Sierra Games

Lode Runner On-Line: The Mad Monks’ Revenge

Last updated: October 9, 2026

Overview

Lode Runner On-Line: The Mad Monks’ Revenge is an enhanced version of Lode Runner: The Legend Returns. Presage Software developed it and Sierra On-Line published it in 1995 for Windows 95 and the Macintosh.123 Its main addition is two-player play over a modem or local network. Despite the “On-Line” title, it keeps the full single-player game and can be played entirely offline.14

Sierra’s InterAction magazine promised “two new worlds and 180 new levels”.5 Its feature list broke this down as 30 new single-player levels and 150 new two-player levels. It also listed a new “liquid tiles” hazard that kills any character touching it, and items that only one of the two players can use.6 The game’s lead programmer later wrote that the original 16-bit code “was updated to 32-bit for Windows 95”.7

Reviews were sharply divided. Germany’s PC Action gave it 75%.8 Wikipedia also records 5/5 from the Albuquerque Journal.1 Computer Games Magazine gave it 1/5 and called it “an absolute waste for anyone but a puzzle freak”.19 The UK’s PC Zone gave it 20%.10 Home of the Underdogs later called it “the new and improved version” that fans of The Legend Returns would love “at least twice as much”.4

Story Summary

The premise carries over from The Legend Returns. PC Action described the subtitle story as following on seamlessly from the earlier game, with the player and a friend getting the chance to win back the treasure the monks had stolen.8 Sierra’s InterAction described the core game as unchanged: the player is still Jake Peril, a treasure-hunter raiding the lairs of the evil monks for their gold and gems while the red-cloaked monks give chase.6 A second player controls Jake’s partner, Wes Reckless. Some items can be picked up only by the player of the matching colour.1

Computer Games Magazine’s reviewer framed it more cynically: “You are a man on a hostile alien world trying to steal all of their treasure and escape with your life.”9

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

Control is unchanged from the 1994 game. Jake runs, climbs ladders, crosses bars hand over hand and digs temporary holes with a laser blaster to trap the monks.119 PC Player noted that the screens still do not scroll, but now run at 640×480 instead of the earlier 640×400. Levels can be chosen directly from the menu.11 Two players can share one PC or connect by modem or network. Even in network mode, the game supports only two runners.1112

Structure and Progression

PC Player counted a dozen underground worlds in single-player mode, 30 of whose levels were new. Sierra designed 150 entirely new stages for two players.11 PC Action likewise described all the original levels plus 150 new ones built for two-player mode.8 Sierra’s own feature list gave the additions as:6

  • Network options: “challenge anyone, anywhere”, either over a local area network or by modem
  • Player-specific items: treasures and items usable by only one player at a time, to encourage cooperative or competitive puzzles
  • Two new worlds with new animations
  • Liquid tiles: a new trap that kills any character it touches
  • Extra puzzles: 30 more single-player and 150 more two-player puzzles than the original

Two players can cooperate against the monks and split the gold, or “slug it out with each other”. PC Player noted that some levels can only be completed as a team.611

Puzzles and Mechanics

Wikipedia describes the new elements:1

  • Self-igniting bombs that constantly go off and reappear on a timer
  • Phase blocks that vanish and reappear on a timer, crushing any player or monk standing in the gap when they return
  • Player-coloured items: blue-outlined bombs, for example, can be picked up only by Wes Reckless
  • A more complex level editor that allows multiple exits, each of which can lead to a different level in a pack

Home of the Underdogs summed up the additions as “regenerating bombs, disappearing turf, and ‘personalized’ items that can only be used by one of the two players”.4 PC Player noted deadly new acid surfaces, rare hiding places, and tools such as bombs, traps and axes. The construction kit was unchanged and easy to use.11

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

PublicationDatePlatformScore
Computer Games MagazineDecember 20, 1995Windows 951/519
PC ActionMarch 1996Windows 9575%8
PC Zone No. 37April 1996Windows 9520%10
Joystick No. 70April 1996MacintoshStrongly negative12
PC PlayerMay 1996Windows 952.5/5111
Albuquerque JournalJuly 2, 1996Not stated5/51
Philadelphia Daily NewsAugust 1, 1996Not stated2.5/41

PC Action. Adrian Vogler wrote that the game was technically no different from Lode Runner, “aber das einfache Spielprinzip hat es in sich” (“but the simple game principle packs a punch”). He judged its graphics and sound “ohne Tadel” (“without fault”), but joked that Germany’s raised telephone charges made modem play affordable only at night-time rates.8

