Mr. Driller

"Drill your way into my heart! I'm sorry, that came out all wrong..."

I'm not much for puzzle games. Beyond an occasional game of Tetris, I stick to my platformers and shooters. But Mr. Driller called out to me. The name alone was enough to warrant a purchase. But what I found was a great, wonderful puzzle game.

The graphics are nicely polished. The game is very colorful, with strange pictures in the background and decent effects. Quite pleasing.

Sound is one of the games best points. It's varied, and catchy. Some of the music may even remind you of Kirby or Mischief Makers, and one song in particular strikes me as Arabic.

Oh no! Blocks are overrunning the city! Call Mr. Driller! That's basically the whole story. I'm not going to hold it against Mr. Driller, though. Puzzle games are supposed to make you think, and knowing that a whole town of ridiculously proportioned people is depending on you doesn't affect that.

Mr. Driller is an easy game to learn. The object is to drill downwards, and make it as far into the mine shaft as you can. You have to drill though blocks of different colors in order to progress, and this is where it starts to get tricky. If two blocks of the same color are touching, they will morph together into one big block. This means that drilling through it will cause a bigger gap, and in some cases, a bigger avalanche. On the other hand, it means falling blocks can be caught on to stationary ones, keeping them from descending further and crushing your head like a grape. But if four or more blocks of the same color stick together during a fall, they disappear, freeing more debris. It's a tricky system to master, but with a little thought, you can figure it out.

Don't think too long, though. Your oxygen meter is running out. There is not much air hundreds of feet below the earth's surface, meaning that you can't just blast through everything. You'll need to loiter around oxygen tanks, carefully removing offending blocks to reach the tank without dying first. This is made more difficult by the X-blocks often around them. X-blocks can be drilled through, but will take away 20% of your oxygen, which happens to be the same amount a tank replenishes. And the farther you get, the more of these little guys decide to surround your precious air.

The formula is simple and addictive, and has been applied to three different included game modes. First is Arcade mode. In this mode you can dig down to either 2500 (beginner) or 5000 (expert) feet to win. To put this in perspective, going down by one block is considered five feet. This is the meat of the game.

Survival Mode is just what it sounds like. You try to go as far down as possible without dying. The game allows you to start out at 0, 5000, or 10000 feet. The mode is pretty fun as there is no need to try to get more points, saving valuable time.

Time Attack is actually a different experience, in a way. Instead of throwing you into randomly generated mineshafts, you are faced with carefully crafted areas. You have to remember the different path and how to transverse them best. This mode also includes stopwatches to grab on your way down, cutting precious seconds off of your time. This mode provides the most challenge. There are ten possible levels I know of, and due to the way the screen is set up, I'm not ruling out the possibility of an extra ten to be unlocked when you finish the first set.

The controls are customizable, and the game automatically recognized a USB joystick. If you can't play this, it's your fault.

This game is in a special club of games that are really fun and really hard. In the few days I've had this game, I've played it for at least 8 hours. I STILL can not beat the Expert Arcade mode. You'll spend awhile playing this.

Overview:
Graphics- 8 (Not stunning, but good enough.)
Sound- 9 (You can see they really tried to make it good)
Story- 6 (Short, but come on. Giant blocks taking over a city? How the hell could you see that coming?)
Gameplay-10 (Best puzzle game ever.)
Controls- 10 (Assuming you do not lack limbs or parts of limbs, you can find a set-up that'll fit you.)
Replay Value- 8 (This game will kick your ass and make you like it.)
Overall- 9 (But only because no one takes 10 reviews seriously.)

Pros:
-Solid gameplay
-Customizable controls
-Nice sound

Cons:
-Weak story
-Rare

Where to find: Chances of finding this in a store are very slim. Mr. Driller is probably floating around somewhere online, but if you want a legal copy, check the grand garage sale known as eBay.

If you like puzzle games, this is a must-have. And even if you don't, you absolutely need to try it. There is no way you will not like it. I got two people who absolutely despise video games addicted. That should tell you something about how good this is.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/04