Diamond Mike II

JRC Software

Type: Program

Platform(s): TS 2068

Diamond Mike II is a Boulder Dash-style action puzzle game in which the player guides a character called Mike through cave levels, collecting diamonds until the screen “POPS” and then locating the exit before time expires. Hazards include falling rocks, amoebas, and killer butterflies that must be avoided or neutralized. The HUD displays the current score, time remaining, lives left, and the number of diamonds still needed. Controls use the Q/P/O/A keys for directional movement, with Symbol Shift S available to freeze Mike’s position, and use the left joystick port. Bonus lives are awarded after completing rounds 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, and 21.

Program Analysis

Overview

Diamond Mike II is a cave-exploration and collectathon game clearly inspired by First Star Software’s Boulder Dash (1984). The player controls “Mike,” a spelunker-style character who must tunnel through earthen caverns, collect a quota of diamonds, and then escape through an exit—all within a time limit.

Gameplay Mechanics

The core loop mirrors Boulder Dash closely:

Mike digs through dirt/earth tiles to create paths.
Rocks obey gravity and will fall if the earth beneath them is removed; they can crush Mike.
Diamonds must be collected until a threshold is reached, at which point the screen “POPS” (a visual or audio signal) and the exit becomes active.
Amoebas spread over time and can engulf Mike or block paths.
Killer butterflies patrol the caves and are lethal on contact.
A freeze mechanic (Symbol Shift + S) temporarily halts Mike’s position, useful for precise maneuvering.

Controls

Key	Action
`P`	Move Mike right
`O`	Move Mike left
`Q`	Move Mike up
`A`	Move Mike down
`Symbol Shift + S`	Freeze position
`N`	Restart after death

HUD and Scoring

The top of the screen provides four pieces of real-time information: current score, time remaining, number of lives left, and the number of diamonds still needed to trigger the exit. Bonus lives are granted at specific milestone rounds: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, and 21. The player starts with only a single life.

Visual Style

The game makes extensive use of the attribute color system, with brightly colored block-character tiles forming the cave walls (red brick pattern), earth (green), diamonds (cyan), and rocks (yellow/black). The title screen uses large multicolored block lettering with a small sprite of Mike beside the logo. The overall aesthetic is characteristic of color-block tile games of the era that worked within the hardware’s color attribute grid.