Drill Dozer

"A fun game sadly overlooked due to the DS."

A game that came out in 2006, Drill Dozer was an overall ignored GBA game. With the DS's success soaring, nobody noticed this little game sitting with the other GBA games. A few months ago, I went to Target with a 15$ gift card. I bought this game for 10$ and a pack of Pokemon cards. I was excited to be able to buy a rumbling GBA game by Gamefreak for only 10$, and I say it was money well spent.

The game stars Jill, the daughter of master thief "Big Boss" Doug. He father was injured by the Skulkers when they took Jill's precious Red Diamond, given to her by her deceased mother. You start off heading straight into action. Jill infiltrates the Skulker building to retrieve her Red Diamond. She accidentally springs a trap and falls into the basement. There you are taught the powers of the Drill Dozer. You spin through breakable objects like crumbling walls and brick blocks using your drill. You can also destroy Item boxes and Gear boxes. When you destroy a Gear box, you are given a higher gear, which allows you to spin your Drill for a longer period of time. Third Gear lets you infinitely spin your drill, but you are hardly invincible. Also, after each mission, the Drill Dozer looses all of the gears you have acquired.

Enemies in this game are very diverse, from cannons that hone in on you the moment they spot you to wimpy enemies that can be taken down with a single hit. The bosses are usually fun and creative. One makes you navigate through a maze of spikes and hazards just to do damage, while another plays a game of unfair hot potato with you. The enemies range greatly in difficulty from area to area.

This game has many fun platforming challenges in it. At one point, you have to speed under falling screws, and at another, you have to correctly time your jumps or fall to an imminent doom. The developers put new challenges in each level, most of which you are able to practice simple version of in the Training Area. Many parts make you think of the strategy that you need to use to progress, rather than straight out tell you. There is also a flying level and an underwater level in the game, adding two extra play styles.

This game does not take too long to get 100% in it. There are 17 levels total, excluding the training room, and each level takes about 20-40 minutes. Most levels you will come back to later to get the treasures, but they will usually not take as long because you have more experience and HP. The secret levels are usually harder than the normal levels. They have many more traps and you could spend 10 or 15 minutes in the same room in the level trying to get past the traps. The game's difficulty also goes up as the game progresses, making the difficulty curve rather good.

Overall, I think this game was money well spent. This game is one of those undiscovered gems that people ignored due to the DS. I recommend going to your local Target and buying this for 10$. I assure you this game is worth it.

Story- 6 An okay story. It lets you know most of the details but leaves you hanging on others.
Replay/Length- 7 The length is pretty good, but the replay value isn't.
Music- 6 Enjoyable, but the background of most levels starts to get annoying after a while.
Difficulty- 9 Excellent difficulty curve with plenty of challenges for those who wish to be challenged.
Gameplay- 8 The gameplay was solid, but it felt a bit lacking.

Overall score: 7

I recommend you buy this game. A fun game that was sadly overlooked due to the DS being so popular.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/08

Game Release: Drill Dozer (US, 02/06/06)