![]() The cartridge's rumble feature is a novel gimmick, but a gimmick nonetheless. This allowed me to tune the game's difficulty, naturally finding that sweet spot where levels felt challenging but rewarding. Each is packed with a ton of variety in enemies (both minor and bosses) and platforming challenges, maintaining an impressive degree of tension and surprise throughout.ĭrill Dozer can get pretty difficult, but you can use the "chips" you collect in levels to purchase health upgrades, which are mercifully priced. ![]() The game's levels are long, but you're allowed to pause and save anywhere (restoring at the last checkpoint) so I wasn't bothered by that. But everything makes sense together since it's all based on the capabilities of the mech and its drill. In practice, this plays like an amalgam of several other games… there's a very lite Metroid feel to having to restore the dozer in every level to access new sections, there are occasional waves of enemies with a beat-em-up vibe, there are platforming challenges using the drill to cling or launch (a la Klonoa's ring) or to alternate rotational direction (which lit up the same parts of my brain as Mighty Switch Force). You control Jill via her Drill Dozer, a miniature little mech with a drill you must power up in each level to achieve its full destructive capability. I think this is my favorite of the bunch! It reminded me of the first time I played Sonic on the game gear.This is the third 2-D platformer by Game Freak I've played, the first two being Magical Taruruuto-kun and Pulseman. ![]() I have to mention that the cartridge even has a rumble feature if you buy the original!Īll in all this was an incredible experience for a very underrated videogame that deserved so much more than it got. I always had enough currency to continue and I found it a great way to manage death and continues. If you do lose all your life, it's game over and it asks you for 50 ingame currency to continue. I found myself dead only a few times, especially at bosses, when trying to learn how to beat them but not much other than that. Speaking of difficulty, it really isn't too much of a challenge. The last boss is quite the challenge too and very very satisfying to beat (one of the coolest moments in the game!!) Not too hard but not too easy, i mean I rarely died (i bought some life enhancements at the shop) but it still was a challenge trying to find out boss softspots and learning how to kill them. The end level bosses are incredibly satisfying. This for example was one of the puzzles: Find 3 different activators around the level and insert the right combination to open the big safe:Įvery level brings something new to do, a new block that involves new abilities, tunnels that propel you around depending on clockwise or anticlockwise drill direction, underwater levels with a propeller-drill, air levels with helicopter-drill, it's really pretty amazing. It's very hard to explain and can only be experienced once you try out the game. There are good puzzle-like situations where you have to use your drill on certain "jelly" blocks that push you to higher platforms. If you think drilling stuff around levels is easy and boring you're wrong. In third gear things get serious and you will have a very powerfull drill that can help you navigate more easily through levels and last as long as you want. ![]() Once you find second gear in the stage, you can pres R or L again once the gauge is full to enter 2nd gear mode making your drill stronger and last longer. In first gear you only get it to reach the end of the gauge once and then it comes back down giving you only a few seconds of drilling power. When you pres L or R there's a little gauge that appears and charges up. ![]() You use your R button to drill clockwise and L button to drill anticlockwise. Gamefreak doesn't stop surprising you throughout the whole game with new additions to the dozer and new ways to use it.įor example, in each level you start off with a crappy dozer with 1 gear. The idea of having a platformer where you control a dozer that can drill through stuff is so fresh that it just begs you to play it. The gameplay kicks off by sending you (Jill, Doug's daughter) to find such diamond on your wonderful crazy dozer machine! The game starts off telling you how your father (Doug) and boss of the "Red Dozers" is beaten the shit up by the Skullkers, the rival dozer gang. The game was awarded best game of the year for the gba by nintendo power but the poor sales never brought about a sequel which is such a shame. This undiscovered little Gameboy Advance Gem created by Game Freak is an incredible action/platformer game that probably went under everyone's radar. ![]()
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