by Diggy Diggy Mole is a new NES release by publisher Broke Studio and developer Novasplore Games. The player explores a Metroid-like maze of underground tunnels and caves as a mole who is seeking to find treasure to repay his debts.
As of right now, Diggy Diggy Mole is a physical NES or Famicom release on the publisher’s store, Homebrew Factory. The packaging is nice and comes with everything you’d expect from a physical NES release, such as the cartridge, cartridge sleeve, manual, and box. The package I received also came with a Broke Studio coaster and an enamel pin of the main character’s sprite, which was a pleasant surprise.
The game also comes with a ROM file, but I played the cartridge on a CRT TV with a North American NES. So with those details out of the way, let’s jump into the game itself.
Intensely Satisfying Gameplay
The first thing about Diggy Diggy Mole that everyone should know before anything else is also the most important thing about the game: the gameplay is extremely satisfying. When you first start playing, everything about the controls feels just right. The movement, the jumping, and the digging all feel tight and intuitive.
You press A to jump and press B to dig, which is pretty simple at first. As you collect more pickaxes, you begin to unlock more digging abilities. Beyond the basic dig, you’ll unlock a downward drilling dig, an upper drill, and a side drill. These abilities do add a layer of complexity and a sufficient amount of depth to the game, so don’t be deceived by the initial simplicity of the game’s controls. As with other metroidvanias, these abilities allow you to unlock new areas of the map and take on new puzzles.
Your mole spins once he emerges from the ground, which is how you defeat enemies. This was another aspect of the game that I wanted to recognize for being satisfying. Hitting an enemy just feels so powerful and impactful.
Fantastic Presentation
No aspect of Diggy Diggy Mole’s presentation was compromised. The graphics, sound, and music work in tandem to create a wonderful experience for the senses.
What initially drew me in was the mole’s cute sprite, and considering he’s what you’ll be looking at for most of your time playing, the importance of that can’t be understated. Of course, the rest of the sprites are great too. Everything stands out nicely from the backgrounds and tiles.
There are four different environments in Diggy Diggy Mole, each with their own unique and distinct visual style. Each environment also has its own catchy chiptune track.
One thing that I appreciated was the game’s fantastic use of negative (black) space. Since I was playing this as physical game on a CRT TV, the deep blacks in the backgrounds not only helped give the character a strong visual presence by contrast, but also helped sell the idea of traversing in damp, dark caverns.
The Metroidvania-Sized Elephant in the Room
Diggy Diggy Mole can be described as a metroidvania or a Metroid-like, which doesn’t exactly help the game stand out. The independent game scene in general is over-saturated with metroidvanias. I’m not sure if people are getting tired of metroidvanias, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some gamers were feeling genre fatigue.
But at the same time, the NES doesn’t have a lot of Metroid-like games besides, well, Metroid. I think this fact does help the game stand out, but it also means that it’s competing with larger and more capable metroidvanias on modern PCs and consoles.
The inherent technical limitations of the NES would mean that Diggy Diggy Mole couldn’t reinvent the wheel, so the core gameplay and presentation would need to be solid enough to make it an attractive alternative to flashier games on better hardware.
I think that despite there being hundreds of metroidvanias out there to play, I’d be motivated to pick up Diggy Diggy Mole again. The satisfying gameplay and amazing presentation discussed earlier makes it more than worthwhile to pick up again.
The “digging” element of the game is its core gimmick, but it doesn’t feel that novel compared to other games in the genre. However, that doesn’t take anything away from the game. The developer was disciplined enough to focus on making the core game fun, and that’s what is important.
Particularly Difficult Ending
I was able to beat the game in 1 hour and 31 minutes. Throughout the entire playthrough, I didn’t want to put the controller down; I just wanted to keep going.
I had a blast going from room to room, exploring the four environments, and finding all of the powerups, keys, and bombs. The introduction of new abilities made the rooms more complex and difficult to navigate, but the progression and difficulty curve felt natural and easy-going.
However, after all of the keys were found and the treasure was unlocked in the very last stretch of the game, things became pretty difficult. Unlocking the treasure puts you on a timer, and you need to escape from the caverns within the time limit. Escaping requires you to use all of your abilities to navigate several rooms with precise platforming challenges.
The final escape was a challenge because you need to have a good understanding of all of your abilities and how to quickly use them in combination with one another, all while under a time limit. I would not be surprised if re-trying the ending again and again was responsible for a large chunk of my playtime.
However, after taking a deep breath and learning the rooms, I was able to make it through to the end. But this ending was important to mention in the review because it’s such a change of pace compared to the rest of the game.
I should also mention that players can choose to make the game harder or easier with the game options. You can give yourself more starting health or disable enemies, or you can make it more challenging by disabling hearts and healing. This is a great way to keep the game fresh after finishing a run.
Bottom Line: Diggy Diggy Mole is Worth Buying
I’ve sung Diggy Diggy Mole’s praises throughout this article, so it should come as no surprise that the final recommendation is that you should buy it. Even if you’re not a fan of metroidvanias, the gameplay is solid, the sprite work is well done, the music is catchy, and it can be finished in one sitting. The game’s options even allow you to make it as easy or as difficult as you want, so it can be enjoyed by any type of gamer.
Physical games, especially those published by smaller publishers and manufactured for retro consoles, are not cheap. However, Diggy Diggy Mole is worth every cent.
