Mr. Driller (2000) [PS1] critique

“Clearly, at some time in the Long-Ago of human decay the Morlocks‘ food had run short.”

-H.G. Wells, The Time Machine

Subterrestrial destruction worker plays reverse Tetris with oscillating threaded spike. Puzzle blocks from below instead of on high belie the simple difficulty of an arcade game, easy to learn but hard to master. Delving deep is divided into modes of depth difficulty: dive to 2,500 ft or 5,000 ft in arcade mode, thrive as long as possible in survival mode, or test your temporal aggression in time attack mode. Susumu Hori, that’s MISTER Driller to you, survives on oxygen like the rest of us, so don’t let digging deprive his lungs. Grab all those air capsules whenever you can but watch out for cave-ins triggered by your own wanton drilling! Less iconic than Dig Dug for sure but hey, at least the premise is fresh even if you already know the drill…

The 8-bit Review

Visuals: 5.5/10

Audio: 5.5/10

Gameplay: 7.5/10

Accessibility: 8/10

 Difficulty: 7.5/10

 Replayability: 6/10

Uniqueness: 6/10

Personal: 6.5/10

Aggregated Score: 6.5

Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage or Mage Cast.