doze drillers

i’ve gotten a bit behind on posting comments on a couple of the games i’ve finished. one is drill dozer, one of the last games for the GBA, brought to you by the good folk at game freak who were also the masterminds behind all those crazy pokemon games. i’d gotten interested in the game even before its main character made an appearance in brawl as an assist trophy from hearing good things in various places about it being a somewhat new spin on the platformer genre. this post at pressthebuttons.com has a good overview of what the game’s about and is a good example of what seems to be the general opinion, namely that the game’s novel game mechanics and lively characters and graphics keep the game entertaining.

as for my take, i def. enjoyed the game (and the built-in rumble pack!), but all together it’s kind of a strange little package. to explain: first off, the main game isn’t too long or very difficult. and although i started to get a bit weary of the incessant drilling the game element that really kept me engaged was the number of boss and sub-boss battles, a noteworthy amount and for the most part all nicely designed. but, as with luigi’s mansion and his trusty vacuum cleaner, by the end of drill dozer’s main game i felt like the whole drill mechanic had been completely exhausted, and i was ready for the game to be over. (of course i’d be fascinated to see what a sequel of either game would look like, although i don’t suppose either is a very likely possibility.)

but then, post win, the game really started to shine, in a significant way that most reviews (e.g. ign’s) don’t even hint at. i didn’t delve too deeply due to the drilling fatigue i had developed, but each level of the main game has hidden treasures that you can only look for after you beat the game, and you’ll prob. have to visit each one multiple times to find all of them as some are hidden rather deviously. even better are the extra levels you can acquire that take the game to a whole new level, with some sections that are, if you’ll pardon the expression, balls-to-the-wall hard. we’re talking old-school-NES-style hard. in the average platformer a “hard” area may require you to master a complicated series of 5 or 6 button presses, but in some of these extra maps you’ll have to perfectly time some 15 moves with only a bottomless pit below you to break your fall. in what i’ve played through so far the extra maps also require much more thought, and the process of studying your arsenal and exploring your options approaches almost metroid-like levels. if the whole game had been like this second half is turning out to be this would have easily been a game for the ages. as it is, my final verdict will have to wait until i finish playing through all the extra maps and finding all the treasures. but i’m going to have to shelve the game for now b/c, dammit, there’s only so much drilling a man can take!

one link is all you’ll need!
- great walkthrough at IGN

advanced wars

after becoming such a fire emblem-obsessed freak, it’s no surprise that having exhausted all the english-released FE games i turned my attention to FE’s sibling series, advance wars, as it’s known in the US. the original entry to the series (called famicom wars, for the japanese NES, and only released in japan) was released less than two years before the first fire emblem, and both are developed by intelligent systems (along w/ the paper mario and warioware series).

it’s easy to see the similarities between the two series as both are turn-based strategy games, and no doubt there are many who are fans of both. but there are also significant, inherent differences that make it seem likely that there are many more who are fans of one but not the other. on the fire emblem side there’s an actual story with a huge cast of well-delineated characters, along w/ the fantasy setting and the strong RPG feel. in contrast advance wars is much more about the tactics, as your units never get upgraded and you have to manage their production by capturing cities and factories. all in all i def. prefer the fire emblem series, as story and characters add so much to games for me in general. nevertheless, this is still a top-notch game and there was still a lot i enjoyed in terms of the more undiluted tactics, even despite the somewhat formidable learning curve. w/ advance wars b/c there isn’t much of a story and the gameplay is so focused on the tactics i don’t feel particularly compelled to rush out and play through the sequels. so i’ll prob. replay the main story on the regular mode to unlock the other CO’s and at least A-rank every level before tackling the harder mode. if only the fire emblem DS game would come out sooner!

some advanced links:
- craig harris’s review for IGN is pretty spot on
- FAQ at IGN detailing the CO powers, info for all the units, etc.
- nice guide to all the units at strategyplanet
- damage chart at advancewarsnet.com: for AW2, but i think it pretty much still applies
- details on the calculations at gamefaqs
- guide at IGN: walkthrough for campaign and advance campaign modes