Lode Runner III: The Golden Labyrinth Arcade FAQ version 1.0.1 copyright 2006 by Andrew Schultz schultz.andrew@sbcglobal.net Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent. However, if you write a polite e-mail to me referring to me(and this FAQ) by name, then I will probably say OK. But if I ignore you that means no--and I am bad about answering e-mail. Sorry. **** AD SPACE: **** My home page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762 ================================ OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION 1-1. BASIC LODE RUNNER 1-2. DIFFERENCES FOR THE ARCADE GAME VS EARLY PC 2. CONTROLS 3. SCORING AND LEVEL DIVISIONS 4. WALKTHROUGH (search for 4-(level #) for a particular walkthrough) 5. VERSIONS 6. CREDITS ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION 1-1. BASIC LODE RUNNER Lode Runner's a simple old game. You are equipped with a gun that can dig holes in soft ground, which allow you to fall through them or trap enemies who chase you albeit at a slower pace. If the hole closes over the enemy, he regenerates at the top. Your object is to pick up all the gold in a level full of ladders and ropes and hard ground and even false ground and climb to the top of the level(a flashing ladder in the Arcade case.) If the bad guys catch you or you fall into your own trap and get swallowed up, you lose. The game is grid based so there are only exact spots where you can dig. It was originally created by Doug Smith and has gone through several incarnations on different platforms. Some feature very similar levels across platforms; for instance the NES version takes 50 levels, most of which map to an Apple II level(where the game was originally ported) minus a few rows. The SNES and Turbografx appear to pretty up some old levels without offering new challenges. All ports that maintain the grid structure and basic icons have slightly different AIs and some have completely different levels or neat new power-ups(the PSX version-- LR and LR extra--has bombs which permanently destroy part of a level, or a stun gun), some are wickedly tough(GBA Lode Runner, Apple Championship Lode Runner--not a port, but just a shifting of levels) and some go off in different directions entirely(Lode Runner 2(PC) is 3-d isometric and looks like Q*Bert; Nintendo 64's has you walking almost on wire structures and has some vicious plants that attack you. But it works.) The arcade versions have some old levels and some new ones, but given that the monsters are faster and smarter there's enough fresh air that many that were trivial in old versions of Lode Runner are challenging--especially when you get point bonuses for efficient form. 1-2. DIFFERENCES FOR THE ARCADE GAME VS EARLY PC Of course the arcade version doesn't allow you to create levels, sadly. It's there to eat your money. So it has a selection of pretty tough levels. Lode Runner I has 24 of them; II-IV have 30. Each group of 3 levels has a different set of monsters but the only difference is visual. They don't work together, and they all have the same AI, so they do tend to clump together for your advantage. First thing you'll notice is that your enemies are much faster than in the PC version. Also, aren't stupid. They try to get horizontally level with you and run at you. If you climb up the bottom of the ladder, they won't run away. Hey, it was an arcade game, they needed as many quick deaths as they could get. The icons are arranged a bit differently. The board is 24x32, with people and gold being 1x2 icons. The result is that some platforms that look like they are level with each other, aren't. This means that sometimes when you dig you will have a pit half your size. You can't jump out of it. You have to avoid it. This gets sticky but on the other hand you can grab gold while on a rope if the gold is right below the rope--and you can dig under a rope, although enemies won't fall into the holes you dig. It's more for escape. ~ $ $ 
brick 3U1L of it. Enemies following will fall 1R or 2R and down the chute 1R, 
and you must fall on them twice to pick up the gold piece you couldn't reach 
otherwise. Again you'll have to make the enemy fall a bit early, i.e when he 
is walking over the brick between the ropes.

During all this you may have to kill a bunch of enemies--if so, don't worry 
about them materializing at the top. AS you climb up the ladder they'll find 
some dumb reason to fall off the rope trying to catch you.

