Comparison

Emerald Mine vs Super Runner Classic

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Emerald Mine

Navigate treacherous underground caves as a miner, collecting gems to unlock exit portals. Avoid hazards like exploding bugs, tanks, aliens, and falling debris. Relive a classic Amiga experience with over 6,000 levels.

Highlights
  • Collect gems to open exit portals
  • Avoid hazards: bugs, tanks, aliens, acid
  • Over 6,000 classic levels
  • MFi controller support
  • Game Center high scores
  • Touchscreen controls
Features
Read full description

Emerald Mine for iOS. Based on the Rocks N Diamonds codebase but only includes the Emerald Mine levels. Game Center global high scores. In Emerald Mine you play as a miner trapped deep underground. Your objective is to collect the minimum number of gems to open the exit portals. Explore the caves to find all the gems and try to avoid the hazards which include exploding bugs, tanks, aliens and acid pools. Be careful of falling boulders and debris as they will crush you. Relive the classic Amiga game, Emerald Mine. This is a fan port of the game updated to play on all iOS devices. All classic art and sounds are included as well as the original levels for Emerald Mine 1, 2 and 3 plus some bonus levels from the Emerald Mine archive. In total there are more than 6,000 levels. Swipe on the right half of the screen to move your character. Tap and hold on the left side then swipe on the right side to grab a nearby block. MFi controllers supported

About

Super Runner Classic

Navigate challenging levels, collecting gold while outsmarting pursuing guards. Utilize digging mechanics to trap enemies and strategize your path through intricate brick platforms. Enjoy retro graphics and sound for an authentic classic gaming experience.

Highlights
  • 201 free and unlockable levels
  • Customizable joystick or D-Pad controls
  • Retro graphics and sound effects
  • Digging mechanics to trap guards
  • Platform traversal with ladders and bars
Features
Read full description

Classic lode runner game. Collect all the gold while avoiding guards that try to catch you. Enjoy 201 classic levels—free and fully unlocked. [Feature] - 201 free and unlock levels - Choose the joystick or D-Pad, and you can also resize it to give you the best control experience - Retro game graphics and sound effects, let you relive the past experience [Control] - Joystick/D-Pad: move the player - A button: Dig a hole at the right side - B button: Dig a hole at the left side [Introduction] The player must collect all the gold in a level while avoiding guards who try to catch the player. After collecting all the gold, the player must touch the top of the screen to reach the next level. Levels feature a multi-story, brick platform motif, with ladders and suspended hand-to-hand bars that offer multiple ways to travel throughout. The player can dig holes into floors to temporarily trap guards and may safely walk atop trapped guards. Should a guard be carrying a bar of gold when he falls into a hole it will be left behind, and can be retrieved by the player. Over time, floors dug into will regenerate, filling in these holes. A trapped guard who cannot escape a hole before it fills is consumed, immediately respawning in a random location at the top of the level. Unlike guards, the player's character may not climb up out of a hole, and will be killed if it fills before he can escape by other means. Floors may also contain trapdoors, through which the player and guards will fall, and bedrock, through which the player cannot dig. The player can only dig a hole to the sides, and not directly underneath himself. This introduces an important strategy for when digging a hole x blocks deep, the player must first dig a gap at least x wide to be able to dig through it, as the number of spaces will shrink with each layer, and the player needs at least one free adjacent space to be able to dig. However, exceptions to this rule arise when the player digs from the position of standing on a ladder, or hanging from a hand-to-hand bar, which allows the player to repeatedly dig and descend one row. This kind of digging is involved in solving many of the levels. The player starts with five lives; each level completion awards an extra life. Should a guard catch the player, one life is subtracted, and the current level restarts. The player's character can fall from arbitrary heights without any injury but cannot jump, and players can trap themselves in pits from which the only escape is to abort the level, costing a life, and begin again. The player may come into contact with a guard directly from above, with the stick figure's feet touching the guard's head. This is what enables the player to walk over guards who are temporarily stuck in a hole that has been dug. It is also possible to make this contact while both the guard and the player are in free fall, since the player not only runs faster than the guards, but also falls faster; moreover, it is possible to survive the feet-to-head contact while a guard is standing on a platform and begins to move. Both forms of contact are necessary to solve some levels. Sometimes it is necessary to liberate a trapped guard by digging while standing on his head, but then moving rapidly in the opposite direction when the guard begins marching to freedom. In a few levels, it is necessary to use a falling guard as a bridge to reach an otherwise unreachable area. One subtlety is that if a down movement is initiated while standing on a guard's head, or briefly touching the guard's head during free fall, the consequences are fatal. In some levels, guards can be deliberately trapped in various ways. They can be lured into entering a part of the level from which there is no escape. In some situations, the player can liberate trapped guards by digging them out. In some levels, to collect some gold pieces, the player must exploit the guards into collecting gold pieces. Try to clear all the levels!

Screenshots

Emerald Mine4 screens
Super Runner Classic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Emerald Mine at 4.0 against Super Runner Classic's 3.3. Emerald Mine also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 14 months). Super Runner Classic's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs paid). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Emerald Mine holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 32 and 21 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Emerald Mine's written reviews are positive against 49% of Super Runner Classic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Emerald Mine ships an update every 2 weeks, Super Runner Classic every 14 months. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and July 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Emerald Mine versus Super Runner Classic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmerald MineSuper Runner Classic
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (32 ratings) — better3.3 (21 ratings)
Positive reviews55.1% of reviews — better48.8% of reviews
Number of ratings32 — better21
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 14 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB125 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLes BirdZIROTEK Corp.

Customer experience

Emerald Mine

All ratings32 ratings
Positive71.9%
Neutral12.5%
Negative15.6%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive55.1%
Neutral16.3%
Negative28.6%

Super Runner Classic

All ratings20 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral30.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive48.8%
Neutral22.0%
Negative29.3%

In-app purchases

None

Emerald Mine

No in-app purchases

None

Super Runner Classic

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Emerald Mine free?
Emerald Mine is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Super Runner Classic free?
Super Runner Classic is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Emerald Mine or Super Runner Classic?
Emerald Mine is rated higher. Emerald Mine averages 4.0 out of 5 from 32 ratings, while Super Runner Classic averages 3.3 from 21 ratings.
Do Emerald Mine or Super Runner Classic have ads?
Super Runner Classic shows ads; Emerald Mine does not.
Which is updated more often, Emerald Mine or Super Runner Classic?
Emerald Mine ships an update every 2 weeks, and Super Runner Classic every 14 months. Most recently, Emerald Mine was updated on September 20, 2026 and Super Runner Classic on July 17, 2026.

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