Year: 1984
The third and one of the least common of the Mr Do! series, Mr Do! Run Run sees the return of the clown armed with his snowball in his mission to rid the screens of the monsters. You control Mr Do! as he runs round the screen collecting the dots/fruit and avoiding/killing the pursuing monsters.
As Mr Do! runs round the screen he draws a line behind him. This line when used to surround a series of dots by drawing a box around them will cause those inside to turn into cherries, and when surrounding fruit will turn them into the next type of fruit, from cherries through cakes and lemons up to pineapples which are worth the maximum points.
Each screen is built up on several platforms and you can climb up and down from one level to another. Clearing all the dots or fruit, killing all the monsters or collecting an Extra Life or Free Credit completes the level.
Your snowball is your primary weapon and when thrown will move in a straight line, bouncing back and forth off any walls on the same level. You can kill a monster on the same level with your snowball, and the score is increased the more times the snowball bounces off a wall before hitting the monster.
On each screen there are also two logs which you can cause to roll down or across the screen (depending on the direction the log is facing), and they will kill any monsters in their path. You can either push the logs from behind or remove the support in front of them by running across it. The most points in the game are scored by killing multiple monsters with the logs, so this is the key to higher scores.
The green monsters move fairly slowly on the earlier levels and simply walk around the maze, although they will follow you if you get too close to them. The blue monsters will continually track your position, and if they are on the same horizintal or vertical line as you for more than a couple of seconds they will turn into fireballs and fly across the screen towards you.
Every multiple of 10,000 points an EXTRA letter is released from the cage at the top. Also if you collect the letter in the centre of the maze when it is revealed a letter will be released accompanied by three alpha monsters and they will continually home in on you. Killing the letter will kill the alpha monster, and killing all five EXTRA letters awards you an extra life..
Sometimes when encircling dots or fruit a diamond will appear. Collect the diamond for 8,000 points and a free game.
Eating a dot: 10 points.
Eating a cherry: 20 points.
Eating a cake: 40 points.
Eating a lemon: 80 points.
Eating a pineapple: 160 points.
Killing a monster/letter with the snowball: 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500 or 3,000 points depending on the number of bounces before the snowballs makes contact.
Killing a monster with a log: 1,000 points.
Killing multiple monsters with a log: 1,500 points for the second monster and an incremental 500 points for each monster thereafter (2,000, 2,500 etc)
Killing 5 monsters at once scores 10,000 points.
Free credit diamond: 8,000 points.
Starting lives can be set to 3 or 5 (default is 3).
Special (diamond) can be set to on or off (default is on).
Extra life can be set to easy or hard (default is easy).
Game difficulty can be set to Easy, Medium, Hard or Hardest (default is easy).
The extra letters appear every 10,000 points on their own, and the letter which appears is the letter highlighted in the EXTRA box. Try to ensure a required letter is highlighted when passing the 10,000 point mark.
At the start of a level try to draw a line round the outer edge of the screen. This will turn the maximum number of dots into cherries and will always reveal the letter which you need to release the letter and alpha monsters.
The position of the letter within each screen is fixed for each level. Try to learn where they are so that you can reveal them with only a small box if necessary.
When you release the letter and alpha monsters, make your way to the nearest log and wait near the support. As soon as the letter is close release the log to kill as many monsters as possible.
The last monster on the screen should be killed by a snowball bouncing off as many walls as possible. The last monster always homes in on you, so you need to get to a fairly small area and set a ball bouncing between you and the monster. Then the monster will walk into the snowball for 3,000 points.
When the blue serpents turn into fireballs and shoot towards you they always travel to the edge of the screen. Simply step away one row or column and they fly right past you harmlessly.
You can usually outrun the last monster on each level, so ensure you turn as many of the fruit to pineapples as you can, and eat all but one of them before killing the pursuing monster with your snowball.