Mr. Do!
1982 · Action · Arcade
Overview
Mr. Do! (1982) is Universal's digging game: a clown tunnels through a garden, collects cherries and defeats monsters with a bouncing power ball.
Deep Dive
Mr. Do! digs his own tunnels through the playfield, collecting cherries, dropping apples on pursuing monsters and throwing a power ball that bounces along the tunnels until it hits something — so every throw means thinking about its path. Collecting the letters E-X-T-R-A from special monsters awards an extra life. Its bright fairground look stood out among the space and military games of 1982, and it spawned several sequels.
Developer Story
Mr. Do! was developed by Universal in 1982. The clown protagonist could either dig tunnels through the playfield to drop cherries on enemies, or throw a bouncing powerball at them. The ball would continue bouncing until it hit something, requiring spatial thinking about its path. Mr. Do! was one of the most inventive action games of its era and spawned several sequels.
Did You Know?
- The powerball in Mr. Do! bounced independently of the player's position — throwing it required thinking several moves ahead.
- Extra men were awarded for spelling EXTRA by collecting letters from enemies, an unusual mechanic mixing spelling with action.
- Universal's "Alpha Monster" — a large creature that appeared if play was too slow — forced players to take risks rather than play defensively.
- The game's hand-drawn, fairground aesthetic was immediately distinctive in arcades dominated by space and military themes.
Sources & further reading
- Mr. Do! — Wikipedia