    4-22. LEVEL 22




                 h
            $   $h
            $   $h
XXH****v****HhXXXXXXXXXH
XXH****v****HhXXXXXXXXXH
  H         Hh X   X   H
  H         Hh X   X   H
  HXXX*H    Hh  XXX HXXX
  HXXX*H    Hh  XXX HXXX
HXXX$* HXXXXXhXXX$  H
HXXX$* HXXXXXhXXX$  H
H   XXH    X XX$ XX H $
H   XXH    X XX$ XX H $
$XXXX HXXXX    XXXXXHXXX
$XXXX HXXXX    XXXXXHXXX
H     H  X          H
H     H  X          H
XXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXX**v*XH
XXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXX**v*XH
 ~~~~~H X XXXXX    $   H
      H X XXXXX    $   H
h$      X XXXXXHXvXXXH H
h$      X XXXXXHXvXXXH H
XXXXH   X XXXXXH vX$ H H
XXXXH   X XXXXXH vX$ H H
XXXXXXXHX XXX$ H XXXXX H
XXXXXXXHX XXX$ H XXXXX H
  $  XXH$XXXXXXH   - - H
  $  XXH$XXXXXXH   - - H
************************

Go right to the ladder and down through the false brick below it. Get the 2 
gold nearby. There's a false brick to the left on the top. Fall through it, 
get the gold to the left, and wait at the bottom. When both enemies are 
following you at the bottom, go up the stairs, right through the bricks, and 
back left. Go to the upper right now.

Your object is to trap the enemies in the hole to the left. To do this you 
will need to wait for them at the top--if there's only one, dig a hole for 
him, stand on him and dig right to get the gold below, and dig again, and 
draw the other guy over the same way. If there are two, make two holes above 
the 3-wide and then dig to the right of them, then fall and dig left to get 
to the island 4R of the pit.

Dig left, get the gold, and dig out. Trap the other guy if need be and then 
fall over them to the left. Dig 1U1L of the UL gold, wait 3 seconds, dig 1L 
of it, go U/R through the false brick, and dig over the gold to get it.

Now you can just dig over the left edge of the DL ladder, fall, go left, and 
dig the heck out of the enemy before barreling into the DR for the final 
gold, although it forsakes the 10000 bonus. But there is a (much riskier)way 
to get it.

Fall on the gold and dig right to trap the enemy, then dig the square next to 
him. Fall off the ladder and dig those two squares. Climb back up, pause a 
second and dig left. Then fall right and dig the two squares at the bottom. 
Fall left and get the gold, then move all the way right. Climb up the stairs 
and dig left. Now you should be able to make it out, as the ladders that 
appear let you out of the pit you were in.

Two things to watch out for, though: first, you may get tagged by the guy 
below you jumping up(so dig right after going by him to slow him down more) 
and second, the guys in the pit will be released. Climb U-R-U-R to get to 
them. Dig two holes and run across. You can make it up the level-ending 
ladder before the one enemy is trapped for good.

    4-23. LEVEL 23

            h
            h
~~~~~~ ~~~  h ~~+~~~~~~
            h   +
      X  -XHHX  X      H
      X  -XHHX  X      H
         XXHHXX        H
         XXHHXX        H
        XXXHHXXX       H
        XXXHHXXX       H
       XXXXHHXXXX      H
       XXXXHHXXXX      H
X X X$XXXX HH XXXX    H
X X X$XXXX HH XXXX    H
 X X X  ~ H$$H ~~ ~   H
 X X X    H$$H        H
$      X X HH X  X$-XX H
$      X X HH X  X$-XX H
XX XX XX  XHHX $XXXX  XH
XX XX XX  XHHX $XXXX  XH
  X $X XX  HH~ X X  XX H
  X $X XX  HH  X X  XX H
XX$ XX   X HH XX$-XX $XH
XX$ XX   X HH XX$-XX $XH
  XX $XX $XHHX $*X$ XX H
  XX $XX $XHHX $*X$ XX H
XX  XX$ XX H  **  XX  XH
XX  XX$ XX H  **  XX  XH
  XXXXHXHHHXXHH     HXHH
  XXXXHXHHHXXHH     HXHH
************************

Some opponents do odd things here, up to and including waiting around an area 
you fell into, and you need to adjust to that. First, go up and right and 
wait for the enemy to follow. Drop onto the 1-rope, 2L, drop. He'll fall into 
the pit with his compatriotl

From the bottom of the right center ladder, dig the two bricks to get a gold. 
Then go up the ladder, left, and drop on top of the stuck enemy. Dig left. He 
will fall left. Get the gold to his left and dig right while over him. Fall 
over him and dig right when he gets stuck again. Then climb on him after he 
falls and dig left. He'll fall left but this time dig right to get out of the 
whole mess.

Now at the middle of the left ladders, go left. Dig as follows to clear the 
left side.