PC Player. Reviewer Monika Stoschek questioned why Sierra had followed the cheaper first version with a Windows 95-only edition that left out many customers. She found some of the many levels “schlicht langweilig” (“simply boring”) and some unfair, and suggested the content would have made more sense as a cheaper level disk for DOS and Windows 3.1.11

Computer Games Magazine. Daryll Henrich wrote that “The only extra in this version is the networking support”. He concluded: “Overall, this game is an absolute waste for anyone but a puzzle freak. Why spend hours upon hours running around stealing someone’s gold for no apparent reason? I don’t know, I wouldn’t do it.”9

PC Zone. The review called the game “just as dull” as the original, with “Teeny weeny sprites”, and mocked the modem option.10

Joystick. The French magazine reviewed the Mac CD-ROM. It complained that online play added nothing beyond the existing two-player mode on one keyboard. It added that the reviewer’s old Lode Runner had run faster on an Apple II than this one did on a Power Mac.12

Albuquerque Journal. Wikipedia quotes its verdict: “This is a superb update the entire family will enjoy”.1

Awards. Presage’s product page listed honours alongside the game. These were Games Magazine’s “Best New Arcade Game”, Top 100 Products finalist (Home PC), Best Macintosh Game of the Year finalist (MacUser), All Star Software (Children’s Software Revue), and Best Action Arcade finalist at the SPA Codie Awards, the last marked “(1994)”.3 At least the Games Magazine award belongs to the 1994 game: the lead programmer dates it to 1994 and attributes it to Lode Runner.7 The page does not separate the two releases.

Modern Assessment

Home of the Underdogs rates the game 8.6 from 282 votes. Its review regrets the name, which “has probably led many people to believe that this is an on-line-only game”. It praises the extra tile sets for making “the level editor much more robust and fun to design new levels with.”4 In 2020 Apple II Bits’ Ken Gagne saw boxed copies of both Presage games in a friend’s collection, then played The Mad Monks’ Revenge through the fan-made Definitive Edition. He noted its opening enemy-free levels and later mechanics such as keys, doors and bombs.13

Development

Origins

Wikipedia’s article on The Legend Returns reports that Sierra released Lode Runner Online a year after the 1994 game, fixing many bugs and adding gameplay features.14 The Legend Returns’ lead programmer, credited as Todd Daggert, describes the sequel: “For this sequel multi-player gameplay was added, allowing two persons to play Lode Runner together over a network, modem, or on the same machine. At the same time many new levels and game elements were introduced, and the original 16-bit code was updated to 32-bit for Windows 95.”7 Presage said it “designed and developed both the Macintosh and Windows95 versions”.3

Production

According to the lead programmer, design on the Lode Runner projects was done by the programmers themselves: “Game elements were brainstormed, added and balanced exclusively by the programmers as needed, especially in the case of Lode Runner Online.”7 Wikipedia lists Jake Hoelter as director, with Todd Daggert, Mick Foley, Jake Hoelter and Craig A. Vinet as designers.1

Technical Achievements

The lead programmer lists the technologies as Windows 95, “IPX fault-tolerant networking” and DirectX 1.0 modem support. The game shipped on 1.44 MB floppy and CD-ROM, and the CD “contained over a dozen full-length original redbook tracks”.7 PC Player confirmed that the CD’s audio tracks play in an ordinary CD player.11 PC Action noted that almost the whole game could be copied to the hard disk to avoid slow CD-ROM drives.8

Technical Specifications

SourceRequirements
PC Action 3/96Minimum 8 MB RAM, double-speed CD-ROM, Windows 95; recommended Pentium, 16 MB RAM, quad-speed CD-ROM8
PC Zone 37Double-speed CD drive and Windows 95 required10
Joystick 70 (Mac)68030 at 25 MHz minimum; English text and voices12
PC Player 5/96Windows 95; English; one or two players (same PC, modem or network)11

Version History

VersionDatePlatformNotes
OriginalNovember 1995Windows 95 CD-ROMListed as “Available: November” at $44.956
Original1995–1996MacintoshPresage developed the Mac version; Joystick reviewed the Mac CD in April 1996312
2-for-1 bundleSpring 1996Windows/Mac CDTwo copies for $44.95, “so you can go head to head with a friend”15

Easter Eggs and Trivia

  • The lead programmer’s notes say that clicking a hidden hotspot in the upper-left corner of the 640×480 screen and typing “YOG” plays a clang and unlocks a cheat menu in Lode Runner Online.7
  • Home of the Underdogs reports that the lead programmer made the game a free download in 2002.4

Legacy

Successors

Presage’s next Lode Runner game was Lode Runner 2 (1998), published by GT Interactive and MacSoft rather than Sierra.16

Collections

No compilation or digital-store re-release of Lode Runner On-Line was found during research for this page.

