Dig Dug Remix

Namco Bandai revamped some of its arcade favorites for iPhone, including Pole Position, Alpine Skier, Pac-Man and Time Crisis. The latest addition to this growing library is Dig Dug Remix, a dirt-digging romp that'll have you blowing up dozens of cretins underground for hours on end. It lacks a couple of things that keep it from being a must-have, but fans and newcomers will enjoy it.

When we say you'll blow up bad guys, we don't mean with explosives. Your character's main weapon is an air pump. When you press the pump button, a hose shoots out, attaching to your closest enemy and slowly inflating it. After three pumps, it explodes. Throughout each stage, you'll face air-headed Pookas, fire-breathing Fygars and, in Remix mode, new boulder-shaped enemies that drop rocks after they disappear. Rocks come in handy, as you can use them to crush several foes in a row at once. Just make sure you're out of the way, or you'll go down with them.

Dig Dug Remix includes both the 80s arcade classic and a new version that first appeared in Namco Museum console collections a few years ago. Both games are lots of fun. Dig Dug's old-school presentation has an old school charm, while Remix features revamped visuals and music, along with various power-ups (such as a pump accelerator) to use throughout each stage.

Both games have two control options available, Classic and Flick. Flick controls let you roll your thumb over the screen to move the character around. This is an acceptable control method, although your digit blocks your view from time to time. The Classic control method, meanwhile, uses a directional pad on the bottom left corner of the screen, and the pump button is right next to it. We prefer this to Flick.

Each game has multiple stages to dig through, and if you're a completist, you'll want to collect every piece of fruit on each stage and achieve the best high score possible. However, Namco Bandai should've included online leaderboards. Perhaps an update to the game will make this possible. We'd certainly like to see how we compare to fellow diggers.

For $6, you'll find plenty of depth (mind the pun) with Dig-Dug Remix. Its Flick control scheme and lack of competition leave it just short of a five-star rating, but there's still enough fun gameplay and challenge to keep you going.