「RISINGSUPERBLOG」

Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
Developer: INFINITY Co., Ltd.
Release Date: June 25th, 2020 (original release November 16th, 2006)
Version played: Nintendo Switch

Mr. Driller and I didn’t get off to the best start. As a kid, I remember choosing Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits as my first Nintendo DS game back when the machine launched, owing to a glowing preview from Nintendo Power and the game’s slightly reduced thirty dollar price tag. Based on what I’d read about Mr. Driller being some sort of beloved arcade classic, I had expected to find my newest addiction. Sadly, I found myself quite disappointed. The game is extremely light on content, and if you struggle to wrap your head around exactly how best to play the game, it’s uncompromising in doling any more of it out to you. I had just spent all my cash on this brand new DS, and the only game I bought was a bit of a wash. It was a bummer, but at least I could still play through Metroid Prime: First Hunt again. That won’t get old… right?

Looking back on it, I wonder why exactly I didn’t connect with the game back then. The main conclusion I’m coming to is that what I probably actually wanted was a grander adventure game with progression and such accoutrements for my fancy new machine. We were comfortably in the era of save data and progression, and I think playing such a harshly skill based game with such short level play times and nothing to show for my repeated failures just felt abrasive to my 14 year old self. I don’t recall specifically when, but I sold the game off at some point to fund some other game and never looked back. I attempted to enjoy the series again when Mr. Driller W was released on WiiWare, but I’m struggling to remember anything about my experience with it at all. From then on, I would simply respect the series at arm’s length from. Mr. Driller just wasn’t for me.

The truth, however, was that I just wasn’t ready for Mr. Driller.

Flash forward nearly twenty years. Celebrated digital gambling entertainment company HoYoverse releases what I think is their best game, Zenless Zone Zero. My wife and I pick it up immediately and play pretty much every day. During that time, I come in regular contact with the game’s arcade area, Godfinger, where you can play a game called Soul Hounds III. I won’t mince words- it’s a total Mr. Driller knockoff. Their added gimmick is a four player competitive racing mode as the default play style, which works well, but by and large it’s a side act to the main ZZZ package and it’s really only used to dole out timed rewards. Over the months, I became quite handy at Soul Hounds, and I would even occasionally play it beyond the needs of my in-game objectives, just for fun. What a concept, right? Playing a gacha game just to enjoy yourself and not check a box. Crazy!

Around a year later, I decided I needed to stop playing ZZZ. The time cost of my wife and I playing a game’s most mediocre content for half an hour or more every day to earn drops of digital currency was taking its toll, and we needed to reclaim that from our lives. Zenless Zone Zero was kicked to the curb, and we haven’t looked back since. Thoughts of Soul Hounds stuck with me, but largely faded as well.

At some point, the Switch version of Mr. Driller DrillLand went on sale for some sub-$5 bargain price. I had heard about this one before, it was originally a Japan-only GameCube game, and people tended to regard it as the best one as far as I could recall. I was a bit skeptical. Even if it was the best one, I didn’t really jive that hard with the core gameplay. I’m not really a Mr. Driller guy, after all… but it couldn’t hurt to try again, right?

I wonder. If Drill Spirits had been even half the game that DrillLand was, would I be the same person I am now? Would I be infected with a compulsion to puzzle-slash-action my way through caves, endlessly seeking the thrill of living just past the edges of the boulders you just loosened collapsing around you? I can’t turn back the clock, but I must say, that sure feels like my life now. We’re a thousand words into this essay, so I’d better get around to telling you what Mr. Driller is.

Mr. Driller is at its core an action game with heavy puzzle game elements splashed in. Taking control of Hori Susumu (Mr. Driller’s real name) or his many friends, you drill downwards towards your target objective. Neighboring blocks that share a color are automatically attached together, and are all destroyed together when you drill into them. This reveals the game’s most interesting and difficult concept- gravity. You need to destroy blocks to go down, but by making holes, you create space for blocks above to fall into. Drilling straight down would seem to be the safe plan, then, since you wouldn’t leave anything above you to collapse, right? Well, yes, but this reveals the series’ second difficult concept- oxygen. Through the action of drilling and the passage of time, your oxygen will deplete from 100 towards death, so you need to be on the lookout for air capsule pickups that’ll fill 20 points of oxygen back up. Through this combination of basic concepts, you end up with the devastatingly simple but devilishly addictive gameplay the series is known for.

