Based on Ant Run, Spider Run, and Sea Run, the "Run" series moves to Win16, using Macromedia to add video and improve sound effects. The game takes place in a grid maze made up of segments that can be rotated. The segments can contain a straight path, a corner, a crossing path, or one of three new paths: one-way paths, forks (if you enter from the front, the beetle randomly exits to the left or right, and paths the teleport the beetle to the other teleport square. The beetle enters the maze through a starting point inside the maze, and you have eight seconds before gameplay begins. The segments can be rotated during gameplay, but you have to ensure that the beetle has a clear passage ahead of it at all times. Segments disappear as the beetle passes over them, preventing it from using them again, except for crossing paths. The edges of the screen wrap around to the segment on the opposite side. A progress meter counts the distance the beetle has travelled. Once it resets, the unusable segments of the maze will be reset the next time the beetle re-enters the maze, and one segments of the maze will permanently become blocked. A certain score must be achieved in each level in order to advance. Pressing "Fast" causes the beetle to move more quickly and doubles your score for the distance traveled, but you can no longer slow down until the beetle re-enters the maze. Some levels have an ending point which the beetle must enter in order to advance to the next level. Every 2500 points, the beetle can play in a bonus level that is just for points, and crashing just advances the beetle to the next level. Suitable for gamers of all ages, the game also manages to be educational by listing beetle trivia before each level. Solsoft replaced the installer in v2.1c with a 32-bit installer in 2002. Once installed, the help file lists the requirements as "Windows 95/98" (and increases the RAM requirement to 32 MB), but the game is still 16-bit! This had the unfortunate effect of making the game impossible to install using 16-bit Windows, but impossible to play using 64-bit Windows. In 2012, v3.0 was released for Win9x. There are 30 levels in this game, with only the first 7 playable in the shareware version.
Added by DOSGuy
Screenshots
GDI
GDI
Downloads
| Beetle Run v3.0 Shareware (2,658,629 bytes) | 2012-05-31 | Win9x | |
| Beetle Run v2.1c (2002) Shareware (1,811,786 bytes) | 2002-05-15 | Win16 | |
| Beetle Run v2.1c (1999) Shareware (1,647,880 bytes) | 1999-03-08 | Win16 | |
| Beetle Run v2.1b (1998) Shareware (1,618,852 bytes) | 1998-08-01 | Win16 | |
| Beetle Run v2.1b (1997) Shareware (1,617,347 bytes) | 1997-10-01 | Win16 | |
| Beetle Run v2.1a Shareware (1,168,373 bytes) | 1997-09-16 | Win16 | |
| Beetle Run v2.1 Shareware (1,162,949 bytes) | 1996-09-01 | Win16 | |
| Beetle Run v2.0 Shareware (1,200,600 bytes) | 1996-04-01 | Win16 | |
| Beetle Run v1.2 Shareware (1,132,151 bytes) | 1995-08-19 | Win16 |
Availability
Soleau Software still sells the registered version of this game for $15 by download.