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A pioneering Platform Game created by Bill Hogue, Miner 2049er stars a fat Mountie named Bounty Bob who explores the derelict uranium mine that once belonged to Nuclear Ned in pursuit of the Swedish fur trapper Yukon Yohan. Bounty Bob must "claim" all the stations in the mine while avoiding or eliminating the mutant organisms that live there.

Originally released in 1982 by Big Five Software for Atari 8-Bit Computers, the game was soon ported to a wide variety of home computers and consoles, and is currently on Apple iOS. This was the first game to be widely multiplatform.

An official sequel, Bounty Bob Strikes Back!, was released in 1984, featuring up to 25 levels and new types of transport mechanisms and traps, while an unofficial sequel called Miner 2049er II was released that same year by Micro Fun for the Apple IIe. This game was also the reason Manic Miner got its name - Matthew Smith originally wanted to call his game Miner 2049er, but this game came out first and the publishers had the copyright on the name.

A freeware remake called Miner 2049er Again! was released for Windows in 2009.


Tropes:

  • 100% Completion: The goal of each level is for Bob to inspect the mine by walking over every single part of it.
  • Alliterative Name: Bounty Bob, Yukon Yohan, and Nuclear Ned.
  • Collision Damage: The mutant organisms are harmful to touch, apparently because they absorbed a high level of radiation in the mine.
  • Compressed Adaptation: The Atari 2600 version was limited to only having three screens due to its limited memory, resulting in a Video Game Multipack release of Volume 2.
  • Falling Damage: Like Donkey Kong, if Bounty Bob falls too far or takes too big a leap, he'll lose a life.
  • Forty-Niner: Between the title and the mining motifs (not to mention the cover art), the game takes some of its inspiration from Forty-Niners.
  • Human Cannonball: Bounty Bob has to load a cannon with TNT and then shoot himself out of it.
  • Movie Multipack: Due to the Atari 2600 version only having enough memory for three screens from the original version's ten, a Volume 2 was developed that had three additional screens from the original.
  • My Nayme Is: Yohan (the Swedish spelling would be Johan).
  • Poison Mushroom: The suspiciously flashing cocktail on Level 5 kills you instantly if you collect it.
  • Power Ups: When Bob finds items left behind by other miners, the monsters smile and turn green; when they are like this Bob is able to destroy them. (Sort of like how Pac-Man can kill the Ghosts by eating the big dots.)
  • Public Domain Soundtrack: "Clementine" as the intro theme.
  • Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom: One station has a whole row of crushing traps to walk through.
  • Teleportation with Drawbacks: Two stations feature teleporters that connect four different levels. These have to be allowed to recharge between uses. (In some versions, the teleporters have been replaced with an elevator shaft.)
  • Timed Mission: The "Miner Timer" means each station has to be completed in a fixed time.
  • 20 Minutes into the Future: Judging from the game's title, we can assume it takes place in the year 2049.

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