Drilling small blocks to move yourself and the stage predictably seems like a decent plan, but when you factor in that it takes oxygen to destroy each block you quickly realize that destroying large blocks is a necessary risk. Once you become accustomed to this idea and you can advance reasonably quickly, you’ll find that your character behaves almost more like a liquid than a living thing. Digging holes quickly and leaping down them just as fast to dodge the tonnes of rock you’ve just loosed on yourself is really satisfying, and there’s a powerful feeling of mastery that comes with fast progress through a stage.

The stages in question mainly come with the goal of reaching a certain depth in metres (each layer of blocks representing one meter) in randomized stages. The second main mode from the series inception is Time Attack, where you try to clear small authored stages as fast as possible. The latter mode is interesting and requires you to really take advantage of mining smart block patterns to carve optimal paths, but it often feels like a bit of an afterthought in terms of content. Most of the games in the series feature only those two modes, with perhaps an extra third. Some games, shockingly, feature only the first mode. It’s a series that is quite frankly plagued with weak releases, and that leads me to what impressed so much about DrillLand that I felt compelled to spend a day writing this article.

I don’t want to be hyperbolic, but Mr. Driller DrillLand is by far the most feature rich and compelling release the series has ever seen. I’ve now played every game in the series aside from the four now-dead mobile games and the GBA release “Mr. Driller A” (which is apparently quite good and features an elaborate virtual pet system), so I feel this is accurate. Not content to simply tread forward with the established pattern of maybe introducing one game mode and dropping something else, DrillLand introduces no less than four elaborate and high quality variants on drilling, benching only the series often emaciated Time Attack mode. On top of that, a wide array of purchasable items/collectibles and a fully voiced story mode with cutscenes is generously layered within. The previous games had on occasion flirted with these ideas, but this level of scope is far, far beyond anything achieved before.

The centerpiece of the game- and the staging ground for the story- is the game’s namesake “DrillLand”. This massive amusement park houses the five game modes and shops, and a stamp system rewarding the user for completion of the modes’ stages. The main story is breezy to get through, and only requires you to finish the first stage of each mode and a finale boss fight (yes, there’s a whole special boss fight mode in here too), so even Mr. Driller novices can get through it in a few hours of practice. The game’s many purchasable assist items will also have your back if you need an extra leg up. All of this taken together makes for by far the most comprehensive Mr. Driller package that’s ever existed, and I highly recommend it. If you still need convincing, firstly, take a listen to the game’s banger soundtrack, which kicks ass and occasionally borders on parody with how incredibly bombastic the music can get. Secondly, pour yourself another coffee and let me gush about the four new variant game modes a bit.

First up is the simplest, Star Driller. This one takes the core single player experience of “drill to x metres” and sets it in space. Question mark blocks appear, carrying series standard effects like a single-hit protective shield to more space themed happenings like a black hole that devours half the screen’s blocks. Gravity gets toyed with, and asteroids will occasionally destructively tear their way through the screen, overall delivering a slightly more chaotic and well-themed take on the main game mode.

Second is Drindy Adventure, the most sadistic of the bunch. In this Indiana Jones-themed variant, you’ll take control of Susumu’s father, Taizo Horii (who you may know as the protagonist of the various Dig Dug games), you drill towards a target depth while also having to collect a set amount of gold statues. New traps are liberally spread around the stage, from basic stuff like timed fire jets and extruding spikes, to the devious stone orbs, which will crush you in a single touch. These stones are the real x-factor in Drindy Adventure, and when they start to get mixed in with release mechanisms that activate when you collect a statue they become shockingly tough to manage. This is all only offset slightly by removing the oxygen system entirely, allowing you to go as slowly and cautiously as you want. In spite of that massive buff to the player you’ll often find that this mode is particularly uncompromising.

