Once you get into the advanced techniques, it just hits this Lemmings-esque "I CAN DO THIS, DAMMIT!" level of
The problem is, there's basically one mold that 2D platformers fit into: a male cartoonish hero running around jumping on equally cartoonish enemies until he reaches the far right side of the level.
And then we have Drill Dozer, which redefines the platformer genre entirely: in fact, it's more like a good strategy puzzler like Lemmings (no, not a matching-color or falling-block puzzler) than a base platformer like SMB.
Essentially, you have this thing called a Drill Dozer that can run left or right, crouch-dash, jump short distances, and drill clockwise and counterclockwise to break blocks and . Sounds simple enough, right? Then you get into advanced techniques such as the gap-jump and the block bounce. Then you get more gears, which bring up an element of timing and reflexes and also advanced techniques such as socket switches, rotating lifts, cannon clamps, ledge-dashes and AAAAUGH!!! Suddenly, it just turns into this non-stop action-packed Lemmings-esque I'M-GONNA-DO-THIS-GOD-DAMMIT-IF-IT'S-THE-LAST-THING-I-DO addictiveness that can keep you up into the wee hours of the morning.
The graphics are Pokemon-esque (duh, given Game Freak's experience with the series) and the sound is at times deep, moving, and fits with the environment... and other times, it's over-perky and annoying.
This game has almost infinite replay value, given its plethora of mind-boggling secret levels and treasures to collect (think NSMB's Star Coins with more mental oomph).
I give this game a 999 222
9 9 2 2
9 9 2 9999 2 9 2 9 9 .. 2 99 .. 2222
out of 10.