{"id":20276,"date":"2020-07-22T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T00:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=20276"},"modified":"2020-07-08T12:42:58","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T12:42:58","slug":"welcome-to-drill-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/22\/welcome-to-drill-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Drill Land!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Hurry, hurry, hurry!\u00a0 Step right up for the latest theme park attraction!\u00a0 It\u2019s a theme park based around Mr. Driller, and it\u2019s all underground!\u00a0 Sounds safe enough, right?\u00a0 Anyway, Mr. Driller Drill Land was an awesome GameCube title, but it only stayed in Japan.\u00a0 But now you can download it on Nintendo Switch in the US!\u00a0 Finally!\u00a0 Each attraction represents a game mode in this theme park, and I\u2019m going to take you on a tour of all of them!\u00a0 So let\u2019s begin!<\/p>\n

But first, if you\u2019re not familiar with the gameplay of Mr. Driller, here\u2019s a quick run-though.\u00a0 You must drill through a well full of colored blocks.\u00a0 For this reason, it looks like a Tetris style puzzle game at first glance.\u00a0 But it\u2019s really more action oriented.\u00a0 Anyway, as you drill, blocks will fall. \u00a0Blocks of the same color will stick together, but if four or more match up, they\u2019ll disappear and blocks stacked up on top will fall.\u00a0 You must keep a watch to make sure no blocks fall on you!\u00a0 You must also hurry because you have a limited oxygen supply.\u00a0 You can pick up more oxygen capsules as you drill, but you can\u2019t dilly dally too long.\u00a0 And that\u2019s pretty much the basic gameplay.\u00a0 It\u2019s really fun.<\/p>\n

I have a bit of history with this game, too.\u00a0 Late in 1999, right about the time I graduated college, I read an article on Namco\u2019s website about a new arcade game that combined aspects of Tetris with Dig Dug.\u00a0 It was the first Mr. Driller game, and I thought it sounded cool. A while later, I went to an arcade with friends.\u00a0 They had a special where you could play for two hours for a set price from 12 to 2 am.\u00a0 Man I can\u2019t imagine staying out that late now!\u00a0 Anyway, when we got there, my friend pointed to an arcade machine and said, \u201cHa, who would want to play a game called \u2018Mr. Driller?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Well I would!\u00a0 So I spent the whole two hours at the arcade just playing that one game.\u00a0 I did make sure nobody was waiting in line behind me every so often, but nobody was!\u00a0 Later in the year 2000, Namco released a home version of Mr. Driller, which I was excited for.\u00a0 For the first time, I was able to hear the music in the game, since it was hard to hear it in an arcade.\u00a0 For a game that was all cutesy pastel colors, the music was totally hardcore and even though it didn\u2019t match the visuals, I loved it.\u00a0 I later learned the music was composed by Masaru \u201cGo\u201d Shiina, and that\u2019s how Mr. Driller became one of my favorite Namco games and how Go Shiina became my favorite video game music composer.\u00a0 He also did the music for Tales of Legendia and tunes in Ace Combat and Tekken games.\u00a0 I wish I could meet him someday.\u00a0 In the credits of Drill Land, he goes by \u201cC-na Go.\u201d\u00a0 What is it with musicians and their names?<\/p>\n

