. the artist of this picture knows what i'm talking about, but look here for the true story:
http://quiksave.net/2008/05/17/dig-dug-the-live-epic/

your life will never be the same

offday @ Jun 9th 2008 12:25PM

It wasn't until I saw this picture that I realized how gross dig dug really was.

Donald @ Jun 9th 2008 12:37PM

Other sites I saw had Dig Dug at 500 points and ... other game at 600 (allowing for the import-game tariff).

Jody Anthony (cookingrebels.com) @ Jun 9th 2008 1:12PM

i loved me some dig dug back in the day!

EihBeir @ Jun 9th 2008 1:16PM

Too Many Veins!

PiemanPieman @ Jun 9th 2008 2:19PM

This is actually pretty cool, because we get the game origin of Upa. I assume that it was a Konami game, because the only place I even knew Upa from previously was the Parodius series of shooters.

This announcement comes immediately after viewing another DS baby-related game and stating loudly that games about babies needed to be stopped. Well I guess I was wrong. Slightly.