Mr. Driller Hands-On

During our time at the CTIA convention, we had the opportunity to take a look at the new mobile version of Namco's Mr. Driller. Originally released in the US on the PlayStation and Dreamcast in 2000, Mr. Driller was basically a puzzle game in which you, as the titular Mr. Driller, had to drill down through a level filled with colored blocks of all shapes and sizes. However, your air would be depleted while you were doing this, which meant you had to drill toward specific air-giving items while moving along at the same time. Additionally, you had to watch the timing of your movement through the level, because blocks had an unpleasant tendency to come crashing down on your head. It was a cute and fun concept that is now being translated to mobile phones, and, seemingly, it's being translated well.

The port of the game seems to be derived from the PlayStation version, and it came across as quite well produced and accurate during our time spent with it. The control mechanics are both good and mapped out well to make effective use of the keypad, and the graphics and frame rate both seemed more than solid for a mobile translation.

It would seem to be a fairly safe bet that if you were a fan of Mr. Driller's old-school adventures, this latest translation of the original game would be well suited to your mobile phone. We'll give you the final word on the game when it's made available this winter.