So if the game does sound like Dig Dug to you, there\u2019s a reason for that.\u00a0 At one point, the game was going to be called Dig Dug 3.\u00a0 If you ask me, I think they should\u2019ve named it Dig Dug Puzzle Drill.\u00a0 I also heard that at one time, Mr. Driller featured a teddy bear character!\u00a0 But they went with the pastel pink and blue Susumu Hori character instead.\u00a0 But a few games later, they went and tied it in with Dig Dug anyway!\u00a0 The main character of the Mr. Driller games, Susumu Hori, his father is Taizo Hori, the main character in Dig Dug!\u00a0 Susumu Hori and Taizo Hori are Japanese plays on words that roughly mean \u201cI want to dig,\u201d and \u201cI want to dig further.\u201d\u00a0 From there the Driller family tree gets complicated and even has a bit of drama as well.\u00a0 Susumu\u2019s mother is Masuyo \u201cKissy\u201d Tobi, the main character from Baraduke, but she and Taizo have since separated.\u00a0 Why is she called \u201cKissy?\u201d\u00a0 Well it\u2019s rumored that at a party, she got drunk and kissed everyone.\u00a0 Before separating, Kissy and Dig Dug had three kids.\u00a0 Ataru is the oldest and is a bit estranged from the family because he had a disagreement with his father.\u00a0 Ataru is a bit darker and \u2018emo\u2019 and has a pet space rabbit.\u00a0 Susumu is the middle child.\u00a0 He has a younger brother who is claustrophobic, so he flies a helicopter to help Susumu out of the holes he digs.\u00a0\u00a0 And that\u2019s the Driller family!\u00a0 Pretty crazy huh?\u00a0 You know what\u2019s even weirder is that games like Mr. Driller, Dig Dug, and Baraduke are on the same fictional timeline as Namco titles like Ace Combat, Galaxian, StarBlade, and more!\u00a0 Any game where there is a USGF group, that\u2019s in the timeline!\u00a0 You can watch a video about it if you do a search.\u00a0 It\u2019s wild!\u00a0 Anyway, now that you know a little bit about Mr. Driller, let\u2019s take a look at the attractions in Drill Land!<\/p>\n

World Driller Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the main general mode that\u2019s like the one in most other Driller games.\u00a0 You can pick from several characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.\u00a0 Characters like Susumu and rival Anna are most balanced, while Susumu\u2019s dog can climb two blocks high.\u00a0 The robot can take a hit and still drill, and Ataru\u2019s pet space rabbit can climb two blocks and drill three blocks at once with his laser eyes!\u00a0 For this attraction, the World Driller Tour has a bit of a \u201cIt\u2019s a Small World\u201d theme.\u00a0 In every stage, they have a couple of people from different countries dancing on the side of the screen.\u00a0 And the song they play in the background kind of sounds like a Japanese version of the \u201cIt\u2019s a Small World\u201d theme song.\u00a0 Supposedly, the lyrics in this song are all about how great Susumu Hori is.\u00a0 If you want to listen to this song, just do a search on YouTube for \u201cMr. Driller Boku\u201d and it should pop right up.<\/p>\n

Star Driller<\/strong><\/p>\n

This mode is a lot like the main one, but it has a space theme and they added random power-ups.\u00a0 You can only play as Susumu Hori here.\u00a0 Susumu actually has a bit of history in outer space.\u00a0 For one thing, his mother was the main character in Baraduke, a space shooter game.\u00a0 So it\u2019s in his blood!\u00a0 Also, Susumu was a selectable character in the spinoff game Star Trigon.\u00a0 That was a simple game where you rotated around planets, and pushed a button to jet off to another planet so you can make triangles in space to save little alien critters.\u00a0 It was a really fun game and was even on mobile devices for a while.\u00a0 I would love it if Namco would re-release that on consoles!\u00a0 Anyway, the rest of the cast of Star Trigon makes an appearance on the Star Driller title screen.\u00a0 Some of the power ups you get here will make you faster or give you more oxygen.\u00a0 But watch out for power-downs like a black hole that can suck up blocks, and you, too, if you get caught in it.\u00a0 Then you have to start the stage from the top again!\u00a0 Luckily most of the power-ups are still helpful.\u00a0 One power-up even has Susumu\u2019s mommy fly by and give him a couple of power-ups!\u00a0 What a good mom!\u00a0 Just goes to show you that even if parents are separated, they can still love their kids.<\/p>\n

