18th August 2012, 5:28 PM
GBA
--
Drill Dozer - Yeah, that 2006 2d platformer on the GBA with the rumble cart. Well, the rumble works great -- this is a far cry from that pathetic DS rumble cart, this one's good, like the GBC rumble games, except without a battery. It's too bad that no other GBA games have rumble carts, it'd have been great to see more! So yeah, I beat the final boss (though not all bonus levels yet, getting them will require some grinding). I was playing this one during the Olympics, along with one other game I haven't yet finished, but I did beat this one (before the Olympics ended, in fact; I forgot to post it), and it's a good game. However, Drill Dozer does have some issues, so I think I was justified in not buying it new. First, it's from Game Freak,so the art looks quite Pokemon-esque. I'd call that probably a negative. Second, it's a short game. The main game is only about 11 stages long, and each one is average length. There are five or six bonus levels to unlock, but those are optional, and shorter than the main stages (harder, but shorter). But on that note, problem three is the controls and difficulty (yes, they're connected). The game starts out easy, but gets really hard by the end... something that might be good, if the controls weren't so annoying. Yes, the ... unique ... control scheme is the cause of many of the problems. Drill Dozer only uses the A and B buttons for jumping and such; most of the action is on the shoulder buttons. This is a problem, because having to hold down the shoulder buttons all the time is somewhat uncomfortable on any model of Game Boy Advance, and it's much harder to be as precise with shoulder buttons as it is with face buttons, too. And by the third boss, precision is absolutely necessary. This combination of required precision, and controls that make precision much harder than it should be, make the game pretty frustrating at times. You drill left with the L button, and right with the R button. Seems simple. But you increase drill speed (and drilling duration) by pressing the same button again, while the drill is at max power on the onscreen meter. Time it right or it'll stop and you'll have to start drilling again. The timing isn't too hard on its own, but when you're being required to do this or else you'll be hit, or die, it gets much harder to be perfect every time -- and you will need near-perfection to beat the later bosses, or the bonus missions. And I have problems with that. I'd be fine with face buttons, but just can't quite do it with shoulder buttons. Parts where you need to use the correct drilling direction in order to progress, or to hurt a boss, can be tricky too -- I had lots of problems with the third boss because I had a really hard time getting down which color meant which button. And other times it's even harder to tell, and I just had to guess (and take some damage when I was wrong). Yeah, the controls have some issues.
Despite that though, I would recommend playing Drill Dozer. Don't pay too much for it, but it's interesting for sure. Flawed, but interesting. It's too bad that there isn't a sequel, the game has promise amongst its issues. I'll go back eventually and get the rest of the bonus missions.
--
Drill Dozer - Yeah, that 2006 2d platformer on the GBA with the rumble cart. Well, the rumble works great -- this is a far cry from that pathetic DS rumble cart, this one's good, like the GBC rumble games, except without a battery. It's too bad that no other GBA games have rumble carts, it'd have been great to see more! So yeah, I beat the final boss (though not all bonus levels yet, getting them will require some grinding). I was playing this one during the Olympics, along with one other game I haven't yet finished, but I did beat this one (before the Olympics ended, in fact; I forgot to post it), and it's a good game. However, Drill Dozer does have some issues, so I think I was justified in not buying it new. First, it's from Game Freak,so the art looks quite Pokemon-esque. I'd call that probably a negative. Second, it's a short game. The main game is only about 11 stages long, and each one is average length. There are five or six bonus levels to unlock, but those are optional, and shorter than the main stages (harder, but shorter). But on that note, problem three is the controls and difficulty (yes, they're connected). The game starts out easy, but gets really hard by the end... something that might be good, if the controls weren't so annoying. Yes, the ... unique ... control scheme is the cause of many of the problems. Drill Dozer only uses the A and B buttons for jumping and such; most of the action is on the shoulder buttons. This is a problem, because having to hold down the shoulder buttons all the time is somewhat uncomfortable on any model of Game Boy Advance, and it's much harder to be as precise with shoulder buttons as it is with face buttons, too. And by the third boss, precision is absolutely necessary. This combination of required precision, and controls that make precision much harder than it should be, make the game pretty frustrating at times. You drill left with the L button, and right with the R button. Seems simple. But you increase drill speed (and drilling duration) by pressing the same button again, while the drill is at max power on the onscreen meter. Time it right or it'll stop and you'll have to start drilling again. The timing isn't too hard on its own, but when you're being required to do this or else you'll be hit, or die, it gets much harder to be perfect every time -- and you will need near-perfection to beat the later bosses, or the bonus missions. And I have problems with that. I'd be fine with face buttons, but just can't quite do it with shoulder buttons. Parts where you need to use the correct drilling direction in order to progress, or to hurt a boss, can be tricky too -- I had lots of problems with the third boss because I had a really hard time getting down which color meant which button. And other times it's even harder to tell, and I just had to guess (and take some damage when I was wrong). Yeah, the controls have some issues.
Despite that though, I would recommend playing Drill Dozer. Don't pay too much for it, but it's interesting for sure. Flawed, but interesting. It's too bad that there isn't a sequel, the game has promise amongst its issues. I'll go back eventually and get the rest of the bonus missions.
![[Image: logo_bos_79x76.jpg]](https://www.tendocity.net/logo_bos_79x76.jpg){kind=logo}