Mr Do!

“Send in the clowns!”

Universal, a rare but contributing company during the peak of arcade entertainment, released Mr Do back in 1982.

With a similar dynamic to ‘Dig Dug’, the onus was on collecting fruits dotted about the grounds and mazes of the many levels. In the guise of a rather cute little clown, your task is to avoid snapping, strange creatures chasing after you to fill their empty bellies and clear the screen of collectibles. Armed only with a bouncing ball and cunning the game couldn’t be much more straight forward. Indeed it’s this simplicity of gameplay which made the game very addictive and fun to play.

Around the labyrinth’s are giant peaches which come into play as citric weaponry. Proving Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity correct, if walked under at the correct time and chased by one of these toothed terrors, the fruit plummets down upon them, finishing them off in a fruity mess.

Extra lives are found by collecting letters which spell ‘Extra’, plain enough as bonus lives are an essential part of play if progress is to be maintained as the levels become gradually more and more difficult, of course if you’re quick enough to collect the rare fruits at the centre of play, the creatures are stopped, giving more time to clean up and induce that hypnotic tune when gathering the cherries in unison.

Mr Do can only be described as a full package of what makes a good arcade game great. Simple gameplay, bright and colourful graphics with the fun factor turned up to eleven giving this arcade video game experience a place in the heart of gaming history.