Drindy Adventure<\/strong><\/p>\n

This mode has an \u201cIndiana Jones\u201d style theme, with great parodies in the text descriptions.\u00a0 You can only play as Taizo Hori, aka Dig Dug here.\u00a0 He even wears a fedora hat and everything.\u00a0 In this mode, the blocks won\u2019t disappear if they match up, and you never run out of oxygen.\u00a0 So you don\u2019t have to worry about that.\u00a0 But you do have to worry about two other things.\u00a0 First, you must complete the game while collecting a certain number of gold statues.\u00a0 But the bigger thing you have to worry about are traps!\u00a0 These include basic things like spikes and flame jets.\u00a0 But the trap that can really wreck you up are the rolling boulders!\u00a0 If these rocks have room to roll left or right, they will, and they take a while to break, so they can squish you!\u00a0 Also, if they roll far enough, they can break blocks around them.\u00a0 So even if you climb up one block higher, you\u2019re still not safe!\u00a0 So the trick is to try and figure out how to get the statues and avoid the rolling boulders.\u00a0 I really like this mode and it\u2019s one of my favorites.\u00a0 One of the songs they play in the background in this mode is cool, too.\u00a0 If you want to listen to it, just do a YouTube search for \u201cMr. Driller epunam.\u201d\u00a0 One thing I learned by playing Drill Land on the Switch is that Taizo Hori really likes camels for some reason.\u00a0 Seems kind of a strange characteristic, but I guess camels are kind of cool.<\/p>\n

Horror Night House<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obviously, this mode has a spooky theme.\u00a0 You can only play as Ataru here.\u00a0 Makes sense, since he\u2019s a slightly darker and more serious character than the others.\u00a0 Anyway, like Drindy Adventure, you don\u2019t run out of oxygen and blocks don\u2019t disappear when matched.\u00a0 However, every so often, ghosts will possess certain blocks.\u00a0 If you drill through possessed blocks, or wait too long, the ghosts will turn into bats and attack you and you\u2019ll lose hit points.\u00a0 If you lose all your hit points, the game is over.\u00a0 To combat the ghosts, you must collect vials of holy water that you can press a separate button to inject into the blocks.\u00a0 Then when you drill those blocks, the ghosts will disappear and leave behind red crystals.\u00a0 You must collect a certain number of red crystals to complete the stage.\u00a0 When you beat the stage, the story mode shows that even though Ataru tries to stay calm and collected, he\u2019s actually terrified of bats.\u00a0 Another thing Ataru has to watch out for in the story mode of this game is one of the bad guy henchmen characters is a crazy girl who is madly in love with Ataru!\u00a0 Such drama in this cutesy game!<\/p>\n

The Hole of Druaga<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last main mode in the game makes a bit of a reference to one of Namco\u2019s classic franchises: The Tower of Druaga.\u00a0 Druaga in the arcade never left Japan, but it\u2019s been on several arcade collections over here since then. It\u2019s a dungeon maze game with very obtuse secrets.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like the game much, but I do like the lore behind it, as there have been several spinoff games and sequels, cameos in other games (like this one), and even an anime at one point.\u00a0 Anyway, The Hole of Druaga is a lot like the \u201cDristone\u201d modes found in some other home Mr. Driller titles. \u00a0This \u201cDristone\u201d mode was famously taken out of the US release of Mr. Driller Drill Spirits on the DS, which upset the Mr. Driller community over here, all three of us.\u00a0 Here, blocks can fall and squish you, but you don\u2019t run out of oxygen. Instead, drilling a block takes away one hit point, and getting squished takes off a bunch.\u00a0 Lose all hit points and it\u2019s Game Over.\u00a0 You can collect crystals you can use to help minimize how much you have to drill.\u00a0 Some crystals change block color, some take them out entirely, or refill your hit points, among other things.\u00a0 In The Hole of Druaga, you can not only drill down to new areas, but side to side as well.\u00a0 You must first collect a key guarded by Quox, a dragon from the Druaga games.\u00a0 But here it\u2019s the cutest Quox you\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 I hate defeating it.\u00a0 You can defeat enemies with your drill.\u00a0 Once you get the key, you can use a warp Dristone crystal to take you back up to a different area where you can unlock a door and fight the boss.\u00a0 You know that lady I mentioned who was madly in love with Ataru earlier?\u00a0 Well she\u2019s dressed up as Druaga and swinging from a rope, and you must use Dristone crystals to make her take damage.\u00a0 Once she\u2019s defeated you win the mode.\u00a0 In this mode, you play as Anna, Susumu\u2019s female driller rival and also girlfriend maybe.\u00a0 Anna must rescue Susumu, who is forced to wear a dress and he\u2019s not happy about that.\u00a0 There are lots of other Druaga references in this mode, but I won\u2019t go into them here.\u00a0 I\u2019m already in \u201cNamco fanboy mode\u201d enough as it is!<\/p>\n

