I have the original of this (the Switch version is a HD remaster) on the GameCube. Back then, it was only available in Japanese and as such the plot, such that it is, made no sense at all. Now, it’s in English! It has made no difference. Some bad guy has built a drilling themed theme park under which he’s made a giant drill that he intends on using to drill to the planet’s core and destroy the world. But, …
Quest Mode 1000m completed! It netted me an achievement too, for getting 10 quests completed in a row. In the process I discovered something: there are items you can use! No one told me this! I’ve played (and completed!) many Mr Driller games before, and have never noticed items before. How did I not know this?
Thanks to some people in ugvm “bigging this up” (as the kids would say, I think), I ended up buying it tonight. Well, playing the (very short) demo a little and having exactly the right number of MS Points to pay for it also swayed the decision a little… But is it any good? Of course it is. It’s Mr. Driller. It is very hard though. The 100 and 500m levels (on both normal and “quest” modes) were very easy, …
After just three attempts this evening (dying at about 350 and 650m on the first two attempts), I completed 1000m mode, and therefore, the game! I lost my first life at around 400m, and the second at 600m. When I got to 900m I made a dash for it, picking up just two easy-to-grab air tanks along the way, and making it with just 20% air left. I then watched the credits, which made no sense whatsoever, and checked to …
Gah. MUCH. TOO. HARD. I must have tried ten times, and the furthest I got was a feeble 672m. I don’t seem to be able to get past about 300m without losing at least one life any more. Clearly, this is rubbish.
Didn’t do too well on this today. Averaged around 650m or so over about ten attempts, although my highest was 884m – not bad. I ran out of air, less than a second before an air tank thing landed on my head. Rubbish. Also rubbish was how well I did on about another ten aborted attempts – losing two lives before 300m, so I restarted each one.
Hmm. It seems my “760m-ish” was actually only 743m, and it took me a good ten or so attempts to better that today. Even then I only managed 771m. I can get to about 600m without losing a life almost every single time now (except for the occassional slip up where I lose them all before I hit 200m – rubbish!), but then it all goes wrong and I lose three in quick succession. It’s like I’m “in the zone”, …
With 500m mode out of the way, I had many, many attempts at 1000m mode instead. Although it seems easier than Drill Spirits on DS in many ways (although I’m not really sure why – it’s the same game in essence), I didn’t manage to do very well. 760m-ish was about my best run. Of course, unlike the DS game, you can’t buy extra lives, power-ups and shields and stuff, so things are made somewhat harder that way. However, almost …
I haven’t played a WonderSwan game in what seems like $hlmun years. Had a quick go on this (which arrived today) mainly to make sure it worked. And it’s great, although I think it’s a missed opportunity on the WS – it would have been ACE to play with the screen vertical, but no. Played and completed 500m mode, losing only one life. That makes it one tenth as difficult as the DS Mr. Driller game, which was virtually impossible.
Oh my. I’m on fire or something today! My first attempt at 2000m (which it seems, is the last level – thankfully!) got me as far as 1450m. Undeterred, I was at 1700m on my next go, with 5 lives left. Sadly, by 1900 I was down to 2 lives. Then, at 1960 I was on my last life – so I just threw caution to the wind and went for it. And it worked! I’ve now unlocked another character, …
Sigh. I got up to 1800m today, and bought more lives from the shop. I know I’d made some avoidable errors on the run, so surely if I take more care, and with three more lives, I should finally be able to do it, yes? No. 1077m. Stupid, stupid game. It actually made me cry. At least I managed the 500ton level on Pressure Driller. It just isn’t the same though.
I’m really getting annoyed with this now, since I’m getting worse and not better. I could only manage 957m on the 2000m run today. That’s less than halfway there. Rubbish. I think I shall be writing a letter. Dear Namco,Mr Driller: Drill Spirits is impossible, despite what Steve Jackson says. You suXX0r.Loev, deKay.
How come I can only get as far as 1200m on the 2000m run now? Answers on a postcard…
