Miner 2049er

Forget cautious little steps — Miner 2049er is about running across every bit of platform before time or an enemy gets you. This colorful platformer is among the best-known titles of the eight-bit Atari, and at the time of its release it was a genuine hit that appeared at the top of the charts.

You play as the fearless Bob the mountie, who on each level has to "tread over" all segments of the platforms — once you cross a bit, it changes color, and your goal is to color absolutely everything. To do this you use ladders, elevators, slides and transport mechanisms, while mutant creatures are on your heels. This idea of "coloring in" the whole level was fresh at the time and set the game apart from the competition inspired by Donkey Kong.

Miner 2049er became famous for its unusually high number of levels for the time — it offered ten, each with its own theme and mechanics, which for its year of release represented a remarkable portion of content. The graphics were pleasantly colorful for eight-bit and the characters overflowed with personality, thanks to which the game appealed to a wide range of players.

The title was created in the first half of the eighties and became one of the flagship products for the Atari 8-bit, while it also received ports to a number of other platforms of the time. Its commercial success confirmed that a quality platformer has its firm place on home computers, and the game even earned a sequel.

Today Miner 2049er is considered one of the key platformers of the early eight-bit era and a title that influenced the perception of the genre on home computers. Its brisk pace and clever game principle hold up even after decades.

Why play: A colorful, brisk and cleverly designed platformer with ten levels that defined the genre on eight-bit.