  ~
 1
X2
 X3

On the far right side, dig down for another gold. Go right to the 1-rope and 
dig left. Drop when they fall, dig right, fall, dig left, fall, get the gold 
and dig the enemy out. Head to the right after you fall and dig to get to the 
DR corner. Go up the ladder and something weird happens here--the bad guys 
switch their order and the flashing one comes out ahead, because they can 
grab the ladders above. So wait above the 1-rope and fall when people are 
close.

Fall down, 2L, dig right, get the gold and run away. If the guy behind still 
has the gold, then just dig left while on top to pot one enemy and let the 
other guy fall down.

I just missed the triple-time bonus with this procedure but didn't try to 
tighten it up.

    4-24. LEVEL 24

                       h
                       h
          $  +   $     h
          $  +   $     h
XXXXHXXXXXHXXXXXXHXXXXX$
XXXXHXXXXXHXXXXXXHXXXXX$
$   H  $  H X- XXHh    H
$   H  $  H X- XXHh    H
HXXXX HX XH X     hHX  H
HXXXX HX XH X     hHX  H
HXXXXXXXXHX$X X $XHXXXXH
HXXXXXXXXHX$X X $XHXXXXH
HX    X  H   X X vH
HX    X  H   X X vH
XXHXXX $XXXXX  XXXHvX$vH
XXHXXX $XXXXX  XXXHvX$vH
XXXXXXXH   $   X  H   vH
XXXXXXXH   $   X  H   vH
***    HXX X-X  $XHXX  H
***    HXX X-X  $XHXX  H
    XH H  $ X  X vHHXXX
    XH H  $ X  X vHHXXX
HXXX*H HX-X XX XXXHXX  $
HXXX*H HX-X XX XXXHXX  $
XHX$*H   XX  X X ~HXXXXX
XHX$*H   XX  X X  HXXXXX
XXXXXH~~ ~~ ~~ ~H H~XXX
XXXXXH          H H XXX
                    -
                    -
************************

An entertaining little level requiring a little cross-stitching to get 
through.

Go right for the gold, then left and down and dig left. Fall right and climb 
back up. If you're confident you can move smoothly, 2L dig-L fall left and go 
back right. Otherwise re-dig the first brick you dug. Next you want to walk 
to the UL to take that.

Now all the monsters will come in handy as stepping stones--you just have to 
figure out how. Dig to land on the enemy. Drop on him and then run left. Dig 
left to let the next guy out. Drop on him and run left. Do the same for the 
third. Get on the ladder, go up, and get the gold, then fall left into the DL 
corner. Note you'll be able to go out to the right because of where everyone 
fell.

    1H
H23X*H
XH4$*H
XXXXXH~~

Dig 1. Wait 2 1/2 seconds when over 3 and dig 2 and 3. Go back up to 1 and 
re-dig as soon as it fills in. Go back left and dig 4 ASAP. L-U and wait a 
second after 2 forms before digging it and 3 and going UR. Dig 1, drop left, 
dig 4, get the gold and get out. Now head right, using the 1-ladder to help 
get back up.

 $1H
X vH
X2XH
X  H
 $3H
X vH
X4XH
X ~H

Dig 1. Go left and fall through the fake brick. Wait 2 seconds. Dig 2. R-D-
dig 3. Fall through left again. Dig 4. Cycle back up over (healed) 1 and fall 
left.

Dig the UR block to get the UR gold. Then dig 1L2D and 2L2D of the suspended 
gold, dig the UR block, and dig over the suspended gold and go back left. 
(Note: You can dig just the one 1L2D and then dig below that to escape, 
making the last bit smoother, but I wanted to highlight the alternate 
solution for if you wanted some leeway. In fact, with this solution, you can 
even dig right over the suspended gold after getting the UR and then dig 1L2D 
before working on the final, but it does turn into juggling.)

For the final gold, dig above the 1-ladder entombed by bricks, then right, 
then 1R1D. 2-1 dig at the left side, get the final gold, and head up.

I've just gotten 5000 with this. Of course, this level gives 20000 as well.

    4-25. LEVEL 25

h
h
h
h
hXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHXXXXH
hXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHXXXXH
hXXXXXXXXX~ ~XX*XXX~ XH
hXXXXXXXXX   XX*XXX  XH
h XX$H*  X X X  *XH$* H
h XX$H*  X X X  *XH$* H
h  *X* $  *X*    *X*  H
h  *X* $  *X*    *X*  H
h   X      X      X   H
h   X      X      X   H
$      $       $    + H