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Mr. Driller Drill Spirits Review for Nintendo DS
Posted on Monday, February 21, 2005 @ 01:50:09 pm E.S.TThe Mr. Driller franchise has been around for quite a long time. Existing even before the Game Boy Color, the puzzle/adventure franchise has been a rather constant staple of the puzzle genre. So, in good fashion, Namco released one for the new Nintendo DS system entitled Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits. The concept of having a puzzle/adventure game launch title was an excellent idea, but sadly the game just has a nagging lacking quality that softens the experience.
Of the things you need to know, the basic rule of Mr. Driller is this: Dig until you're done or you die. Envision yourself playing Tetris or any other typical puzzle game. Now imagine a tiny sprite using a little drill burrowing from the top to the bottom of all the blocks just because you have no more homework to do. Well, you are that sprite and it is a tough place to be! The overall goal of Mission mode, the main mode, is to survive the trek of drilling from the surface to some underground locale. The levels vary in length (depth in this game’s case), thus increasing the difficulty. Now what should seem like a relatively simple task can become a tense and palm-sweating job as there are many pitfalls in the life of a professional driller. For example, if you drill too long without finding an air pocket, your inheritors will become quite richer. Additionally, loosened blocks can fall from above on top of you, leaving the Earth with quite a sticky mess. For the most part, that is the general gist of Mission mode and is where the player will find most of his drilling fun.
Sadly, the American version has only a pair of other single player modes aside from the Mission mode. The better of the pair is Pressure Driller, arguably better than the solo endeavor. Its goal is to stay below a gigantic robotic drill that is burrowing down toward you, striving to drill your pressurized head off. In order to combat this oversized power tool, you collect handy little red pills called Power Capsules . Once three are gathered, you may fire fireballs up at the metal monstrosity to destroy it, all the while trying to not die in an embarrassing way. Significantly more nerve racking than Mission mode, some players may find it better than the Mission mode and play it exclusively.
Unfortunately though, a consistent theme of Drill Spirits is that there are just not enough levels to occupy your time. Of the few levels they give you, seven in Mission and six in Pressure, the only noticeable change is the depth. This is quite depressing as the gameplay itself is very entertaining. Imagine giving just one sliver of cake to a fat man. There is a similar feeling here.
Accompanying Pressure and Mission mode is Time Attack mode. The gimmick here is you must reach the bottom of the level in an allotted amount of time without dying once. To be blunt, there is not terribly much entertainment to be extracted from here. There are not that many levels at all (only ten to play) it become essentially a memorization chore, and aggravation can set in. It's only a minor addition to Drill Spirits and feels just like that. Minor.
Something else should be mentioned to put more lines in the “Pro” column of Mr. Driller's traits. Six characters are available to play, each with varying abilities and different faults. They are unlocked as each Mission mode level is completed. Later, when everything has been completed (which won't take long) each character has their own high score for each stage and this gives the player some more scores to try to attain.
Moving on, the visuals of the game are simply moderate. There is nothing really awkward or off about them, but they are quirky and loose in style, making the characters look bright and colorful. Moreover, while drilling through the blocks, the blocks themselves will change in appearance from section to section. This is a welcomed change and can help give each section a renewed and unique feel. The overlay is simple and sweet, and the upper screen does a manageable job with setting the local of the dig. Awkwardly, the look of the game is not above Game Boy Advance graphics. While this isn't exactly an insult, it would have been nice to boost the graphics to showcase the system slightly more. Mr. Driller does have it's own style, but is nothing but a hole in the ground compared to Super Mario 64 DS and Feel the Magic: XX/XY.
Euphonically, Mr. Driller is satisfying. The background music rarely grates at the nerves and the characters each have their own distinctive high-quality voice. Cutesy and kindergarten, everything in Mr. Driller could be described as childish to an extent and simply lackluster to the general audience. Every block has only one popping sound when drilled through and sounds can become repetitive quite quickly. Once in a while, the character will make a small comment as you do your duty of drilling and is just fine to help vary the audio. To summarize, while nothing truly special, Mr. Driller does a mediocre job with the ear food.
The ability to replay is a toss up. If you like the repetitive act and high strung atmosphere of Mission or Pressure mode, you may find yourself coming back to play this title multiple times. If not, the lack of unlockables will simply leave you barren. Additionally, the multiplayer is an impractical option for two reasons. First, every person will need a cartridge to play, as Mr. Driller does not have the DS's single cartridge multiplayer option. This is unacceptable. Japan's version of this title does have this ability and it leaves me slack jawed as to why they didn't port that to the States. Second, it is nothing more than Mission Mode with a timer. That is all. The multiple characters to play as helps , but overall there is only about as much replayability as a box of fireworks.
To summarize, Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits is not a bad game; there is just not enough there. Had the developers not rushed to make this a launch title, it could have had a brighter glow. But the game is done and if you feel the need to possess a puzzle game for the DS, this is most likely the one to get. For those with that need, happy drilling. Review By: Flamecuber - 816 Reads
Mr. Driller Drill Spirits Review Scores for DS :
| Gameplay |
| 7.5 |
| Graphics |
| 7.0 |
| Sound |
| 6.5 |
| Replay |
| 7.5 |
| Overall |
| 7.1 |
|
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