''O'Riley's Mine'' is an

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform gam ...

Datasoft Datasoft, Inc. (also written as DataSoft and Data Soft) was a software developer and publisher for home computers founded in 1980 by Pat Ketchum and based out of Chatsworth, California. Datasoft primarily published video games, including home port ...

for the

Atari 8-bit The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

home computer. The game was ported to

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

by Larry Lewis and to

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

by Al Rubin. Both ports were also released in 1983.

Gameplay

O'Riley must travel through his mine to capture all the buried treasure and return safely home again at the top of the mine shaft. He can be drowned by the onrushing water or eaten by the river monsters. Dynamite charges can be used to block the monsters' pathway, but it will be cleared again by the incoming water. Explosions can be timed so that a monster is blown away to gain extra points. The number of dynamite charges is dependent on the level of difficulty. There is no time limit, but the speed of water increases in higher levels. When the moon rises the monsters move faster through the mine shafts. The oncoming water rises to the highest level the player digs in the mine, so it is possible the water will block the player from returning home. There are 6 types of treasure to collect, 4 of which come in small and large versions.

Reception

''Softline'' reviewed ''O'Riley's Mine'' positively in September–October issue of 1983: "The graphics display is full of color, the mountains and multicolored mine shaft are particularly well done, and the play of the game, within its scope, is excellent." ''The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984'' gave the game an overall weak rating (D+) and didn't like the price: "Despite its simplicity, it might be worth looking at, but not at $29.95." ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'', reviewing the Commodore 64 version, praised the graphics and called the water sounds "quite realistic". While they called the game "very playable" and "quite fun", they also felt it lacked challenge, calling the early levels "quite easy" and stating they "wouldn't imagine it taking too long to complete the game". Joaquin Boaz, writing for '' InfoWorld'', drew comparisons between the Atari arcade game '' Dig Dug'' and stated ''O'Riley's Mine'', "makes excellent use of both water and the fear of it." Boaz also noted the package's inclusion of both a

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...

and a

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

as "a nice touch".

References

External links

* *{{Internet Archive game, id=a8b_ORileys_Mine_1983_Datasoft_US_k_file 1983 video games Action video games Apple II games Atari 8-bit family games Commodore 64 games Datasoft games Fiction about mining Video games developed in the United States