 |
| Title: |
Mr. Driller (Japanese import) |
| Publisher: |
Namco |
| Features: |
GameBoy Color only. Battery back up. |
| Format: |
Puzzle |
| Reviewer: |
Heiss |
|
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|
Introduction
At first glance, Mr. Driller seems like one of those arcade games released during the 1980's, and in fact, it reminded
me of Namco's classic game Dig Dug. Well maybe it's no coincidence, since Namco also made Mr. Driller, and it also
involves going deep underground, but the similarity ends there. This coin-op game has been really popular in Japan,
and it's already been ported to different consoles, like the PlayStation, Dreamcast, and now the Game Boy Color.
The US version is scheduled for release in Fall 2000, but we managed to get our hands on a Japanese import for
this review.
Gameplay
In Mr. Driller, colored blocks have mysteriously started to appear on the surface, and it's up to Mr. Driller to
go to the rescue. There's just one objective here, and it's to dig through several levels of stacked blocks and
reach the ground beneath. As Mr. Driller touches one block with his drill, it disintegrates, and if that block
is next to other blocks of the same color, they all disappear.
That may sound easy enough, but sudden gaps in the stacks allow the law of gravity to take over and make the other
blocks come falling down. If Mr. Driller happens to be under the receiving end of the falling blocks, he gets squashed
flatter than a pancake and loses one of his lives. However, if a falling block touches a block of the same color,
it sticks to that block and stays there until more blocks are displaced by your continued drilling. This could
be used to your advantage as you head downwards, allowing you to stop for a moment and check your bearings.
To make it even more complicated, as you go deeper, Mr. Driller steadily loses air, and once it runs out, he faints
and loses a life. Air can be replenished by picking up the few air tanks scattered among the blocks. Also, watch
out for the many dark brown blocks with an X; these are semi-solid and can't be drilled through easily in one move,
and once you do, you lose a lot of air.
From time to time, strange bird-like creatures will appear and seem to help out Mr. Driller, but I wasn't really
sure what exactly it is they do, but it looks like they shield you from the falling blocks.
You can choose from three modes of play; 500m, 1000m, or the Survival Mode, in which you should dig as deep as
you can before you lose a life. This third mode also has three levels of difficulty: Normal, Hard, or Expert. High
scores are saved automatically, so there's no need for memorizing annoying passwords here.
Controls, Graphics, Sound
Controlling Mr. Driller is a cinch--move him with the direction pad, and activate the drill with the A or B button.
Pressing Start will pause the game and present you with a menu with choices to cancel (return to the game), retry
the level, or exit.
Graphics are sharp and colorful, with Mr. Driller himself nicely detailed and animated, from his pink uniform and
big Astro Boy-like expressive eyes, to his drilling and ducking movements as he almost avoids getting crushed.
As he loses a life, his angelic form floats up to the surface and if he still has remaining lives left, he triumphantly
raises his drill, signaling that he's back in business. The blocks are also nicely colored, looking almost like
frosted cakes or sugar candies in some instances.
Sound is very good, and the drill sounds like a hyperkinetic Pac-Man. The appropriately quirky music changes every
two levels or so, offering almost the same themes as heard in the arcade version, but done Game Boy style.
Other Comments
Mr. Driller may look dull and simple in this age of 3D graphics, but it's extremely addictive and a lot of fun
to play. Unlike other puzzle games like Tetris where things more or less stay in place, in Mr. Driller you don't
have time to stay put--once you start there's no letting up as you drill downwards while frantically dodging the
falling blocks and making sure you don't run out of air. It's that kind of game that you can't put down, and begs
for playing "just one more time."
Moreover, the Game Boy Color seems to be the perfect console for Mr. Driller; I've tried the PlayStation version
and while that one had better graphics and music, it just wasn't as much fun playing it there as playing it on
the Game Boy; somehow the portability aspect makes this type of game more enjoyable when played on a handheld--just
be prepared for sore thumbs from repeated playing. |
