Do! Run Run
| Do! Run Run | |
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| Developer(s) | Universal |
| Publisher(s) | Taito |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release | 1984 |
| Genre(s) | Maze / Platform |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Main CPU: Z80 (@ 3.9 MHz), (2x) Z80 (@4 MHz) |
| Display | Raster resolution 240 x 192 (Horizontal) Palette Colors 256 |
Do! Run Run, known as Super Pierrot (スーパーピエロ) in Japan, is the fourth and final incarnation of Mr. Do!, the Universal video game mascot. Returning to his Mr. Do! roots, the clown has a bouncing powerball with which to hurl at monsters. What makes this game novel is that instead of burrowing through the ground to get at cherries, Mr. Do runs along the playfield picking up dots, and leaving a line behind him, which the player is encouraged to create closed off sections with, which turn any dots left behind into cherries. Gone are the giant apples to crush foes, but the multi-tier stage design has two precariously balanced log traps, which can be rolled downslope if either pushed from above or closely approached from the propped up stick side. The resulting game is somewhat of a cross between Mr. Do!, Congo Bongo, Pac-Man, and Qix. The title is a reference to the song "Da Doo Ron Ron".
The goal of Do! Run Run is to rack up points while completing screens. A screen is completed whenever all the fruits/dots are eaten, or when all of the regular monsters (not Alpha-monsters or their sidekicks) are defeated. Using the rope that follows Mr. Do to inscribe dots will convert them into cherries, a familiar fruit for Mr. Do to collect. Cherries are worth more points than dots, and eating them restores the powerball more quickly than eating dots would. Each time Mr. Do inscribes fruit, they progress to a higher tier, dots become cherries, cherries become apples, apples become lemons and lemons become pineapples. Eating a dot awards 10 points and 1/16 of a powerball recharge; eating a pineapple is worth 160 points and 1/4 of a powerball recharge.
Players are additionally encouraged to inscribe sections of the playfield by the letters E, X, T, R, A, a constant feature of the Mr. Do! games. Randomly, one of the inscribed fruits will turn into a flashing letter spot, corresponding with the movement of the Alpha-Monster at the top of the screen. If Mr. Do! runs over this spot, the monster sporting that letter will release from the top of the screen with three blue henchmen (which resemble the three ghost-like monsters from the original Mr. Do!, and chase after Mr. Do. Defeating the Alpha-monster will lock in that letter, and once all 5 letters are earned, the player earns an extra life (as well as progressing to the next stage, you also earn a 5,000 point bonus).
Points are also awarded for defeating monsters. Directly firing the powerball at a monster awards 500 points and consumes the powerball, which needs to be replenished by eating fruit. More points are earned if the powerball bounces off of a surface; each bounce raises the bonus by 500 points until a maximum of 3000 points are earned. Smashing monsters with a rolling log earns 1000 points; it is possible to roll over multiple monsters and earn a cumulative bonus of 500 per extra monster (so, 1500 for the 2nd, 2000 for the 3rd, etc.). Apparently there is a 10,000 point bonus for smashing 5 monsters.
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