Third is Horror Night House, which also does away with oxygen, replacing it with a 100 point health indicator. In this mode, there are spirits that can inhabit and move through the blocks. Accidentally drilling into a possessed block will prompt the spirit in the block and all other onscreen spirits to attack you for five damage apiece. In order to deal with them properly, you must collect holy water and inject it into blocks to stun nearby spirits. Once stunned, you’ll have a brief window to drill their block, defeating them and earning you a dropped “Drystal” treasure. Collect the target amount of Drystals to claim victory, regardless of your current depth. The real spanner in the works on this one is the ghost’s ability to proactively attack you. Stand too near a haunted block for a few seconds and it’ll strike you for a debilitating 50 damage. These types of hits are completely untenable and require you to stay evasive while looking for the next holy water. This mode’s signature trick is lulling you into snatching defeat from the jaws of success. Too many times I’ve been on a roll approaching the end, only to find myself accidentally drilling into an oddly shaped block whose ghost is half a screen away, welcoming a mob of five ghosts who kill me instantly. Like Drindy Adventure, progressing slowly is advised, but it’s no silver bullet.

Lastly, arguably the star performer, The Hole of Druaga (named after Namco’s classic The Tower of Druaga series). This was the only mode I’d heard of before playing the game, and wow, it hits. Based on Mr Driller A’s added RPG elements, The Hole of Druaga adds enemies and combat, nonlinear room navigation, backtracking, and a robust item system, with over a dozen items you’ll need to use liberally for success. The main objective is to defeat the boss, Druaga, at the end of the stage. To get to Druaga, you need to open a locked door in a random room of the maze. To get the key, you’ll need to defeat a dragon in another room. To find the dragon? Well, you’ll just need to explore! Rooms occasionally have doors you’ll need to use to navigate the dungeon, and if you accidentally miss one, you’ll need to use a Warp item to return upwards (mercifully, a free Warp item waits at the end of every room). Health is not consumed with the passage of time, but attacking blocks will cost a hit point. With the enemies in play and the absolute necessity of collecting a slew of items for the final encounter, The Hole of Druaga is a true test of your drilling ability. Levels on average are long compared to the other modes, and they demand an understanding of the new items and (admittedly fiddly) combat system in order to make any semblance of consistent progress.

Druaga herself is no pushover when you finally do get to the boss encounter, as she can only be damaged through item usage. Depending on whether you collected enough or not, you may end up in the tricky position of having to collect more during the fight- not an easy task. This element alone presents a big difficulty spike that I honestly find pretty contentious, but it’s extremely rewarding to overcome. Coming to Susumu’s rescue only to find he’s wearing a princess dress is a great touch. Just… try to remind yourself that Mr. Driller is not a game where you often see a victory screen. It’s easier to cope that way.

And with that, I’ll wrap up my manic overview of this absolute gem of a game. It’s routinely available for a fiver and I really just can’t recommend it enough if you’re game for a real challenge of a game. Bouncing between the game modes as you struggle through helps take the sting off the series’ high difficulty, and the story mode being spread over only the easiest levels is a thoughtful touch in consideration of getting more people to enjoy the series. There’s a demo available for the game, as well, but I don’t know the scope of it or whether it has save transfer capabilities.

If you’re otherwise interested in trying the series you can buy the PS1 version of Mr. Driller for on PSN, but I have a harder time recommending this game owing to its thin content and slower speed (if you have a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, you can access it for free). Otherwise, if you have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, you can play the better Mr. Driller 2 on the Game Boy Advance app. It’s still pretty content-bare, but the game speed is much better than the original, and it’s still a pretty nice package. I don’t think any other Mr. Driller games are available anymore other than these three so, you know, do what you must. 

Whichever way you go about enjoying Mr. Driller- one of these three games, Zenless Zone Zero’s Soul Hounds III, whatever it is, just know that Mr. Driller DrillLand is a kick ass game in a series plagued by relatively barren entries. Anyone into action/puzzle games should give it a swing, and if you’re still not in love with Mr. Driller now, give it another twenty years. That worked for me.

He’ll wait.

tl;dr: Despite DrillLand being the fifth game in a series of thirteen, it’s by far the best way to enjoy the series. With five stellar game modes, Mr. Driller will push you to the breaking point whether you like it or not.

Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits boxart sourced from Nintendo Wiki.
Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt boxart sourced from Wikitroid.
Soul Hounds III screenshots sourced from icy-veins.com.
Some screenshots sourced from publisher.