Mr. Driller

Jumpin' jehosephat, do my eyes deceive me? Surely something is amiss. Namco, the same company responsible for Soul Calibur and twenty Pac Man remakes, has brought a puzzle game to the US? Bearing in mind how poorly these suckers sell, you've got to wonder if this wasn't an internal joke. Sort of a "hey boss, I wonder if we can publish top quality stuff then slide in a game featuring some gimp that looks like a reject from Dexter's Laboratory and see if the westerners will be silly enough to buy it," kind of thing, if you will. If so, I've got a newfound appreciation for Japanese humor, but we'll see who gets the last laugh.

There's something inherently wrong with taking on the role of a bright-eyed guy in a pink suit that carries around a pointy drill. In real life, this freak of nature would grow up ridiculed and abandoned, left to develop into the sort of disturbed individual that wears lipstick and high heels in private, mutters to himself, and snacks on human organs. Only in the world of Japanese cartoons can you get away with this weirdo for a main character; or, for that matter, an entire background story that reads "Help, Mr. Driller, the town is filling up with colored blocks." Ohhhh-k.

Just because the main character is light in his loafers doesn't mean that the game's a total loss. To the contrary, in fact, as this is one of the most easily picked up and addictive puzzlers to come out in months. Perched atop a mountain of colored bricks, Mr. Driller is faced with a predicament. He's got a limited air supply, can be crushed to death under falling rubble without warning, and must burrow his way down to the bottom.

Blocks of all colors fill the screen, though they can be disposed of with a poke from your trusty drill. One block can be eliminated at a time, but gravity is on your side. Cause the foundations of a pile to crumble and the whole structure comes crashing down. When two or more blocks touch, they fuse to another, unless the total number of blocks is greater than four, in which case the whole kit and caboodle will disappear with a pop. The idea is to proceed downward, hollowing out safe spaces so that blocks won't smush Mr. Driller, while looking for the capsules that boost your dwindling reserves of breathable air.

Arcade mode, a straight port of the coin-op machine, throws you down a shaft that's 2500 or 5000 feet deep, depending on your choice. Experienced players will eventually tire of these antics and head for survival mode, because even though it plays out like the standard game, you've only got one life to pit against a bottomless shaft. Time attack mode is just what it sounds like, as you try to outdo prerecorded records and unlock additional stages.

Distinctly Japanese in nature, Mr. Driller retains the arcade machine's cartoonish sensibilities that will alienate it from hardcore gamers. The rest of us should dig it (argh, no pun intended) though and will spend many sessions happily going underground with the little man. Another feather in the game's cap are the novel music and sound effects that give everything a cheerful, pleasant air.

The single beef I have with the title is that it's too short. While the different play modes are a plus, they do little to supplement the limited replay value found within. Forget the PlayStation, Mr. Driller would be perfectly well off on a 4 meg Super Nintendo cartridge. But sometimes you have to return to more primitive days in order to recapture the roots of great gameplay and that's exactly what Namco has done. Poke away, Mr. D, we're right behind you.

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