a good invention and an interesting aesthetic experience, let down by mediocre, over-conventional level design.
drill dozer - review
the drill dozer is more of a video game invention or virtual toy that has been pidgeon holed into a sub standard platform game, probably in an attempt to cut down on being too risky an idea.
the concept, a drilling machine battle suit, was invented by ken sugimori, the character designer from the original pokemon games.
you control a cute little, pink-haired manga girl called jill as she travels around mostly city-scapes trying to get back some item that was stole from her.
everything is experienced through the drill dozer mechanic.
if blocked by a wall, jill can drill right through it. if blocked by a door, jill can drill through it. if there are brick blocks in her way, she can drill right through those too.
it still feels like you're walking around though.
the controls are good, and pretty tight. you press on 'R' to drill to the right of the screen, and 'L' has secondary functions such as drill counter-clockwise (for specific puzzles).
every level plays out similarly, with you're average platforming goons littering the levels, and a boss at the end.
through the course of each level, jill can upgrade her suit, samus-style. she can collect 'gears' for the drill dozer, making it more powerful and able to unlock metal blocks and other stronger level-based obstacles.
what is compelling about drill dozer is the idea of experiencing a digital world in an almost...sexual way.
the phallic symbolism is obvious; jill can stick her 'drill dozer' in all manner of recesses, gaps, and containers.
once you have the gears, you often need to 'rev up' the drill, making the GBA rumble.
the intensity of the drill and how it rumbles increases as you go on, making it feel as if you're having violent sex with your game.
no..? maybe it's just me then.
although the idea is great, it is pulled off in a novelty way, and feels like a throw-away experience.
i recommend you play drill dozer if you can find it cheap, but don't expect anything too good, unless you love old-school platformers.
the game does get fairly challanging later on too.