Fan Projects

Mad Monks’ Revenge: Definitive Edition by Quark Robot is a fan-made, cross-platform clone written from scratch. It keeps “same graphics, same gameplay, and even the same bugs”, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and supports online play with up to four friends. The site notes that the Presage Lode Runner titles are owned by Activision/Sierra and that the project has no association with either company.17 Apple II Bits reported that it stays compatible with custom levels made for the 1995 original.13

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

  • Not currently sold.

Download / Preservation

Manuals & Extras

See Also

The Mad Monks’ Revenge is the second of Presage’s two Lode Runner games for Sierra. It reworks The Legend Returns for Windows 95 with online play.17

References

Footnotes

  1. Wikipedia – Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monks’ Revenge – enhanced version of The Legend Returns, developer, publisher, director, designers, 1995 Windows/Mac OS, offline play, new elements (self-igniting bombs, phase blocks, coloured items, multi-exit editor), review scores (Albuquerque Journal, CGM, Philadelphia Daily News, PC Player, PC Action) and quotes ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18

  2. MobyGames – Lode Runner On-Line: The Mad Monks’ Revenge – database entry: Presage Software developer, Sierra publisher, 1995 ↩ ↩2

  3. Presage Software – Lode Runner Online product page (Wayback, 1997) – Presage designed and developed the Macintosh and Windows 95 versions; Sierra publisher; listed awards ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. Home of the Underdogs – Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monks’ Revenge – review, new features, naming confusion, 2002 free release by the lead programmer, 8.6 from 282 votes ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. InterAction (Sierra), Fall 1995 – Lode Runner: On-Line announcement, Internet Archive – “two new worlds and 180 new levels”, modem and network support, cooperative and head-to-head play ↩

  6. InterAction (Sierra), Holiday 1995 – Lode Runner: The Mad Monks’ Revenge, Internet Archive – Presage remake, premise, feature list (network/modem, player-specific items, two new worlds, liquid tiles, 30 single and 150 two-player puzzles), Win 95 CD, available November, $44.95 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  7. DaggertWeb – Lode Runner & Lode Runner Online (Wayback, 2008) – lead programmer’s page: Q4 1995 release, multiplayer and 32-bit Windows 95 update, programmer-led design, IPX networking, DirectX 1.0 modem, floppy and CD media with redbook audio, awards, cheat codes, free download ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  8. PC Action 3/96 – Lode Runner On-Line review by Adrian Vogler, Internet Archive – continuation of The Legend Returns, original plus 150 two-player levels, modem/network, Windows 95, graphics and sound, hard-disk install, requirements, 75% ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  9. Computer Games Magazine – “LodeRunner Online” review by Daryll Henrich, December 20, 1995 (Wayback) – networking as the only extra, plot description, verdict quote ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  10. PC Zone No. 37 (April 1996) – Lode Runner review, Internet Archive – Sierra, double-speed CD and Windows 95 required, score 20%, review quotes ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  11. PC Player 5/96 – “Lode Runner – Online: The Mad Monks’ Revenge”, Internet Archive – new levels and network mode, 640×480 resolution, a dozen worlds, 30 new single-player and 150 new two-player levels, two runners maximum, CD audio tracks, Windows 95, English, Monika Stoschek commentary ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  12. Joystick No. 70 (April 1996) – Lode Runner On Line (Mac CD-ROM) review, Internet Archive – Sierra, English text and voices, 68030/25 MHz minimum, negative verdict, comparison with the Apple II original ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  13. Apple II Bits – “Lode Runner: Mad Monks’ Revenge” by Ken Gagne (March 9, 2020) – boxed 1994 and 1995 releases, Definitive Edition port and level compatibility, gameplay impressions ↩ ↩2

  14. Wikipedia – Lode Runner: The Legend Returns – Lode Runner Online released one year after The Legend Returns, fixing bugs and adding features ↩

  15. InterAction (Sierra), Spring 1996 – catalogue listing, Internet Archive – Lode Runner: On-Line $44.95, network and modem play, 2-for-1 WIN/Mac CD special ↩

  16. Wikipedia – Lode Runner – series table: Lode Runner Online (1995, Windows/Mac OS, Presage/Sierra); Lode Runner 2 (1998, Presage, GT Interactive and MacSoft) ↩

  17. Mad Monks’ Revenge: Definitive Edition (Quark Robot) – fan-made cross-platform clone, same graphics and gameplay, up to 4 players online, Presage titles owned by Activision/Sierra, no affiliation ↩ ↩2

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