Midnight Parade<\/strong><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t much of a mode, just a parade you can view with floats based on the different game modes.\u00a0 It reminds me of the Disney Midnight Electric Parade, which must\u2019ve been a big hit in Japan since other games reference it, too, like the ending to Super Mario RPG.\u00a0 You can slow down and speed up the parade, and blow a whistle to the beat, but that\u2019s it.\u00a0 So why is this in the game?\u00a0 Well on the GameCube, you could transfer Pacteria you collected from a GBA Mr. Driller game, and view them in the parade.\u00a0 Yeah you remember when GBA and GameCube connectivity was a thing?\u00a0 Anyway, the GBA game you connected was Mr. Driller Ace, and you could collect these little blob critters called Pacteria.\u00a0 Some even made reference to other Namco games, like you could get a Klonoa Pacteria or one that looked like the spinny metal things from Xevious.\u00a0 But since you can\u2019t transfer those Pacteria to the Switch, you won\u2019t see them here!<\/p>\n

Driller Town<\/strong><\/p>\n

It kind of reminds me of Main Street USA from Disney World, and here\u2019s where you buy stuff.\u00a0 When you play the game, you earn points you can spend on various things.\u00a0 One shop sells trading cards you can buy that has info on all the characters.\u00a0 Another shop sells virtual souvenirs you can view in 3-D.\u00a0 And another shop sells items that can help you in the game modes if they get too tough (like extra lives and such).\u00a0 You can also listen to the music, watch story mode movies, and the credits.<\/p>\n

Final Attraction<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the story mode, there\u2019s a bad guy who wants to destroy the theme park and the driller crew and use a big drill machine to destroy the world.\u00a0 So as Susumu, you must drill down really, really fast so the big machine doesn\u2019t get too far away.\u00a0 And once you reach the drill, you must press the button a certain spot to stop it.\u00a0 Once you \u2018defeat\u2019 the boss, you can unlock harder versions of the other modes and start the process over again.\u00a0 I think there are three difficulty levels and the fourth one is endless, but I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 I\u2019m not good enough to get that far!\u00a0 The Switch version also has a casual mode but I couldn\u2019t tell any difference from it and the regular mode.\u00a0 There are also multiplayer modes for up to four, and that\u2019s pretty much the game!<\/p>\n

So would you like to visit Drill Land?\u00a0 You know I would!\u00a0 If anything just to buy all the souvenirs in the shops!\u00a0 And who wouldn\u2019t want to meet Susumu Hori and Dig Dug?\u00a0 But I\u2019m really glad this finally came out in the US.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been wanting it to come out over here ever since it was on the GameCube almost 20 years ago!\u00a0 This may sound cheesy, but another reason why I\u2019m glad it came out over here is it gave me a little bit of hope during all this Corona virus quarantine stuff.\u00a0 This game was first announced for a US release right as we were all going into quarantine, so it gave me something to look forward to.\u00a0 A light at the end of the tunnel in a way.\u00a0 But anyway, that\u2019s all I have to say about Mr. Driller Drill Land!\u00a0 Let me know your thoughts on it in the comments section!\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hurry, hurry, hurry!\u00a0 Step right up for the latest theme park attraction!\u00a0 It\u2019s a theme park based around Mr. Driller, and it\u2019s all underground!\u00a0 Sounds safe enough, right?\u00a0 Anyway, Mr. Driller Drill Land was an awesome GameCube title, but it only stayed in Japan.\u00a0 But now you can download it on Nintendo Switch in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20276"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20278,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20276\/revisions\/20278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}