Have you ever heard of Cosmic Cavern 3671? If not, we don’t blame you – the game is pretty much unknown to Western gamers. However, Dr Takaya Arita’s game is a milestone release from 1980 – it has been considered “the original sandbox game,” and is a strategic digging game that arrived a good couple of years before the likes of Dig Dug and Mr Do.

36 years on, Mindware is now releasing the game on PC, in three different forms. The original version for the Japanese Sharp MZ-80 computer will be converted, and two remixed versions will be provided – one built to the specs of the Sharp MZ-700, and another built as a classic Eighties arcade game. Both will have significant gameplay additions, and the latter will feature the work of two legendary developers: Hiroshi Ono, the graphic artist behind classics such as Dig Dug, Xevious and Mappy, and Yuzo Koshiro, the composer who created soundtracks to games such as Streets Of Rage, The Revenge Of Shinobi and Shenmue.

The game is currently on Steam Greenlight, and will be released for $4.98 on Steam and Playism when approved.