Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits Preview

Genre-
Puzzle

Publisher-
Namco

Developer-
Namco

# of Players-
4

Release Date-
December 2004

ESRB Rating-
Everyone

One of Namco’s sure fire puzzles is coming to DS fast. The Mr. Driller series has been a promising puzzle series in the past few years and is now headed to the DS. The game features many unique features that are not common in many puzzle games now a days.

The game features single player and multiplayer mode up to 4 players. The single mode features series of puzzling levels. The game is you as Mr. Driller having to drill your way through different coloured blocks and have the blocks land in the right order to start a chain reaction. Not only do you just have to drill and line up, but you also have to worry about blocks falling on top of you, and enemies. Single player mode features increasingly challenging levels as you move through and multiplayer allows you to play against 3 of your friends.



The game features pure 2-D graphics and use of both screens, although the top screen is mainly only useful in multiplayer, the screens create a large arena. The touch screen or controls can be used to control Mr. Driller and the game is presented in a similar field to a Tetris game. In 4 player mode the top screens are used to watch your opponents and the bottom screen is to control your playing field.



This game seems to remind me of Dr. Mario for the NES, lining up blocks and worrying about enemies. Although the game is completely different there seems to be some similarities between the two games. This game seems pretty impressive and will probably be good for short amounts of time. This game does not use the DS to its full capacity and I expected more for one of the first puzzle games on the DS. This game seems like it will fall short somewhere, but I can’t put my finger on where. Whether it be the graphics, the controls, or use of the upper screen I think I’ll pass on buying this game first day. There are many other puzzle games that look much more promising like One-Line Puzzle, but overall this game is still looking pretty good.

Total Appeal Rating: 6/10